Pungo Party!

The Wilderness Systems Pungo is an extremely popular recreational kayak. Twelve feet long, wide and stable, and with a big cockpit, it's perfect for many casual kayakers.

Sea kayakers sneer at the Pungo. It is not a "real" kayak, and our impression is that it's mostly paddled by yahoos without any regard for safety who survive their outings only because the Darwin effect isn't 100% reliable.

Last weekend we visited our friends A & S out at Bethany Beach. Imagine my excitement when S suggested that we spend Saturday kayaking in his and his friend Gene's Pungos. S had previously mentioned that he had bought a kayak and liked to paddle around "the pond" which made me expect a couple of hours of putzing around a scummy little pond. Truth be told, I had intentionally *not* brought my kayaking stuff so as not to encourage such an outing.

The three of us launched from the dock at their development (cool!) into what turned out to be a lovely salt pond. Gene and I did wear our PFDs.  S, who had belittled my suggestion of wearing a PFD when I had mentioned it in the past, was true to form and used his PFD to cover his legs against the sun. I had a Chesapeake Paddlers existential crisis moment  - what do you do when your host refuses to wear his PFD?? What is the proper etiquette when you notice your host is paddling with his paddle upside down?

Safety and etiquette notwithstanding, I quickly realized that this was actually going to be something much better than bobbing in a a pond. S is something of an Energizer Bunny in everything he does. When we cross-country ski at White Grass, he wants to be skiing non-stop. He is loathe to, for example, take a break at the lodge and enjoy the delicious White Grass soups (I, on the other hand, consider a break in the lodge a pleasant part of the overall White Grass experience). Kayaking was no exception to his MO. No putzing around for him - he took off, with a real paddling outing in mind.

It turns out that the salt pond onto which we launched is connected via a series of canals to Little Assawoman Bay (yes, there is a Big Assawoman Bay too - does this Bay make by Assawoman look Big?), where we explored the marshy channels. Assawoman is a wildlife refuge and so it's pretty and relatively un-despoiled by development. Poking through the marshes if fun - trying to find channels to get you just a little bit further, backtracking when they don't pan out, trying again.

Finally, after hitting about our hundredth dead end, we decided it was time to turn back. I actually enjoyed the trip back much more than the trip out through the canals. I like having a plan, and so it didn't sit well with me when we were just heading out kayaking with no destination and no idea of how long we were going out for. Once we turned around I had a firm idea of how much paddling we had to do and could relax and enjoy it.

I wasn't running a GPS, but from the map I estimated we covered about seven miles - not bad for any outing, and certainly a mega-trip by Pungo standards. A a good time, despite my boat snobbery and the uncertainty of the trip. And, y'know what - for exploring marshes, the Pungo is a great boat.