Six of us pushed off from the Rowing Dock Wednesday evening. The weather was not blistering at all, but lovely, not too hot or humid, and with a nice breeze. Lots of people in different boats were doing many different things on the water; it was a festive atmosphere.
AnnD said she was a new member, and that she had been alternating between Austin and Alaska for some years. We were honored that this was her first outing with TOWN. My first outing was with CarolC, a walking historical tour of downtown Austin. StephanieN brought her own boat, fresh from last week’s paddle with Gail, and showed me her transport arrangement that puts the boat in the van right up into the passenger seat. JaniceB and AnnaE made last-minute time in their day, and Gloria’s arrival made the group complete.
We headed toward Barton Springs, Anna in lead as usual. Janice had brought her camera and wanted a picture of the skyline with our boats on the river. We fell victim to a member of the free-spirited encampment in the middle of the river, who helped us organize the boats side by side and end-on, waving, etc., but declined to lie across them for the photo. Alas, they turned out to be unfixably blurry and very low resolution. We’ll have to try again for that photo for Janice.
As we turned into the Barton Springs outflow, there was a young musician with amplifier singing to the boaters. Stephanie was checking to see if there was any merch, he was quite good. She has been busy since returning from the Peace Corps in Gabon, volunteering wholeheartedly for several organizations, but she shared with us that she was about to get her first real job in a long time.
Janice has sent us the picture of a great blue heron; the resolution is such that when you expand the picture, it is like being with us on the water. And imagine yourself kayaking under the bridge, too, a great picture to send your cousins! We saw few turtles, and Gloria said that on a recent paddle, her granddaughter had commented there didn’t seem to be as many as before, and wondered maybe the February ice storm had killed the smaller ones. We watched a man really working to bring in a good-sized fish, just like the movies, and when he got it aboard, possibly a largemouth bass, he took a picture and put the fish back. According to the internet, it is not uncommon for anglers to catch and release 20-30 bass per day in the 2-3 pound size. Not much fun for the bass.
Although Ann and Janice couldn’t join us for supper, the rest of us headed to Jason’s Deli in Rollingwood. We put tables together outside and had a chance to chat without shouting across the water, but keeping a respectful distance and working on our ice cream sculptures.
Our next outing will be again in the evening, September 1st. Two daytime outings are planned for later in the month. If you haven’t yet tried kayaking, this would be a good time, our season ends in in October. Nice people put us in the boats and take us out, and never laugh or take mean photos, and the rest is smooth sailing. . . or, paddling.