Kayaking - Duck River - Paddling for a Margarita

Duck River                                                   7.5 Miles, 340.1 Miles Total
Dement Bridge to Highway 41
11:00 to 2:15
Hot, sunny day, but nice on the river, Blue Skies :)
Me, Scotty, Dick, 32 total boats through Paddle Adventures Unlimited

It was a GREAT day for paddling.  We went with Paddle Adventures Unlimited.  It seemed like a really long time until we got into the water.  We arrived there at 9:30, had to wait for another paddler, then a group had to go to the take-out.  So once we got into the water, it was really a welcome paddle as it was such a hot day.  Once again as with so many other meetups, we met lots of nice people.  We paddled for about 2 hours and found a small gravel bar where we stopped for lunch.  There was a large watergun battle here, and in the hot weather, nobody minded getting wet!  The last half of the day seemed to go especially fast.  Scotty switched into a canoe with another lady, and her husband tried out his kayak.
After the paddle, we went to Alfonzo's in Shelbyville and had a fantastic Mexican dinner.  I had a margarita which was a perfect way to end the day (even if it was an especially strong Margarita)!

Kayaking - Cumberland River - Triathalon Support

Cumberland River Triathalon - Magic City Triathalon    2 Miles, 332.6 Total
7:00 to 9:00
Weather -Overcast/Foggy, Light Sprinkles, Not too hot

About 300 athletes participated, and this makes our 3rd triathalon.  For the short course, swimmers did 400 meters around the cove, and in the long course, swimmers did 1500 meters around the cove and then out across the Cumberland.  Swimmers entered the Cumberland and were to swim across and then back around the buoy.  The problem was that when they swam across, they got caught in the current and couldn't make the turn to go 'upstream'.  I ended up paddling near one athlete for a VERY long time.  He just could NOT make any progress to go upstream towards the buoy.  He would swim a few feet, stop and rest, and then end up back right where he started.  It was very frustrating for me, but he kept insisting that he would do it on his own.  I think I was in the same spot for 20 minutes.  Scotty came along and between the two of us, we convinced him that he could hang onto the kayak.  Slowly, but surely, he finally made it to the buoy and then back across the river into the cove.  I'm pretty sure that he was embarassed that he couldn't make it, but I had such admiration for him.  I couldn't even imagine attempting a triathalon.  Scotty looked up his time later and he did not come in last, although he was the last and very late swimmer to get out of the Cumberland.