Yesterday after we got back from Goose Creek, I was scrambling around the garage to finish off the shelving rack (next post), cleaning out the Surf Taco from the earlier trip and organizing the other boards. All sweaty and ripe, I figure what better time to break in the Hooked SUP!!! I took the board out for a paddle on Lake Newport but the pictures Marlon took of me got erased in one of the GoPros today. Oh well - that's what these second day pictures are for. This board is MEGA stable - I can walk in circles around the deck. I can walk way back to the tail and not sink it in at a steep angle - that width back in the tail makes a huge difference in stability (but we all knew that already don't we ;) We took four boards with us today - La's Flatwater, the ULI FAQ, the new Tahoe Grom and the Hooked SUP - over to Pohick Bay. It was hot with hardly a breeze - but still 10 degrees cooler than yesterday. We had the big hats on today, neckerchiefs for evaporative cooling, lots of drinking water and we were still hot. The black deck pad didn't help my feet a whole lot. We practiced some towing drills - figure with the kids having to paddle themselves around now (unlike the Big Tuna kayaking days), what would we do if they got too tired or hurt. I had two tow lines rigged and we tried towing. Noe stopped paddling behind me and enjoyed the ride - which was ok, I needed the exercise and old habits die hard (lazy butts). I saw a bunch of fish on the way out - but when I made a follow up pass on the way in, there were three ospreys hanging out in the trees crying out - either pissed at each other, or pissed at us for hanging out in the dining room table. I noticed most of the fish I saw earlier (coincidentally when there were no osprey hanging around) weren't hanging around anymore. I did manage to hook into this bluegill - you can always count of bluegill to keep away the skunkfish - can't get skunked while on your first fishing trip on your new fishing SUP can you? - NO you can't!!! And I didn't!
We paddled out of Fort Belvoir into the Pohick Bay area. The water was super murky. I though enough time had passed since the last rain, but I guess I was way wrong. We actually didn't catch anything. BIG FAT SKUNKING. There were fish though - and the ospreys were out to prove it (several were flying around with some pretty big fish that were bleeding out in the talon grips). I also saw the water swirls left behind by fish of decent size fleeing the scene as they get notice that something not piscine is floating by...
As bad as skunking is, beer does take the edge off - as does catching up with old friends.
