The Maiden Voyage of Our New Kayak

We haven't blogged about our beloved inflatable kayak for months. That's because it developed a tiny new hole, and we decided it was time to replace it. After doing lots of research, Mark picked out an upgraded Sea Eagle inflatable kayak--the 385FT. We had to wait for Christmas, where it became our gift from our parents and from each other. We have done business with InflatableBoats4less.com before, and found that they had the best deals again. So we ordered from them and had it delivered while we were in South Texas. Mark inflated it for the first time inside our motor home.

At 12.5 feet long, it stretched from the dining room, through the kitchen, past the bathroom door. That would have described a very long boat in our old sticks and bricks house.

Since Christmas, we have been waiting patiently for the boat's maiden voyage. It's usually way too cold to boat in January, but we were blessed with a beautiful day while we were staying at South Llano River State Park.

There are several differences between our old Sea Eagle and this new improved kayak. The side pontoons are smaller, and the bottom is much firmer. We can even stand up in this boat, and it can be used like a stand-up paddle board. In order to save some money, we ordered only the new hull, and used our old seats and paddles.

We heard good things about the South Llano River, and the ranger advised us to put in at the bridge at the entrance of the park. Since we didn't have a shuttle vehicle, we headed up-stream against the gentle current.

We didn't see a lot of wildlife on our boat trip. Our main entertainment came from the resident turtles. This little guy was hanging on to a branch, and decided he would rather be photographed than to dive into the cool water.

We snuck up on this guy from the back. He had been sunning himself long enough that his shell was dry. We were the only kayakers on the water this day to interrupt his solitude.

Even though this area received over an inch of rain in the last week, there were still some rocks showing in the water. We would have to portage up-stream three different times in these shallow areas. We can confirm that the water is a little cool in January.

Rain doesn't have a big effect on this spring-fed river. Because its source is a spring, the South Llano flows all year round. Also, because it is spring-fed, the water is incredibly clear.

We could clearly see our paddles dipped into the emerald green water.

Mark gave the boat purchase his seal of approval as he rode in the rudder position at the back of the boat. We rowed over two miles up-river before we turned around to float back toward the state park entrance.

It was a beautiful blue sky day with high temperatures near 80 degrees. There was virtually no wind, as the emerald water stretched before us. What could possibly go wrong on a day like today?

When we got back to our put-in spot, we decided to continue down stream to a take-out spot that is used all summer by tubers. Denisa had read that it was close to the campground and that should work great for us, right?

There weren't any signs for the best take-out spot, so we stopped at a well-worn bank. When we carried our new boat up the bank, we realized we were a very long ways from the campground. We also realized that cars weren't allowed on these hiking trails, so it looked like we were carrying the boat home. We got to know our new boat very well as we carried it for a half-mile.

Except for its rough ending, we really enjoyed our maiden voyage of the new kayak. We also really enjoyed this state park. Every evening around 4:30, the resident white-tail deer cross the meadow into the woods beside the campground. We could see them making their way through the trees from our camp site.

We also saw large herds of axis deer. The axis deer were brought here from India, and have taken over much of Texas Hill Country. The adults have white spots on their backs, and the bucks have impressive velvety racks. Now a nuisance, there is open season on axis deer throughout the year.

Another foreign resident can be seen in the pasture beside the state park. The next-door neighbor raises Black Buck Antelope. They are rather shy, but we finally got a picture of this doe and buck in the distance. He is obviously trying to impress her with a close up of his long spiraling horns.

Even though it was January, there was spring in the air. More than one of the bucks were trying to impress the local doe.

As we wrap up our time at South Llano River State Park, we have to include another picture of the ever-present armadillos that we have been watching from our camp site.

We discovered that the nearby town of Junction was welcoming, and very proud of its South Llano River. On Sunday, we went to church at the local Methodist church, and found it to be one of the friendliest churches we have visited in the last two years. After seven different people invited us to stay for their pot luck lunch, we gladly accepted. It was nice to spend lunch visiting with several families that live along the river. They all love the South Llano River, and we have to agree!