Sometimes the best of plans just don’t come together.  I found myself with a relatively free weekend and the urge to head down to the Outer Banks for a little paddling.  The forecast was perfect with highs in the mid 70’s and mid 50’s at night.  I was also in the mood for a bit a ocean paddling so I hit the road Friday morning and headed down to Ocracoke Island.  The plan was to launch at the public ramp at Silver lake, paddle south to the inlet and, catching the slack tide, head north on the ocean side and land at the beach near the campground.  A quick bike ride back to the launch ramp and the loop would be complete.

But it was not to be.  Either Wednesday or Thursday I had apparently injured my right elbow while exercising and by Friday evening it was starting to become clear that a 14 mile paddle was probably not in my future.  I went ahead and set up camp and heading down to the village to catch the sunset and a dinner at Howard’s Pub.  Hoping for a miracle cure during the night, I took some Advil and retired under a beautiful starlit sky.  As suspected, Saturday morning brought perfect paddling conditions but no improvement in the elbow. I guess this little adventure will have to wait for another time.

Although I’ve seen worse, the mosquitoes were still pretty thick at the campground so I wasn’t in much of a mood to hang out there.  I decided to break camp and just take a leisurely trip up the coast and head on home.  Oh well, there’ll be other chances.

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