Nine of us, 7 for the first time, descended the tidal Anacostia - from the fine Bladensburg Marina at the head of navigation, and taking out along the Anacostia River Park - Run of about 6 miles - overcast and in the 40s (both water & air), but no wind or rain. The most difficult part was the shuttle route, which took us up the left side on Routes 295 and Kenilworth Ave. High tide at Bladensburg was 11:24, an hour before we got on the river, and we were off the river by about 2:30.
Having scouted the run (esp. the Class V super-highway shuttle) by land top & bottom last Sunday, I thought I'd left nothing to chance. But today it turned out that the entire lower take-out place was blocked by a 5k race. Mighty gnashing of teeth! So, instead of being able to use the boat ramp up near the RR bridge, we had to swarm up the two-foot shambles of a stone retaining wall just below Pennsylvania Ave bridge.
Afterwards, Part of our crowd went up to Franklin's Pub in Hyattsville, while others fled home to their wives and bairns.
We were - Ron Knipling, Barb Brown, John Houghton and John Snitzer in enormous Polynesian-length sea kayaks, Mike Hammill & Emily in a canoe, Wayne McDaniel, Kathleen Sengstock, and Alf in his deadly black DRR Jackson Pollack K1. We have been talking about going on this trip for a long time - so we were doubly pleased to pull it off. Another such paddle will occur in the Spring, thanks to the public spirited Jan Wolf.