First Minus Brrrrrr paddle

It froze last night so I awoke to a scene of frosted roofs this morning.  The temperature was -1C, -4 with the wind chill.  On top of that it was going to get really windy in the afternoon so Cathy, Dean, Gary and I planned on a short paddle close by so as to get off the water before the blow.

I met Dean at 9:00 and it was still a temperature of minus brrrr.  Just after 9:00 there was no sign of Cathy and Gary so Dean and I got going.  It was the first paddle of the fall that necessitated neoprene mitts.

The two of us took our time to take advantage of a bit of action around the rocks.

Every now and then I look back to see if I could see if the late comers were coming.  Finally ...

... Cathy joined us.  Unfortunately Dean and I left a couple of minutes too early with Cathy telling us she drove in just as we were leaving around the point.  While we took our time poking around the rocks Cathy hurried to get dressed (it was the fastest time she said she ever got dressed) and must have paddled hard to catch us.

Now, I felt bad that we didn't give her a few more minutes grace and save her the hassle of trying to catch up to us.  Nevertheless, she was pleased to join us as we were happy also.

The morning ended with a shortish paddle of 16 kms and before the wind descended on us and topped off with a hot drink at the restaurant and a plate of onion rings thanks to Cathy.

Its been so windy lately that we need to take advantage of every opportunity, even the short ones.

It was our first taste of cold weather paddling since last winter.  We'll keep paddling as we slowly acclimatize to the colder weather and be ready for Jack Frost when he comes down from the north pole.