First trip in new pirogue

[jdupre']

Left at daylight this morning on the first legitimate trip with the new pirogue. Put in on Grand Bayou, a bayou that runs through the town by the same name. I grew up in Grand Bayou but it is gone. A few years ago, a gas storage well leaked 300 million cubic feet of gas into an underground aquifer and it escaped into the small town. My mother and everyone else was evacuated from their homes for two months. To make a long story short, buyout offers were made and everyone ended up selling out and almost all the homes were moved. So the town I grew up in is no more.

Anyway, I paddled down the bayou and poked around in some smaller bayous and sloughs that I had not been in in 30 or35 years. Saw 20 or 30 wood ducks and heard that many more. Found a tiny logging canal and followed it back and found 7 wood duck nesting boxes. Poked around for another hour and pulled over to a spoil bank(levee) the highest ground I could find (18 INCHES above water level) and broke out the alcohol stove and made a pot of coffee. While I drank my coffee, I watched a squirrel feed 20 ft above my head.

Did some more investigating and then headed for home. Just to see what she would do, I paddled hard for a few hundred yards until I had water splashing on either side of the bow. No way to measure it , but I seemed to be going faster than a quick walking speed. I was satisfied with that.

I came back and plotted my course on Goggle Earth and it was about 6.5 miles. I was not tired at all and I figure on the slow moving streams we have here I could easily do 12 -15 miles a day. Looking forward to the cooler weather so I can plan an overnight trip.

Joey

 

[oldsparkey]

A good day , a good boat , some decent weather and old time surroundings. That is what memories are made from and good times are a part of that.

Top it off with a shore break , a hot liquid or a snack or both , the perfect day. Then to have all that fun a boat you made , life is good.

I don't know about you but about 100 years ago when I was young and would take out , the night before or early in the morning my Mother would do up some home made bread and fry up some side meat ( for the Yankees it is called salt pork or white bacon). Slice off a couple chunks of that bread , a good inch thick or better , drop the bacon in there and wrap it in wax paper.

Man while duck hunting or fishing , that was some fine eating and I would make me a steaming cup of tea to go with it. Just finished supper , steaks off the grill , fresh corn on the cob and out of the garden string beans ( snaps) and dang if I'm not hungry thinking about those days.

I will have to get me a good (salt pork) chunk , slice it and fix it up for a sandwich tomorrow.

Chuck.

 

[jdupre']

Sparky, haven't thought about salt pork in a long while. Mama used to cook boiled potatoes and salt meat and serve 'em with creamy La. style white beans ( navy beans for you Yankees). We had that for dinner ( what we always called the noon meal) probably 2 or 3 times a week. She's still got that ceramic bowl she would serve white beans in . Probably held several thousand dishes of beans over the years. Good memories.

Joey

 

[Kayak Jack]

Sorry to hear about your town, Joey. sad. Not sure if I'd have lit a fire there today or not. Makes a Thermos bottle kind of appealing.

Along with you, I enjoy poking up into little inlets, streams, etc. just to see what's there. Stopping for a cuppa tea, snack, etc.. really adds a lot to the trip.

I sometimes carry a small bird call http://www.epartyunlimited.com/birdcall.html and try to bring up birds & other animals to watch.

 

[Bootlegger0173]

Sounds like fun.

 

[jdupre']

Jack, the danger of the escaping gas is long gone, but I wouldn't have lit a fire after the big leak for several months. BOOOOM!!

Joey

 

[Kayak Jack]

Yeah, that would be scary. Years ago, in northern Japan, our guys were tracking a fuel leak in the right wing of an F-102 jet fighter. It had been parked in an isolated area, worked on for a couple of weeks, leak checked many times, and a lot of JP-4 (highly refined kerosene used for jet fuel) had run into the snow.

Finally, they got it fixed. The plane was towed away and the restriction barrier (no entry within 50') was removed. A guy was walking back from lunch, approached the hangar, and flipped his still it cigarette out. It landed in the snow that was soaked with JP-4. Ka WHOOOSHHH