Layover Day #2, Wind at Spoil Island: Day 8 CT Paddle 2.20.18

Dear Reader,

If you are expecting wild tales of John and me paddling in high winds today, I will have to disappoint you. One thing about being retired is that we don’t really have to be anywhere other than where we are. So if it’s windy, we don’t necessarily have to force ourselves out on the water and beating our bodies up in the process. Fortunately, we enjoy camping as much as we like sea kayaking, so a day on the beach with a good book or two or three is a good day indeed.

Sometime we might not be so lucky. We might have to move on regardless of the weather. If we’re at a reservation-type campground which doesn’t have room for us to extend our stay. Or if we’re in a hotel, say, and the weather isn’t so horrible to really justify spending another $100. But being in a primitive campsite which didn’t require a reservation and doesn’t cost us any money and with a weather report showing calming wind conditions in a couple of days, we’re good hanging out despite feeling rested enough to paddle.

We have plenty of food since we resupplied in Navarre just a few days ago. But we do need water tomorrow, since we left Navarre with only 16 liters total, expecting to fill up our water at a day-use park a few miles further east along the trail. Water is pretty heavy so we only carry what we think we’ll need. We had enough “extra” for these two layover days but if we choose to stay put another day due to tomorrow’s wind forecast, we’ll need to at lease paddle across the narrow channel to our north in search of water. Google maps show there’s actually a Starbucks on the other side of the trees and homes we look across the channel at. And a Target even. We hear the roar of the highway behind those trees as loudly as the waves crashing on the gulf beach beyond the other channel and other trees to our south. And overhead, the squawking of Canada Geese and wind.

John’s been cooking in the dutch oven. Mashed potato-topped chili tonight. Green chili and cheese cornbread last night. More than we can eat in one sitting, so leftovers for tomorrow.

The sun was only out a few hours today so we’re hoarding the little bit of juice we get out of our solar devises.

Yep, wind, water, electricity. Those are our drivers today.

We are alive.

We are healthy.

We are adventurers.

Good night.

Cheers, Susana

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