Last Full paddle of the regular Pirates season

One of the things I love about kayaking is the feel of the seasons changing. Unfortunately, in Fall this also means the end of the officially sanctioned weekly paddling groups (there are people who go out all Winter, but those people are crazy - that reminds me, I have to dig out my Winter paddling gloves). The "Pirates of Georgetown" group's season always ends with a Halloween party on the docks, including paddling in costume along the Georgetown waterfront. A hearty potluck beckons back at the boathouse, and so the Halloween trip is usually pretty short. So, the week before Halloween is the last full scale outing.

It was near high tide when we set out and so we decided to brave the Boundary Channel, a thin, twisty stretch of water that runs between Columbia Island and Virginia. The channel is impassable except near high tide. It also has a surprisingly remote feeling, bounded as it is by highways and the Pentagon. I've seen wood ducks happily nesting back there. A challenge to navigate during the day, the channel is really quite a trip in total darkness. But we followed each others marker lights and all made it through without incident.

After we got off the water it was Chipotle as usual. punctuated by one of our group being punched by an aggressive homeless guy on a bridge over the C&O canal. No harm done, and the presence of Tom in the group (Tom is about 6' 5" and, while a really nice guy, can present a pretty intimidating mien when he needs to be) prevented any further problems.