You Know You Have a Problem..

It’s March, granted it’s late March but it’s still March. I live in New England. It hasn’t been much of a winter but it has been cold. Water doesn’t change temperature as quickly as the air does. And yet, I find myself obsessing about putting my boat into the water. I’m craving the feel of floating down a river, or across a lake under my own power (and I'm not quite nuts enough to want to go swimming, yet). Logically I know this isn’t going to happen anytime soon, but that hasn’t stopped me from thinking about it.

Maybe it’s the relatively warm weather, or the predictions of near 70 degree weather on Friday, or the longer sunlight, or the finally finishing the kayak rack (photos soon) or the crew shells which now dot the Charles River morning and night. Or maybe I’m just nuts.

Of course I’m not as nuts as Brommer Bill who was out on the Charles in January – yes January! Bill has an advantage, though, he actually owns the necessary gear for cold weather paddling – wet suit, insulated booties, house near the river, full skirt… I don’t. This picture was taken by Bill, and yes that's snow on the front of the kayak.

So, I’ll have to content myself with dreaming about the first trip – likely nearly a month away and with dreaming about kayaking. On my list for dream support is acquiring the Northern Forest Canoe Trail maps. The NFCT is a link of waterways in New York, Quebec and northern New England. The organization has mapped the routes, including campsites and other local information.

And today I found myself checking out the details of the Run of the Charles. There’s a 6 mile race included in the offerings. I can paddle 6 miles – I’ve done almost that distance before, on that stretch of the Charles chasing after my nephew. What I don’t know is whether I could do it in under 2 hours (the slowest time listed in last year’s results is 1:54 minutes). I’d really, really hate to be last, and I’d really, really, really hate to be last by more than a couple of minutes.

Incidentally, the picture at the top is not me. It’s Kristen the KSC kayaker in last year’s Friends of Tuckerman Inferno pentathalon. Brommer (see above more nuts than I am note) will be doing the kayak leg in this year’s inferno. Since the race conflicts with NEFFA we are unlikely to be there to cheer him on, although we will be cheering from afar.