MBCKC Paddle Reports

- - - November Big Boy Paddle Report - - -
Saturday, November 8, 2003

Despite a marine forecast calling for 15-20 knot winds, choppy to rough in protected waters, and a small craft advisory, Carl Hlavenka led the November Big-Boy Paddle as scheduled on a 13-mile loop tour of Bayou Cumbest and the Rigolets Islands, returning by way of Crooked Bayou. As Carl said of his decision, "Hey, it's supposed to be a big-boy paddle."

Nine paddlers, Lisa, Adam, Brint, Mark, George, Dick, Frank, Larry, and Carl, enjoyed ideal conditions with lighter-than-expected northeast winds and a route chosen by Carl that kept us generally in the lee of the islands and marshes west of Grand Bay. We got close-up looks at white pelicans and other birds as we paddled past shell mounds (those Indians must have eaten a lot of oysters), stopping for lunch on a sandy beach on South Rigolet Island. After close observation, George reckoned one bird species as having a genetic deficiency causing 75% of them to be one-legged. Others felt that the birds in question were merely holding one leg up while standing on the other. No one knew why.

Congratulations to Lisa on becoming only the third woman to participate in a big-boy paddle. Another record of sorts was set at the Point-o'-Pines boat ramp site. The one-dollar special launch fee for kayaks was the lowest I've seen at a commercial establishment.

- Larry McDuff