Into Farm Island

After some rain earlier in the weekend Pat and I decided to get the boats out again. Since we haven't been down there yet we decided it would be a good day to go into Farm Island. We met at the main boat ramp and headed east along the island. There was a littel bit of a tail wind on the way back and I forgot how easily the Tempest gets turned in the wind. So, I broke down and put the skeg part way down to track straighter. When we got to the point where you can go into the island we went in and into the channel that is the farthest towards the center of the island, past the old Lewis and Clark Monument. We continued until we couldn't go any farther. Pelicans were flying around and we both kept trying to get good pictures of them, but they always seem to stay away or go by when we don't have cameras at ready. I got one picture of some as they were flying right over head by laying back on my kayak. Unfortuantely they were still a bit too high.

Naturally, the wind we fought outside the island was nearly nonexistent in the island. We thought it would be a bit of a chore to paddle back after exiting the island and into the wind. But, it really wasn't too bad. The Tempest cuts through the waves so well that I enjoy going into them more than I do having them at my back. All of the paddling effort is used for propulsion and none is "wasted" on trying to keep on track. By the time we got back to our vehicles we had put on another 4 miles. Just a short paddle, but it was nice to get back to a new spot for the year. Our timing was pretty good too. About the time we got done loading boats, paddles, PFDs, etc., the wind started to pick up.