I should've flown a kite today

Out on the river this morning it was warm and very windy.  The wind was from the southwest, and that usually means rough water.  I figured I could use a little time out on that: my next race is on the Mississippi down at Vicksburg next month, and it's never guaranteed that we won't have rough conditions there.

From the marina I paddled to the mouth of the harbor and then up the river along the Tennessee bank.  As I neared the base of the Hernando DeSoto Bridge I found myself in one of the more bizarre predicaments I can remember.  Modern-day surf skis like mine have high-profile bows that quickly shed water from crashing waves and keep the boat up on the surface of the water.  The wind, blowing from my left, caught my bow and blew me sideways toward a log jam floating against the bank.  Despite turning my rudder hard to the left and forward sweeping on my right, I got blown up against the log jam and pinned there by the wind.

It was not a life-threatening situation as far as I could tell, but I felt like Paddle to the Sea when he gets trapped in Great Lakes ice for an entire winter.  One of my options was to hop in the water and swim/wade my boat to shore, but the water is freezing this time of year and I really didn't want to do that if I could avoid it.

Finally, by taking choppy paddle strokes and scooting the boat around with body-thrusts, I managed to maneuver myself next to a solid-looking log that I could push off on with my paddle.  I did so carefully, for if the log suddenly gave way I would be in the water.  After what felt like an eternity, I had my bow pointed into the wind and was able to paddle free of the log jam.

After that weird ordeal I decided to do just a couple of loops on the river between the HDB and the mouth of the harbor.  Then I returned to the harbor and did my little balance drill paddling in beam waves.  My balance has felt good the last several weeks.  A few sessions of floundering in that K1 had shaken my confidence in the surf ski, so I've put the K1 paddling on hold until warm weather is here for good.

I'm happy to report that I've slept better the last couple of nights.  I hope I can continue that streak.