Chapter Meeting - May 19th: Colin McDonald, San Antonio Express News

Colin McDonald is a writer for the Express News – and recently he published 2 articles about paddling our briny waters. In his first article, he wrote about his adventures paddling what some consider to be Uncharted waters. Those are the waters south of Corpus Christi down to the Rio Grande. Anyone looking at a map will quickly see that these are certainly uncharted waters. Mostly bordered by ranchland, getting lost here would be trouble – especially if your not prepared for long term camping.

Colin did just that – paddling and camping on our south Texas Coast. In his presentation, he will be discussing “What it was Like Camping and Paddling down our coast.”

We can learn a lot about what its like to paddle and camp for weeks on end in these uncharted waters. Colin wrote a web-log which can easily be found by Googling “Colin McDonald Kayak.” Some excerpts from his web- log are found below….. Enjoy and let’s welcome Colin McDonald at our May meeting:

Excerpts from Colin McDonald’s Web-Log:
Boca Chica Beach - In kayaking it's called a wet exit. It's a last resort if you can't roll. It means giving up and going to shore.

I had made it to the Rio Grande. I took my photos. I did a little dance on top of a sand dune. I just had to paddle the five miles back to South Padre Island. …………
I thought I had it. So did the guys watching from the pickup on shore. I was paddling toward the rolling swell of the Gulf. ……………….

My timing was off. I would start to roll upright only to be knocked over again. I was struggling to remember which way was up and contorting my body to get air.

"I'm done," I thought. I pulled off the skirt that keeps the water out of the cockpit and me in. I popped to the surface. The kayak rolled over. I hung on and let the waves take us back to shore. The guys in the pickup offered me a ride.

They suggested I try the Mississippi next. The waves are smaller.

Come see Colin 3rd Tuesday in May – 7 p.m.