A Very Wet SK102

I have written about SK102 in past years and so I won't write a long post here. I'll just mention that this year's event was unusually cold and rainy. I remember last year perspiring on a warm and sunny Friday as I set up my tent. In contrast, this year I brought my down jacket along and made good use of it Friday night - the temps got down into the high 30's overnight! Actually, Friday afternoon was quite pleasant and I had a chance to go out and do some rolling practice; it remained pleasant for the Friday night paddle. It was later in the evening that the temperatures began to plummet. After the paddle folks hung out and socialized for a bit, but as the cold set in we all retreated to our tents. Not being an "early to bed" type, I stayed up and wrote a blog post on my iPad about a recent cycling adventure before I turned  in.

Friday Night Paddle (Ron Tucker's photo)

 After a cold night Saturday morning was, of course, chilly. I assisted Ed Schiller in teaching rescues and towing. Ed is a professional instructor - a great instructor and a really nice guy. I learned a lot from his teaching. As is typical for the assistant, I demonstrated a lot of the rescues. I was wearing my dry suit and the water was warm, so it shouldn't have been a problem. However, something about the way I was wearing my watch was pushing against  the wrist gasket of my suit, which caused it to leak. By the time I finished the class I was soaked and really uncomfortable inside my suit. At lunch break I stripped out of my suit and dumped out probably a quart of water. Ick. It was at this point that I also discovered I had forgotten to bring the bag with my lunch food (fortunately I had plenty of other food) and I found out that Valerie was in a panic looking for me from home. My phone lost coverage half a mile off I95 on Friday (another reason I'm very dissatisfied with T-Mobile) and I hadn't contacted her - and from her perspective was missing in action.

That was a low point, but I solidered on. In the afternoon, freshly re-bundled up and back into my maybe-dry suit I assisted the same rescues and towing class with Jan Sheehan. Jan is a relatively new instructor and it was a contrast from teaching with Ed. Once again, it was my job to demonstrate various rescue techniques. After the morning's experience I was initially hesitant to get back into the water but the good news is that my wet suit worked (no wristwatch!) and I stayed dry. Realizing that I was staying dry I was happy to jump in and demonstrate whatever they wanted. We joined up with another section of the same class which had only a few students (a certain number of people opted out of getting wet because of the cool weather) and the instructor from that class did some demonstrating too. Jan never got into the water - but all our students did, and they did very well.

As we were finishing up the afternoon session it began to rain. And rain. And rain. So much rain that the the grills were dragged up the hill and evening BBQ was relocated to under the pop-up shelter "tent city". The bonfire and entertainment were cancelled. Not long after dinner I retreated to my tent. A movie on my iPad (first time I had ever watched a movie in a tent, which somehow seems wrong) and a glass of cognac to counter the cold and wet and all was right with the world. I was camped adjacent to Susan Green - close enough to talk tent to tent. While I was watching a movie, she was reading a book using the Kindle app on her phone. The guy in the next tent, also within earshot, piped up that he was reading on his tablet computer too. We've come a long way from the days when tent time meant reading damp paperbacks by the light of a dim, flickering flashlight.

Sunday morning the rain began to taper off. Activities went on as planned, but many of us began our exodus early. Waking up cold and damp just makes me want to head for the great indoors. I packed up in the mud, throwing all my stuff into the back of the car to be dried off at home. Needless to say, as I drove home the weather cleared and after a weekend outside in the cold and rain I arrived home to gorgeous, sunny weather - perfect for airing out my gear in the backyard :)

SK102 is always fun. This year, maybe a little less than usual due to the weather, but still fun.And look, someone gave me a shout-out: http://www.cpakayaker.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8805#p31659

Lake Anna Family Campout

About once per year I convince the family to go camping. That’s long enough for them to forget the details of the last trip, and so they agree. Actually, Ted would camp every weekend, particularly if he got to drive to the campground. It’s Valerie and David who need convincing – anyplace without WiFi or A/C is indistinguishable from Guantanamo Bay in their eyes. This year we headed for Lake Anna State Park. The park added camping just a few years ago, and it’s quite nice campground – large sites, clean bathhouses, lots of trees. As a compromise we booked in a camper cabin rather than a tent site. That way Valerie would have a somewhat real bed and a ceiling fan.

The ride down was a challenge. We hit enormous traffic. The drive, which is under 100 miles, took over four hours. I was coming down with a cold and started to get really tired in the stop-and-go traffic. Valerie took over driving and I promptly fell asleep for the rest of the ride down I95 – good thing, actually, since I think it helped my energy level for the rest of the weekend. Checking in was easy; dinner was a feast of hot dogs and chips. Ted and I took a walk in the dark down to the lake – really pretty. Friday night I slept like a log. Valerie, deprived of her Tempurpedic mattress and air conditioning, tossed and turned.

Saturday AM I got up somewhat early, despite my cold, and hit the lake for about an hour of paddling. I came back to the campsite to – surprisingly – find everyone awake and waiting for breakfast (most of our supplies were in the car, with me). Teddy cooked pancakes “Scout Style”. I think these were, in fact, “Ted Style”, meaning that rather than make normal size pancakes he made the huge, pan-sized pancakes. I think he likes the novelty of making such huge pancakes, but in fact it’s hard to get them fully and evenly cooked. Still, who can complain about his eagerness to cook breakfast? I drew cleanup duty, which included scrubbing the “Ted Style” mess out of the pan and prep dishes. We spent the rest of the day at the lake. Having grown up going to ocean beaches, I still maintain that lake beaches aren’t “real” beaches, but over time I have grown to appreciate the relaxation of not having to worry about the kids, because there are no waves, no sea creatures and no undertow. In the late afternoon we headed back to the campsite. D & V hung out while Ted and I nabbed a couple of geocaches located a short walk from the campground. We also kept passing by a site near ours that was stuffed with 20-somethings having a grand old time (not too wild) on a group campout. I told Ted, “this could be you and your friends in a couple of years.” He likes envisioning that sort of thing – his grown-up future. Saturday night we had an enormous campfire, again courtesy of Ted. S’mores were made, of course.

Sunday morning I got up even earlier, so I could get my morning paddle in without keeping the rest of the family waiting. Another nice hour-long paddle, plus some bracing practice. This time I was back just as everyone was waking up – well, Valerie claimed never to have fallen asleep the whole night, but in fact she must have dozed off for at least a few minutes since she was just waking up when I got back to the cabin. Then we packed up and hit the road – with Ted behind the wheel on the twisty roads leading back to I95. I thought he id OK, except for drifting off the road here and there, but by the time we pulled into the Thornburg McDonalds, Valerie was at her wits end. That was the end of Ted’s driving for the day.

Was it a successful trip? By our family’s standards, I’d say so. Yeah, there was some friction here and there, but overall we had a good time, particularly when we were down at the lake. Now I’ve got to wait a year for them to forget so I can suggest it again.