The good thing about being a small-fry blogger is that I don't need to post all the time to keep hits coming in, or for that matter ad revenue. I'm free to post or not to post at my own whim. It always chaps my hide when people offer up excuses for light or no posting, as if they're beholden to their readers to write. With that in mind, I won't say anything except Kiss My Cracker Ass. I'll post when I please.
The semester's over, so I get a blessed month of goofing off before I get back into it for the summer. I had two final exam exemptions and the two finals I did take really weren't that trying. All in all this semester was a nice, easy transition back into the classroom.
Kayaking continues unabated; I've started going out on group paddles with the Mobile Bay Canoe and Kayak Club. A very eclectic group of people. Here are some pictures and brief summaries of my recent aquatic activities:
Dauphin Island, April 17th. A 12-mile paddle to, across, and back from the Katrina Cut on Dauphin Island. There is a half-mie-wide cut dividing the island in half where Katrina's surge washed thousands of tons of sand into Pass aux Herons. I picked up a tourist enroute, too. A dolphin followed me back from the far side of the cut for about three miles. The sneaky bastard kept submerging before I could take any pictures though.
Earth day, April 21: The recently opened Five Rivers Resource Center hosted an Earth Day celebration at which the MBCAKC set up a kayak and canoe demo so that people could "get their feet wet" and experience canoeing and kayaking for the first time. I hung around there for a while as a safety observer before falling in with some of my friends to paddle about, drink beer, and generally make ourselves unwelcome around the Birkenstocks-and-patchouli crowd at the Earth Day festival.
Families learning the ropes
The Five Rivers dock. At this point almost all of the demo kayaks were out, giving Harriet and the rest of the MBCAKC/Fairhope Boat Company crew a break.
Dan and Dave following me across the Blakeley River.
Dan with his "warpaint" paddle. 
Taking my kayak up a game warden canal.
Striking a pose. You can always trust me to ruin a Kodak moment.On the 28th Dan and I went to Orange Beach and paddled from Perdido pass to the Flora-Bama, which hosted its annual Mullet Toss. It's as stupid as it sounds: a bunch of drunks throwing fish over the state line. It draws an enormous crowd and a shocking number of boaters, most of whom seem not to have the first clue about situational awareness or the Rules of the Road.
This past Wednesday I went out on my first paddle with the MBCAKC. This was a dusk-into-darkness paddle, making our way out until it got dark and then paddling back under the light of the full moon. This was out near Bay Minette, in the swamps of the delta. Gator country. I saw my first live gator of the season. This was actually pretty lackluster, considering what a runt the little guy was:
Hope you have sharp eyes. My new camera doesn't seem to function well in low light.
Staging the kayaks and gear at Buzbee's launch.
Setting off.
Outbound. 
Up a narrow channel near Yancy Bay.
Getting dark.
Dana says I'm Number One.
Hope you have sharp eyes. My new camera doesn't seem to function well in low light.
Staging the kayaks and gear at Buzbee's launch.
Setting off.
Outbound. 
Up a narrow channel near Yancy Bay.
Getting dark.
Dana says I'm Number One.That's it for now. maybe later I'll write up the grueling 15-mile, three-hour Escatawpa River paddle I subjected myself to today.
2 comments:
Looks like someone had fun! Thanks for the pics!
uh-oh, looks like i added more chafe to your heiney. sorry. wondered why you've seemed 'distant,' yet it would appear you've been keeping yourself quite busy.
glad you're having fun.
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