Day one, 6 April 2011

Today I realized a long-time dream of commuting on the river, putting my boat in the C&O Canal at Arizona Avenue, and paddling to Thompson Boat Center.  The reason that the dream was so long deferred was that in order to not have to lug my boat to my office, I had sumbitted my name to the waiting list for a rack space at Thompson back in 2004.  While I have paddled the route before, I had only done so on weekends when I could be met by someone with a car, so that I could take my boat out, strap it onto the car, and drive it home - not exactly the full-on, eco-friendly, Potomac-loving dream.

Then last week, after a seven-year wait, I was offered a rack space (I gratefully accepted!). Now everything has changed.  Today I left the house early with my boat on my shoulder, walked to the canal, dropped the kayak in the canal, and the dream became a reality.

The inspiration for this blog is simple: the river is different every day.  And because I will be traversing the same stretch of the river over and over again, I have an opportunity to document that difference.  In addition to appreciating the natural changes, I will also note the man-made differences - particularly garbage or other noticeable pollution.

Here we go...

The morning was clear and bright, and the river was placid.  The recent rains and high waters seem to have flushed out any garbage in this stretch.  Both banks were littered with dead-wood detritus, but little to no noticeable trash.

Notable brushes with fauna included paddling past colonies of cormorants.  The scene was right out of a documentary on the Galapagos Islands, as the birds numbered around 100 in each of the two groups I encountered sunning themselves on rocks protruding above the surface.  The next surprise was a close-range fly-by of a quick, blue kingfisher making its funny clicking/chirping call.  The last encounter came when I passed under Key Bridge to find three 8-man sculls and a coach in a Boston Whaler coming at me fast.  I aimed over towards Roosevelt Island, and followed that shoreline until I crossed back to the D.C. shore at Thompson Boat Center.

The notable brush with garbage was a bright blue thing about 2 feet long bobbing at the surface.  When I paddled over to pick it up so I could put it in the trash, I found that it was a smooth stick reflecting the clear, bright blue sky on its wet surface.

A glorious first day of this ongoing river commuting adventure.