UJ in swells... and a nice way to close out the weekend

[rpecot]

I'm just returning from our family "stay-cation" in Fontainebleau State Park, just down the road from our house, and just adjacent to one of my favorite paddling getaways, Cane Bayou. Last year I brought my aluminum barge Grumman canoe and a plastic sit-on-top. This year, having just finished my UJ, I opted only to bring the one boat. Good thing, the weather was pretty crappy and there wasn't a whole lot of outdoor excitement going on. Between the storms, I did manage to launch my UJ and paddle the kids around, at least for a little while. There was a pretty strong Southerly wind on Lake Pontchartrain all weekend, making for some not-so-ideal pirogue paddling conditions.

Things I learned:

• 1+ foot swells, head on, will put water in the boat. Not a lot, but line those waves up, and you better start bailing.
• Taking a 1+ foot swell broadside is doable, but anything more, or loaded with gear, would spell trouble.
• On the positive side, the flat bottom UJ surfs like a champ. :lol:

Here's a few pictures of me and some of the kids, before the wind really picked up. The water is very shallow near the cabins. In all of these pictures, my paddle is scrapping bottom.

Me and my daughter Rachel


Not a lot of free board


Niece Natalie. She was a wiggle worm, almost flipped us.


That little bugger, we got a good bit of water in the boat on this ferry ride.


So we packed up today and I loaded up the boat on top of the SUV and the whole family drove into town for a birthday dinner for our 13 yo Ethan and my 5 yo nephew Mathew. When we all had enough Chinese buffet and birthday cake, I returned to my vehicle to find this:



That made me feel pretty good. I'll probably give him a call tomorrow.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Congratulations on taking the kids out - and on receiving admiring questions about your boat.