Day 160 (THE SPOT IS WORKING)

Daily stats
Start: 5:00 AM - Durant Island on ICW
Finish: 2:30 PM - Piney Island on ICW near Barco, NC
Time: 9:30 (1:30 for lunch and water stop)
Daily dist: 31 miles
Total dist: 3000+ miles
Companions: None
Weather: Clear and beautiful with a 10-15+ SW wind
Notes: I beat the wind and had a great crossing.

As you know a couple days ago my second new SPOT quit working after just two days of use.  Apparently it just needed a day of rest because last night, on a whim, decided to give it a try and what do you know, it was working again.  The folks at SPOT are actually being really good about helping me out.  Right now I'm a little spooked out with the luck I've had with these things lately and don't completely trust this new one yet.  We'll see how it goes over the next few days.  I won't be in as remote an area so my cell phone can cover if it should konk out again. 

It’s interesting how tuned in one gets when he spends enough time outdoors. I’m normally a pretty sound sleeper but lately subtle changes in the weather and my surroundings at night have woken me up. It isn’t enough to keep me up I simply wake interpret what I’m hearing then dose off again. For instance the sound of the waves lapping against the beach can change as the tide rises and falls. If I’m camped exceptionally close to the water I tend to take note of the change even in my subconscious. Two nights ago a sudden gust of wind from out of nowhere in the middle of the night signaled a rain shower that started moments later.

Last night I went to bed with flat calm water in the southwest facing leeward side of the island on which I was camped. The wind was supposed to swing to the southwest and, sure enough, at 11:00 PM I was wakened by the sound of little waves sounding against the coarse sand beach. I dosed back off with a smile of my face knowing that the predicted southwest tail wind had arrived but a bit concerned that it was already blowing and could build to something bigger than I really wanted by early morning.

With a desire to beat the wind to work I woke at 4:00 AM, grubbed down two Pop-Tarts and an apple, broke camp and was in my boat by 5:00. Oyster bars steered me two miles west of the island before I was able to turn north and begin the crossing. I’ve done longer crossings before, much longer (even on this trip), but the winds have been up for the last five days and these sounds are famous for getting rough, so I was leaving nothing to chance. All decked out in my Kokatat paddling jacket and ready for anything I started across the sound with little waves already beginning to form in the SW breeze. Thankfully the wind held for the three hours I needed to make it safely across and I made it without any fuss except for the incredulous looks of yachtsmen passing by in their giant boats.

Hauling out at a marina can be tricky thankfully I was able to slide the boat up onto their lawn at the end of the docks

Coinjock marina and restaurant - to me it says Burger Fries and Cold Coke!

Around noon I finally passed into the first accessible civilization I’d seen in three days at the “town” of Coinjock, NC. There I pulled out at the Coinjock marina and had a burger and fries for lunch and topped off my water bags. With a full belly and full water bags (the best two things in life) I got back in my kayak and paddled on one more hour to today’s camp. I had spied sand on the map on the west side of the river but a first hand view of the south side revealed an established “rustic” camp site cut out of the Live Oak forest on the top of Piney Island. Complete with a table and park bench this beautiful shady spot, I’m sure, is somebody’s private place. As with any place I camp I intend to only borrow it for a night leaving nothing more than footprints and a groove in the sand where I dragged my boat back into the water.

Looking North - Sizing up tomorrow's paddle