Jim Moy

Friday was smooth as glass, very nice. Was just as calm as Tuesday, but not nearly the Walleye feeding activity, I wonder what triggers it?

Been thinking about when to do some re-entry practice. Thought I might do it at the Marina area where I could just tie on to the dock there if it’s not very busy. But it’s shallower and so I might get more gunk into the cockpit if I try to submerge the boat. Got my pump and paddle float, just need some rope.

Okay, there’s a sign near the entrance to Boyd Lake indicating the type of fish you’re likely to see. I’m pretty sure the ones I’ve been seeing on the North side are Walleye, by the tall dorsal fins they had. This past Tuesday things were very calm, and near the shoreline they were swimming so close to the edge that they’d appear to “beach” themselves, chasing after prey. It was quiet, so I could hear their attacks, and they were going at the rate of two or three per second, so I just sat and listened for a little while before making my way back.

Super clear day paddling on the 15th, this past Tue. Return to the weekday lunch time calm, nice. Seeing as my usual pre-kayak exercise was jogging around Donath Lake, watching for cars and trucks with wide mirrors while dancing on the edge of the non-shoulder on CR13, the past weekend paddling seemed pretty peaceful.

I’ve got a bilge pump and a paddle float now. Need to find some time to practice dumping out and re-entering. Then I’ll feel better about heading toward the middle of the lake. These both stash right behind my seat pretty nicely.

Entry for Sunday, 6/13: I went out the day after the lightening, which happened to take out my wireless connection and so it’s been up only sporadically since.

Lots of sailboats out on Boyd today, very colorful! Interesting that even though it was quite a bit more crowded (weekend), more of the motor boats and jetskis were not headed into the North area, maybe partly because there was a parks ranger cruising around.

Ooo, lightning. Time to paddle back. If I’d gotten out an hour earlier like I’d originally planned, I would’ve been fine and out of the water before the lightning started.

First try on a Saturday. More people, of course. Stopped at the Marina, got a parking spot pretty close to the ramp, and just walked past a half-dozen boats maneuvering their way in/out. The area is wakeless, so it’s not as bad getting out of there as I thought it might be, boaters were courteous and waved.

But then the storm moved in, so paddled like mad to get out. Try again another time.

Didn’t look this morning like I was going to be able to head out, but it cleared up pretty nicely. Moderately windy, the most I’ve seen so far, and plenty of little waves, so my paddling rhythm was a little uneven today. I wonder if days like this it would help to have one of those foot-controlled rudders.

Another fish story, a fourteen to sixteen inch fish (Walleye?) was puttering about on the surface near the North end of the lake, his fin sticking up a few inches out of the water. I could tell how big it was because I paddled right up beside it and it didn’t seem to care. Then I paddled past it, turned around, and quietly floated up beside it again, and just as I was coming past it dove. Maybe it didn’t care that I was just passing through, but was worried when I came for another pass. (It was thiiiiiis big!)

Record breaking highs yesterday, but today was just a nice, sunny outing. Was windy this morning so I suspected I’d see more chop on Boyd, but it died down by the time I got out there.

Put a little Vaseline on my thumb just behind the knuckle and to the side where it rubs against the paddle. This kept my thumb from getting raw there, but is also made the paddle pretty slick. Wasn’t much of a problem though so long as my paddling technique was steady.

Wind was more from the East today than usual. I thought my paddling was pretty even, but the boat kept turning into the wind. Maybe the waves or currents had something to do with it too.