I haven’t been paddling. My truck is in need of repairs, so no way to get to the water. Hopefully it gets fixed tomorrow.
Staying healthy is the best revenge.
Like a lot of people, when we age we have a list of things we have had to overcome. I have had two badly broken legs and heart issues which have slowed down my backpacking career at age 71. But in a boat I can still kick ass.
I turned 73 today .My left shoulder won’t shut up and my legs don’t function well.
I plan to be paddling Friday.
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It’s been two weeks for me. We’ve suffered pervasive SE winds at 10 mph which sets a current against outbound trip. Return trip has a tail wind which reduces cooling for the last 4 miles. Also creates weather cocking, which is just a nuisance.
The last trip was N about 7 mph. Then I realized it blows those blood sucking flies out from land. They bite through clothing. I couldn’t paddle more than a few strokes without swatting with my hat. I hate those blood suckers. Seaweed came early this year, and the shoreline is thick with it. Still a good trip except for the flies. Gale wind supposed to hit at around 2:00 pm today.
Finally got a Pelican Case for my bigger phone. Loaded an android app similar to the app posted above. My GPS is nice but cluttered with blue chart navigation markers, depths, etc, and I need to take a picture of the screen to save. This will let me screen shot and save.
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Happy birthday, string. 
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Happy birthday String! Enjoy!
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It’s kind of like the famous poet (Garth Brooks )said, " I’m much too young to be this damn old!"
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I was a commercial union mason contractor for 40+ years. Guy worked for me he was 80 and we had a party on a police station I was building. He still earned his keep. He worked till 83 doing small patching for a contractor. I knew him since I was 5. My father in the other hand with bad diet, alcohol, and smoking was on disability at 55 and dead at 67. Miracle he lasted that long. Like he said “Good care takes the head off bad luck.” Mother was gone from cigarettes at 68. I see all big tough guys from school who were bullies are now just shadows. People who picked on me now I laugh at. I could twist their head off.
Every forward stroke I think Amen.
Was at friends wake 58 years old. Drinker way overweight he dropped dead. Talking to people at wake about kayaking I told them my usual range on south shore of Long Island. They ask if I put it on the car to get there. I laughed and told them I launch in the backyard and paddle there… 
.
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People tell.me, “kayaking must be fun!” I never thought that. It’s definitely rewarding, always challenging, but I never thought of it as fun. I only know two people who will go out with me on my excursions. I’ve made several local paddle trips with two of my granddaughters. They have potential. Especially the oldest at 13. I plan to eventually get her a good boat
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Funny, I think of it as rewarding, challenging, but also… super-fun! In fact I’m always telling people who say “that looks challenging” how fun it is. 
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Just love the big old loopy rivers. This one was running pretty fast though. If you stopped paddling you went backwards. The drift down was easier but still had to paddle or it would push you sideways. Fun, fun, fun.
Reminds me of the ethos of Eroica, a vintage bicycle ride, “The beauty of fatigue and the thrill of conquest”
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I resist the word fun. I think of a carnival ride as fun. Now that you mention it, the wave riding is as close to fun as it gets, but there’s a limited thrill in a 30 inch wave.
I enjoy the solitude of an open bay with no boat noise, fresh air in your face, drifting, seeing the tidal flow interact with the river flow. That make it worth the effort getting out there. Flat and calm with long low rollers rhythmically raising and lowering the boat. That’s relaxing. Some play in the big surf, that would be fun.
Doggy Paddler, you made me think of ridding the water flow out of Fairlee Creek and Still Pond, when the tide changes, all the water in the basin drains through a narrow channel, but haven’t had the opportunity to be there alt the right time, except for a few trips. That was a rush.
Fun to me is The Tail of the Dragon in TN, or the Blue Ridge Parkway with no speed limit and my six speed Tremec. Dang!
So you live on a better piece of property than them… seems like along time ago they didn’t apreciate you as well as you did’nt them…
You should try Moonshiner28 and Cherohola Skyway. Both are less crowded and just as challenging and beautiful.
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Who appreciates bullies? I never took their shit, ever.
Davebart, the bicycle for me is about speed. Just push to see how fast the bike will go. I went back on the trail and marveled at the obvious difference between going a mile in the boat, compared to the bike. 4 mph in a boat takes 15 minutes, while 15 mph on a bike only takes 4 minutes. I previously ended up with muscle cramps at night after the first half dozen trips. I’m managing that much better, but the saddle just isn’t breaking in the way it used to.
Thanks for Moonshiner and Cherohola. Looking that up. There are a few others, but don’t recall the names.
I really cannot comprehend doing an outdoor sport activity that is not fun. Life is just way too short to ps away having fun because you are not going fast.
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This is why I quit racing both canoes and bicycles. Not that I didn’t enjoy racing, it was the training. Making sure I did the required miles and made the right times in training to be competitive sucked the fun out of a simple paddle and bike ride.
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