Cool, Exciting, Kayak Adventure

We’ve had a long string of beautiful weather that for one reason or another we haven’t taken advantage of. I’ve been fighting a cold for 2 weeks now. So last night as we went to bed I told Penny I might go kayaking in the morning. She asked what time I wanted to get up. (It’s too cold for Penny to kayak right now but she wanted to make sure I went.) I would make the final determination in the morning as to whether I went or not. I’ve been sleeping hard lately and not getting up until 7 or later due to the cold.

I woke at 5:30 and lay there thinking if I fall back to sleep it means I shouldn’t go. At that moment Penny poked me saying it was time to get up. She thought it was 6:30 but read the clock wrong. I saw it as meaning I would go kayaking today.

It took me over an hour to get going. I had to put the racks on the car and untie and remove the security cable from the kayak. I had lashed it down to withstand Ida last week. In the process I made first use of the tie-down hardware I got at Harbor Freight and they worked as advertised.

There was no wind this morning leaving the Bayou looking like a big mirror. It was a cool 50 degrees. I showed myself that I was out of practice for kayaking by stepping into the water with my right foot as I got in the kayak. I usually get off dry. That was soon forgotten when I started paddling. The rising sun shined like a spotlight on the western side of the bayou. It made for a brilliant reflection on the relatively ripple free water.

On the way up the bayou I was passed by 3 pelicans (one at a time) flying using ground effect to skim only inches above the water. One of them startled a fish which splashed away in turn startling the bird out of its graceful flight.
At the head of the bayou fish were feeding everywhere. They either made a small splash as they snatched their prey or made a circular ripple as the turned and dove to pursue their breakfast.

                               ripples left by fish--also Fall on the bayou


I went up the small stream at the head of the bayou slowly and carefully making sure I didn’t startle any nasty critters. I didn’t see any but I did hear something that worried me a little. When I was about as deep in the woods as I could get in the stream I heard something big plunge into the water out of sight from me but just on the other side of a small hill. I thought, when I heard 2 heavy footfalls in the water, that it was a deer. But then there was no sound of anything running away. In fact, there was no sound at all. It sounded as if whatever it was took 2 heavy steps as it waded into the water and then went under. My thought was gator or very very big turtle. I’ll never know. This was the point where I decided to get out of there. Senses alert I floated downstream and back to the bayou.

When I broke out from the stream I could see a huge wake being made about a quarter mile from me. Then I saw the porpoise that was making it. It was leisurely feeding on all those fish that I had seen feeding earlier. The porpoise usually work their way up the bayou and then return back down so I headed down the bayou on a course that might intercept its path. Unfortunately it was too fast for me so I just continued heading back to the car.

To my surprise the porpoise came back and started surfacing about 100 ft to my side. I took some pictures and was happy. Then the porpoise went under and I didn’t see it until it surfaced about 300 ft down the bayou. So I went back to paddling thinking it would leave me in its dust.

After a couple of minutes the porpoise suddenly surfaced and exhaled just off to the left of me. It was close enough that it startled me. I once again stopped rowing and grabbed the camera and the porpoise disappeared again. So I went back to paddling.

The next encounter was amazing. I’m paddling and looking around for the thing when I catch motion in the water just to the right of the bow. The porpoise was swimming along with me right next to the boat. As it began to cross the bow I tried to get a picture. This is the result. The camera picks up all the reflection.  The eye filters it better and I had a wonderful view.

The porpoise then surfaced in front and to the left and I got this shot after he exhaled. You can see the spray from his blowhole if you look carefully.

I finally figured out at this point that the critter liked it when I paddled and left when I stopped. I decided to forget about pictures and just paddle and enjoy. The porpoise returned 2 more times and actually swam with me for about a hundred feet. It ended its inspections of me by once again passing under the bow—so close I thought it was going to bump me and surfacing off to the left close enough that I could have poked it with the paddle. It was a great experience.