I'm trying to figure out what year the Pirates of Georgetown Halloween party tradition started. The earliest pictures I have are from 2003, but I have fuzzy memories that it may have started a year or two earlier. In any case, it has become an annual tradition which attracts kayakers not just from the Georgetown group but from the entire Chesapeake Paddlers Association. The party is always bittersweet - as fun as it is to hit the water in costume, it also marks the end of the club-sanctioned Thursday evening paddling season. There are people at the party who I won't see again until April. Without question it marks the end of languid evenings by the river. Soon the staff at Jack's will tow the docks away for the year, leaving only the small winter dock. Those of us who go out over the Winter are facing the cold months ahead - months of freezing hands and uncomfortable dry suits.
But for tonight, all is well. There are rubber duckies floating in a pool of duck blood (which turns out to be red wine). There's pizza, veggies, snack foods and there are desserts galore. I stay away from the giant cupcakes but hopelessly overdo it on someones home-baked oatmeal raisin cookies. I stick to Diet Coke as my beverage, so my only buzz is from sugar.
Before I know it, hours have passed and it's time to hit the road. The gravel crunches under the wheels as I pull out of the parking lot. I know I'll keep seeing some of the gang - on the water, at the pool, in the neighborhood - but I'll be watching the NOAA water temperature web page, waiting for the Potomac to once again warm up as Spring approaches.
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