Kayuta Whirlpool

      The mid-August Sunday was blazing hot. The launch site was filled with trucks with boat trailers, but we arrived early enough to secure decent parking spots. Fifteen paddlers made the long car trip to enjoy 12 miles of pure joy and survival skills practice: Cindy and Rick, Tish and Gene, Mary and Charles, Kim W., Walt, Jeff, Pam, Bob, Aneta and Robert, Hugh, and Marilyn.
      Right away we encountered an awesome wooden pirate ship. It looked like it came straight from the “Pirates of the Carribbean” movie except there was no Jack Sparrow or even Will Turner on board. How disappointing! Then we passed several recreational kayakers (as opposed to us – speed demons), one of whom invited us to take a break on her property if we chose to. She also said her house was for rent, and to call Clinton Florist to inquire. As we moved along into the less frequented areas, we saw beautiful water lilies. We also couldn’t help but notice that some leaves were already turning orange. Abomination! A little further along, Tish found a broom floating in the water and picked it up for a ride. No, she was not riding the broom; she just fixed it onto her deck. However, not wanting to be tracked down by some witch who left it behind, she mindfully abandoned it at our resting area in case next visitors wanted to sweep sand off the beach. Boy, someone tracked a lot of it, it was everywhere!
      We decided to go all the way to the rapids before we awarded ourselves with a break on the way back. We stopped for lunch at our usual miniscule weedy beach, which must be prime property now given its close proximity to a few sand castles. No one went swimming this time. How boring, I mean, that’s great! Kim took a group photo of us while balancing in her kayak against some reeds. We munched on Hugh’s nut clusters, and commiserated with Pam over her broken skeg. She had the same problem Kim once had at Otisco Lake (minus the dog poop) – where was Greg to fix it? Having refueled and rested, we set out again. This time Hugh’s boat wasn’t tethered to a tree, however he left his sunglasses on the back of his boat, and Pam had to help him retrieve them.
      The way back was nice, easy, and scenic – up to a point. Once we passed the first bridge we were overcome with such heavy motorboat traffic it felt like taking a walk on Manhattan’s 5th Avenue during rush hour. The boats and jet-skis were making bee-lines at top speeds all over the place, cutting each other off really close while often towing tubers behind. One could only hope the speeders had good judgment, good eyesight, or hadn’t had too much to drink. While the large and frequent whirlpool-style waves were delightful, the noise produced by the boats was so horrible you could hardly hear yourself think, and the oil and gas fumes were overwhelming and suffocating. This was the trade-off for good weather. It’s never that crowded when it rains… Yet it was nothing as compared to the huge freighter that sneaked up from behind on Bob and Robert when they were paddling St. Lawrence River the previous day.
      We all made it back safely, if somewhat overheated. Bob practiced his Eskimo roll and got a 50% success rate. Alternatively one could say he had a 100% success rate on a wet exit, and a 100% success rate on an Eskimo roll… The majority of the group proceeded to the Buffalo Head Inn for dinner.
      Kim’s dinner report: 8 of the 12 ate the infamous chicken and biscuits. Walt dug into his first! We may have seen more animals at the restaurant than on the lake. An inch worm made friends with Hugh and had a grand time playing on his fingers at the dining room table. Although nearly full, not too many passed up the desserts. It took 3 people to eat Pam's brownie sundae. Tish got out her tape measure and checked the pies' hugeness. Hugh and Walt ordered pie in takeout boxes. They said that they were for their wives. Righttttt! One piece was half eaten before leaving the restaurant. Walt will be taking off for a 3-week vacation in eastern Canada, so we'll miss him the next couple of paddles. Mary and Charles will be heading home to Florida next Sunday morning.