Paddle Day 55: Oyster Farms, Migrating Owls and Navy Towers Blocking Communications

Paddling past some of the Navy towers 

Nice paddle, and then a fascinating evening: experiencing the Navy blocking of all RF communications and then catching migrating owls!

Forest being eaten by the sea

Paddling along the coast, it was so noticeable how the water is eating away at the land, and how hard some folks are working to hold back the water.

Oyster Farm operations on land

I passed oyster farms, where there are large areas of floating pens in which the oysters mature.  This one was fun as I could see the operations on land as well.  And I as I paddled past filming the operations, I can to a huge sign saying I was being videoed as well.

As I neared Point Lookout, I was so surprised to see Shane and Amy on shore.  They had driven down to check out the waves at Point Lookout, since my route said I was rounding the point.  They suggested it was too rough for that and were so glad that my next host, Melissa Boyle, was picking me up on the western side.

The evening was great as I got to help with catching and banding migrating saw whet owls!

Melissa and a saw whet

The other excitement (or lack thereof) was that the Navy tower next to Melissa's park ranger house blocks communications every night.  No cell signal and no internet.  That really interferes with blogging and navigating.

I was going to stay two nights with Melissa, but the weather for crossing the Potomac meant I had to leave the next morning.

Paddle Day: 55                                                        Date: Nov 3, 2014
Start: The Elms                                                       End: Point lookout
Distance: 13 miles                                                   Total distance: 729.6 miles
Max speed:  5.3 mph                                                Moving ave.: 3.9 mph
Kayak storage:  Melissa Boyle                                   Host: Melissa Boyle