A friend and I recently completed a 65 Mile Circumnavigation around Portsmouth Island(North Core Banks,) which is a barrier island on the North Carolina Coast. I wrote a detailed trip report on the CKC website, which you can find in this post, but have included a bit more information here about this amazing ocean kayaking trip!
We had some snow this week and a .6 Inch rain event, which was enough to get the water running at Milburnie Dam in Raleigh. I decided to go out there for about an hour and do some playing. Here is a video of four of the descents I made that day, along with a … Continue reading Four Descents Down Milburnie Dam in Raleigh
Since the Milburnie Dam was removed, I’ve tried to get out there after we’ve had some rain, which I’ve only managed three times so far. Through the help of a very knowledgeable acquaintance, I’ve been working on a way to gauge the river in order to be able to have a way to determine if … Continue reading Milburnie Dam Run 03/02/2018
Through a stroke of weird luck with my cell phone provider, I got a GoPro Session 4 for pretty cheap a few weeks ago. I finally got a chance to play with it a bit at the pool and took some videos of me rolling while at the Friday night Pool Practice at Optimist Pool … Continue reading Roll Practice and the New Camera
Edit 12/27/2017: After posting this, I spoke with someone else who had the same idea and had gone down the rapids before me. They went without the benefit of rain though and got stuck, so while not the first, I was likely the first at a slightly elevated rate… Edit 01/29/2018: I’ve had a chance … Continue reading Bragging Rights: First Fourth Kayak Decent of Milburnie Dam in Over 100 Years
Recently, one of my paddling buddies shared a discussion thread with me, which presented the idea that many people paddle boats that are too long for them. The idea being that if you can’t attain and sustain max hull speed in the boat, then the boat is too long for you. I think it is … Continue reading Size Matters, but How Much?
This year, I had the opportunity to spend a week in Baja California, Mexico paddling and exploring the coast line. This was without a doubt the most amazing and beautiful place I have ever paddled(so far.) The trip was organized by an ocean kayaker friend who had went last year and, as is the case … Continue reading Baja California 2017
A few weeks ago while paddling with a friend at Falls Lake, he noticed what appeared to be tree goo stuck to the branches of many of the partially submerged trees that line the lake. Having never noticed this before, we guessed that maybe it was some sort of fish eggs or possibly sap running … Continue reading Pectinatella Magnifica at Falls Lake…Or What is This Tree Goo?
Last weekend, I decided to make a short trip out to Robertson Millpond Preserve in Wendell to checkout the bald cypress trees. If you haven’t been, it is pretty neat experience. There is a short paddle trail, marked by buoys, which you can follow and wind your way through the park. The brochure indicates that … Continue reading Cruising Around Robertson Millpond Preserve
When you are out paddling, it is pretty common for people to come up and start a conversation with you. A recurring conversation point is whether or not you have ever seen a shark while paddling. Well this week, I got to see my first shark, which I believe was a relatively large Black Tip … Continue reading Shark Encounters of the Boring Kind