About Me

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I'm a life-long New Englander, father of 4 challenging kids (I know: I'm supposed to say "wonderful", but while that'd be true, technically speaking, it'd also be misleading), and fortunate husband to my favorite wife of more than 20 years. I've got over 20 years experience breaking things as a test engineer, quality engineer, reliability engineer, and most recently (and most enjoyably) a Product Safety / EMC Compliance Engineer. In the photo, I'm on the left.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Kayaking in August


So a few weeks ago the wife and I bought these:


(image from wildernesssystems.com)

We've been spending quite a bit of weekend time finding new places to paddle and...well...paddling.


I thoughts I'd share with you a pictorial of our outing of this weekend (four or five hours' worth of paddling):


These are two views of the lovely reservoir that we chose this weekend. This is a 530-acre reservoir that, surprisingly to those of us just getting into this sport, is remarkably close to ot tiny home! Took us about 20 minutes to get there.










This is Mr. (or Mrs.) Cormorant. There were several of these suckers on the lake.



















When I saw the number of swans that littered the reservoir, I was actually stunned. I have never seen so many swans in one day.











Cool plants:


By far the most spectacular fellow we saw up close and personal (I actually got within 25 feet or so when this guy decided he didn't like my stench):

We also saw a sizeable Osprey, which I was not quick enough to capture with my sub-adequate camera (most of these images above were taken by my beautiful wife), and a small hawk that flew low just over our heads with its breakfast in talon.

Go buy a kayak!
Posted by at 9:17 PM
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5 comments:

  1. cubemonkeyAugust 28, 2012 at 8:40 AM

    I don't need to tell you how awesome it is to be on the water. Watch for the occasional River Otter and water snakes. Any idea which reservoir you were on? Looks like it might hold bass......

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  2. AnonymousAugust 28, 2012 at 6:32 PM

    Nice work with the camera.

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    1. SarcasticTestGuyAugust 29, 2012 at 8:22 AM

      Thanks! I've long wanted to start taking nature photography, and this will be a great opportunity. Though, I am going to need two things: a better camera and experience. My wife is the real picture taker in our family. The only image above that I took is the one with the bee on the purple plant (don't know what it is yet...I have to break open a book or two!)

      Delete
  3. AustanAugust 30, 2012 at 5:34 PM

    Isn't it lovely? I used to go out on Harriman and you can lose yourself just paddling around. Great shots. Were you hella sore from the rowing? Used to kill my upper arms the next day. Still, worth it! Thanks for the nature glimpses, I miss that.

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    1. SarcasticTestGuyAugust 31, 2012 at 8:27 AM

      Mother nature is indeed stunning. I have been out on several multi-hour paddles over the last month or so, and I have been very surprised to not have any body or arm aches anywhere at all. I can feel it when I've fallen behind my fellow paddlers (generally just the wife, really) and have to catch up, paddling aggressively, but nothing the following days.

      This was especially surprising because a month or so ago the wife and I were out playing Disc Golf, which we had never done. After *that*, my right tricep and pectorals ached!

      Throwing a Frisbee: ache. Kayak: no ache. Weird. :)

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