Full Moon Paddle

For the past few months, a group of us has gone out on the Potomac River on the Saturday closest to the full moon. September's moon is the Harvest Moon, closest to the fall equinox. This time there were 20 of us in 13 boats, sea kayaks, single kayaks, and a few canoes.We set off on the Monocacy River at the Monocacy River Aqueduct (just 3 miles from our house) about 6:30. The Monocacy empties into the Potomac just a few hundreds yards downstream. We paddle out to an island on the Potomac, about a 20 minutes away, unless we dawdle, then 1/2 hour. This is a flat section of the river so many of us take sea kayaks. Last winter 3 of the men built 4 wooden kayaks from kits from Chesapeake Lightcraft. They are spectacular. Wish I had pix of them (next time). Sea kayaks skim over the water like water bugs, they're smooth and sleek and swift. My kayak is a race boat so it is especially fast but also very tippy. The above photo is looking towards the west.


And this one is looking to the east with the full moon rising.


Coming into the inlet to the island.


Someone turned their canoe upside down for a makeshift picnic table and laid out a spread. We all brought something to munch on and of course their was plenty of wine. There was even a 50 gallon drum (washed up on shore from a previous flood) to use for a "bar". Conversation was brisk with talk of politics as we stood or sat (some of the smarter folks thought to bring chairs).


The spread was yummy. We packed up around 10:00, slid into our boats and paddled slowly downstream under the light of the moon. I had brought my headlight but didn't even need it. There was even enough light to load our boats on the vehicles. Can't wait for the Hunter's moon of October! We'll see how long we can go into the winter months.