Paddle Day 35: Paddle, Peddle, Paddle

Leaving Vero Beach Marina in a light rain.

Wrist problems led to a change of plans.  Paddled for six miles, then peddled for 12 miles and finally paddled briefly in the surf.
The hard paddling yesterday led to slight wrist injury.  I was tempted not to paddle today at all, but decided to give it a try.  Interesting paddling along mangrove edged islands, mostly uninhabited.  Tried switching back to the Epic euro paddle to use slightly different muscles.  Even that was not great for my left wrist.  So when, after about six miles of kayaking, I saw Chris peeking through the mangroves, I opted to stop.   I want to let my wrist heal before I do more damage to it.

As we put the kayak on top of the truck, I noticed that I have done damage to the kayak as well.  There are places along the keel where it appears the wood is showing, because the keel strip, and carbon fiber and fiberglass and resin have all worn away.  Yikes!  If I don't correct that, the water will seep into the wood, causing it to rot, and then my kayak falls apart.  Can't have that!  So we will let it dry out for a few days and do a repair.

When I can't paddle, I have to skip sections, as we have a schedule of campsites and talks to maintain.  But we also have folding bikes now!  So I decided to complete today's paddle using the bike.  It required a longer distance as the roads are more convoluted than the water here.  

On our way back to the campsite, we drove along the outer barrier islands.  At Sebastian Inlet the tidal currents where going out, and the wind driven waves from the ocean were coming in.  That led to great big waves all across the inlet.  That looked like such fun to play in with a kayak!  But my kayak has to dry out, and it's not a surfing kayak in any case.  So the final paddling of the day was the British version of paddling.  In other words, I went wading in the ocean.

British style ocean paddling

Tomorrow I may do the biking option again.  It will allow my wrist to heal and the kayak to dry out.

Gratitude List:

1. Paddling close enough to a flying pelican to see the lovely blue color near it's bill.
2. Seeing a manta ray breach right in front of me.
3. Laughing at the mangroves that are clipped like hedges so folks can see the water from their windows.
4. Having the option of biking
5. Having a wonderful husband helping me out in so many ways

Date: December 27, 2015                                             Restart Paddle Day: 35
Start location: Vero Beach, FL                                      Launch time: 7:40 am
End location: Sebastian                                                Land time: 9:40 am
Average speed: 3.2 mph                                               Max Speed: 5.2 mph
Miles: 19
Total expedition miles with kayak: 2133                      Motor-portage miles: 404
Kayak Storage:  Fort Pierce KOA
Host: Chris Percival