Winter has arrived

Late Friday night the most malevolent cold front we've had so far this winter roared in.  Yesterday morning I got in my boat as the temperature hovered around 30 degrees, the sun tried desperately to find gaps in the cloud cover, and a fierce wind howled from the north.  I paddled the touring boat.  The pogies were on.  I stayed in the harbor and sought out as much sheltered water as I could find.  I paddled for 90 minutes, and was thankful to have the session over with.

This morning, after doing five laps of my strength circuit, I returned to the dock with the mercury even lower--25 degrees or so.  But this time the sky was clear and there was very little wind.  The harbor was as smooth as glass, so I decided to go for the surf ski.

One problem I've encountered on sub-freezing days is that my surf ski's rudder is prone to freezing up.  Such was the case this morning.  I didn't want to force the pedals because I once broke a cable inside the boat and it was extremely difficult to repair.  So I just got in the boat and hoped it would thaw out as I paddled.  The rudder was turned slightly to the right, so I pushed away from the dock and muscled the boat into an open part of the harbor where I could paddle in large circles.  I completed almost one full circle when the rudder, warmed by the sun and the liquid water, came free.

I headed south toward the mouth of the harbor.  The sun felt good on my legs, clad in my heavy black neoprene wetsuit pants.  The day was pleasant enough that I decided to go out on the Mississippi and paddle up to the mouth of the Wolf River.  That plan changed, however, when I reached the mouth of the harbor and found the big river stirred up by some busy barge traffic.  If you paddle a surf ski on anything other than flat water, you will get wet.  And it wasn't a good day to be wet.  I had enough time to paddle up to the Hernando DeSoto Bridge and come back to the harbor before a big upstream-bound tow rig would arrive with its monster waves, so I did that.

Back in the harbor I headed north, planning to go up to the north end and then return to the marina.  Energized by the simple fact that I was not miserable on such a cold day, I paddled a strong tempo and thought happy thoughts.  I was getting pretty tired by the time I turned around and headed back south toward the marina, but it was the good sort of tired you feel when you've had a solid training session.  Actually, I'm sure I got a perfectly good workout on Saturday too, but where Saturday's session was an ordeal to be survived, this morning's outing, though colder, was delightful.  I'm always fascinated by the difference the presence or absence of wind and sunshine can make on a winter day.

It was still below freezing when I finished today.  Back on the dock, which is in the shade during the morning hours, the water was freezing to the bottom of my boat as I toweled it off.  I figure I'm not really training unless I do at least a couple of sessions on days like these each year.