Thanksgiving Day Squalls

Despite the fact that I had too much turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie, I managed to drag myself to the water the day after Thanksgiving for an afternoon paddle. I had upgraded some of the hardware for the filming system and was anxious to put it through its paces.

After launching at Chambers Creek I headed north past the old gravel yard. Although it was partly cloudy and dry, the weather to the west promised some rain and I could use the old rail road maintenance shack for shelter during my break. The wind was light out of the southwest, with the temperature around 38 degrees. Both the sky and water had this cold gun-metal gray to it, but the breeze felt clean and invigorating.

Just south of the shack the shoreline makes a small indention, and as I rounded the corner, there was a 28’ powerboat washed up on the rocks. This is the second boat I’ve found here on this beach, as last winter there was a small sailboat aground here. Is it possible that we have a Graveyard of the South Sound? I’m beginning to wonder. After filming a couple of rolls to see how the new gear would hold up, I stopped to investigate the boat. I suspect that our recent winter storms had blown this boat from its mooring, but it was obvious that I wasn’t the first one to come across it. Every usable piece of hardware was stripped from the hull. Sad to see any vessel stripped and abandoned.

The afternoon light and dark storm clouds gave the shore and derelict buildings a surreal aspect and I snapped photo after photo, pushing my departure just a bit too close. I had kept a weather eye on the squall approaching from over the Olympics but every time I headed to the boat and gear, I ‘saw’ one more photo that needed to be taken. The big heavy drops started to fall just as I shoved off from the shore. It wasn’t long before I was battling a BFT 4 headwind, but I didn’t have far to go so I rather enjoyed it…took some of the guilt of the preceding days over-indulgence away, and it was a good sea trail for the film gear on deck. All in all a rather nice way to give thanks.