The Pace of Nature

So I’ve been bumming around on the intercoastal waterways of coastal North Carolina a lot lately. Haven’t had as much time as I would like, but I have made it a point to grab the camera whenever I do. The mount I added a few weeks ago has worked great, and makes grabbing pictures like these even easier.

Here’s a quick look at the last few excursions on the water.

Inlet

There are several rivers that shoot up from the ocean down here. I like to paddle around until I find little inlets like this one, then see where they take me. So far I have run across several snakes, an alligator, four sea otters, and multiple Osprey flying above.

Blocked

My boat is 16 feet long and designed to be on the open ocean for weeks at a time. It does surprisingly well on the small winding streams like this one. Unfortunately, even such as agile boat as this has its limitations.

Sunset

I love staying out on the water until after the sun has set. It is such a different environment. Fish jump like crazy, birds seem less concerned with me and allow me to get much closer. The water calms down and turns glassy. It is wonderful.

Uninhabited island

Down around the outer banks there are tons of little channel islands that make up the intercoastal waterway. They are always fascinating to me, since they barely rise out of the water and are often covered in various forms of wildlife. I stopped on this one briefly to look around a few days ago and found deer! I didn’t know deer could swim…

Sandy Beach

I have learned a few lessons from my trips out here. For instance, beaching a kayak can be a difficult maneuver that requires some practice. The first time I tried to come ashore I ended up rolling the kayak completely on its side right as a ferry full of tourists were steaming by… quite embarassing.

Not the type of beach you want to land on

Worse yet, I have found that choosing the right landing is crucial, as you can see from this picture. I wanted to come ashore to see what looked like an old abandoned tree house out in the middle of nowhere. The minute I stepped foot out of the kayak, however, I sank all the way up to my knee in thick, nasty smelling mud! Imagine yourself with one foot still in a kayak while the other foot is submerged two feet in mud, and you are stuck straddling between… not fun.

Sea Grass

I have enjoyed floating around these waterways quite a bit. My only complaint, other than the ocassional ancient vacuum cleaner sticking out of the side of the steam bed, is that I had to wait so long before I could really enjoy this part of North Carolina. I guess you could say I have saved the best for last?

I took the kayak out for a spin this afternoon to test out a few modifications I made over the weekend. I’m planning a rather elaborate trip this weekend, so I also wanted to practice a few things with this kayak and make sure that I feel comfortable and prepared.

Dead swamp tree on the side of the New River

It turned out to be an eventful afternoon on the water. After paddling down the channel a bit, I decided to investigate a small inlet. Meandering slowly down the small river was very peaceful, but also a tad bit claustrophobic, especially when I peered into the tall grass and saw a rather large snake peering back at me. Before I could get into position well enough to grab my camera I heard a noise up ahead, then a splash. I looked up just in time to see the tail of an Alligator slide under the water! I considered moving further up the river for a moment, but then thought better of it. I left the Alligator to himself and headed for home instead.

The camera mount worked like a charm. I bumped it a few times with the paddle, but overall I think it’s going to work just fine. I took a few videos with different camera angles; one looking forward in the direction of travel, one looking at me while I paddle, and one looking to the side as I paddled. They all worked great.

I have to finalize some details about the trip this weekend, including where to keep the Motrin for all the aching muscles I’m going to have. Other than that, I am looking forward to a little time out on the water to explore the southern coast of the Outer Banks.

New River, Jacksonville, NC

Alert the presses! After hearing about the winter calamity plaguing the rest of the country for almost a full month, we here on the outer banks of North Carolina finally experienced it ourselves.

Dude, where's my car?

Unfortunately this freak weather decided to hit on a Saturday. Any other day of the week and it would have been a snow day for sure. In fact, we had a threat of ice about a month ago, and at 7:00pm the night before my work called and told me to delay coming to work the next day by two hours. I gladly turned off my alarm and slept in, but laughed the whole way to work as the temperature was barely in the upper 30′s and there wasn’t a bit of moisture on the ground.

Coastal North Carolina just doesn’t know what to do when the white stuff falls. Our snow removal service is Jim Bob and his 1978 Ford F-150 Truck with a front loader (and no side view mirrors). Of course, everyone with a 4×4 decides they are going to go out and prove their worth, assuming driving in snow is the same as driving in mud (a state pastime out here). I find no end to the irony that this morning the only two vehicles I saw off the road were a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a Dodge Ram 4×4 with the words “Off Road” written on the side. Meanwhile my little Subaru Outback trotted along nicely as we went out to buy my son some snow boots so we could play in the new winter wonderland that had become our backyard.

The view from the back porch

After some excessive bundling up, we ventured outside to enjoy my son’s second experience in snow in as many years (we had to travel to Indiana for his first). He seemed to enjoy himself much better this time around… that is until I realized that he was standing in the snow with only one boot on. I am not sure how long he had been bootless, but it took me some time to hunt around in the snow to find his other one. Needless to say, I didn’t win Parent of the year today.

Despite his nearly frostbitten foot, he stuck it out for about a half hour as we tried to build a snowman. The snow was perfect for snowballs, but didn’t want to cooperate as snowman snow. Despite our drawbacks, we prevailed and made the first (as far as I could tell) snowman in the neighborhood. I dressed him up with oversized legos from my son’s toychest for eyes, a nose, and mouth, and used two vacuum cleaner attachments as arms. I threw my hat on there for style.

North Carolina's first snowman?

30 minutes was enough for us. We called it quits and headed inside for some warmer and dryer clothes. Our feet are thawing out as we speak…

The fam

If you want some serious irony, look closely at my son’s feet. You’ll notice that one of his boots actually fell off right before I took the picture! Guess I need to remember to double up his socks next time?