The Water Calls Me

Summer is disappearing quickly so I’m trying to maximize my time on the paddle board. I originally thought of heading out to Johnson’s Island after work, but wound up in Chestermere again instead. Mostly because I thought I might want a slushie or maybe even a taquito after, and there’s no place to get those in Carseland after 9 pm. Taquitos are especially important.

Sunset was at 8:38 pm and I tend to stay on lake until 9:30 pm, so having lighting is a must. Some boaters stay out late as well and it’s kind of nice if they can see you. I also hang close to the shore especially after dark because it’s where the boats are likely to be going a lot slower.

I have a headband with a flexible LED headlamp that is rather brilliant and there is a red taillight around the back that is also highly visible in the dark. My safety vest has LEDs in six inch strips, but they are not as bright. I did order some clip on LED lighting for the board itself over a week and a half ago and it is finally supposed to show up tomorrow. The more lighting, the better.

There was a good breeze when I first threw my board on the water and the air had the feel of a storm coming in. I decided I would stick to the north side of the lake so I could get back to the dock and leave quickly if needed.

As to the dock, it was crowded when I was trying to get out onto the lake. There was a fellow who looked like a Mexican bandito floating around the kayak launch, blocking it. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to get out of his crap kid’s dinghy or not so I waited politely. In the meantime a senior lady came off the lake and she had to use the kayak launch from the wrong side because of El Bandito. She needed an assist to get off of her board.

I finally asked the guy if he needed help getting out of the water. “Oh, nooooo. I just like it heeeereee.”

“Sir, you need to move. You’re blocking the launch.”

“Oooooh. Sooorrrry.”

Honestly, we need a law prohibiting fucking stupid people leaving their homes. Or voting.

There was no shortage of morons to be had. Several knuckle draggers were having a great time ignoring the 12 kph speed limit on the north side of the lake, but I only got video of the one. Where the hell is the RCMP boat when you need it? There were cars stunting all over the parking lot as well and you could hear them from any part of the lake you were on, they were so loud. So much for peace and quiet on the water. I hate living in Alberta so much.

There was one hopeful moment when the moron on the jetski went roaring up the NW corner of the lake towards the weir and I had a brief fantasy of him dying a violent death in it. No such luck, unfortunately. He sped out again a minute later, still well over the speed limit.

My goal for the night was to beat Tuesday’s 7.03 km track and I was making good progress. The lake was getting calmer as the evening progressed and I was speeding along the water quite nicely.

Unfortunately, the air was getting heavier with the feel of a storm coming in and I could catch the occasional whiff of ozone, meaning there was lightning upwind of me even if I couldn’t see it yet.

The wind started coming up strong again around 9:15 pm and now I could hear distant thunder and see the odd flash of lightning to the south. That made sense as the forecast said the storms were tracking north to us from Montana. I made my way to the kayak launch and got my board off the lake. The feel of the air told me a good storm was coming at us so I headed straight home sans slushie and taquito. The forecast had a hail warning and I wanted to get Vlad the Impala back under cover just in case.

The storm passed over Strathmore around 10:00 pm. Lots of wind and thunder and lightning, but only a small amount of rain and no hail. Not something I would have wanted to be on the lake for. Checking my GPS track was disappointing. Only 6.5 km, not anywhere close to the distance I was hoping for. I’ll have to go for 8 km on Saturday or Sunday. Oh well.

All images, videos, and GPS track courtesy of my OM System (Olympus) Tough TG-7.