TenaCity to WindyCity Day 9 October 8, 2017

TenaCity to WindyCity Kayak
October 8, 2017

TenaCity 2 WindyCity DAY9
CLINK ON ALL PHOTOS TO ENLARGE THEM
Saturday, the day before DAY9, it looked as if I would be paddling alone for the first time. I had just finished running a race in Frankenmuth, the Bruckelaufe and was walking to my van, when I happened upon a fellow runner, and a paddler of the maiden launch at Tenacity back in July.
His name is Matt and I had not seen him since that day and we began talking about how the journey had been going. I said I was runyaking the following day. He sounded interested. I didn't even have to ask him if he would like to come along. He said he wasn't doing anything and he'd like to try runyaking. Great!
Bright and early the next morning, there he was at the launch in Pinconning and ready to go for it.
We left our kayaks and drove our vehicles to the mouth of the Pine river and ran the 12.6 miles back.
I hardly knew Matt Bartman but after two and a half hours or running together we were well aquainted.
We pointed our kayaks and paddled toward a point along the shoreline
Matt, not only was a rookie to runyaking, but to paddling on open water, particularly the Great Lakes.
Maybe the Great Lakes technically but still on Saginaw Bay.
One thing I have learned first hand, is that the Saginaw Bay has much marshland. I'm thinking it will end on DAY11 when we paddle around Point Lookout beyond Au Gres, just as it did when 8 years earlier I exit Saginaw Bay somewhere in the Caseville area in the Thumb. But where does the Bay end and Lake Huron truly begin? If I were to draw a line, I'd have a straight line that intersects Charity Island from the two points, Point Lookout on the west and Oak Point, north of Caseville on the east.
Matt Bartman seemed to be on my portside most of the time. At times were were a mile from shore. 
 Waves did not look not that calm, yet we were moving at a good pace, under 18 min./mi at times. Much faster that DAY8 when water was calmer. m still befuddled by wind and waves when paddling open water.
We had some difficulty finding the mouth of the Pine River. It was not marked by boating bouys as most marinas and launches are. We actually went up one channel to find out we'd turned to soon. It turned out to be an entrance to Beardley Fisheries. The paddle should have been 9.8 miles but it turned out to be over 10 after our mistaken turn of event.
Inside the Pine Mouth across from our landing

DAY9 Landing Pine River Access which is .4 mile up from the Saginaw Bay
 Matt knows good beer. He was thrilled to share a Bell's Hop Slam with me. The annual release is in January and by October good luck finding it.
And another Runyaker gets his wings. Matt is the 27th person to earn Runyak Wings. It is a very elite group of paddlers.
Here are their names:
       RILEY MCLINCHA
LON RICH
JILL JENKINS
JOHN MIEHM
LEE PARKS
JENI GODLESKY
TIM GILES
REX MCLINCHA
FRED SMITH 
JULIE GALLAGHER
NICK GODLESKY
MARCIA KOBMAN
PAUL MCDERMITT
LARRY HOLLAND
FRED SMITH JR
JEN MCDERMITT
JOE WRIGHT
MARCI COLYER
JUDY CHIZMADIA
PHIL PORRITT
JACK LINN
STAN CHOWJNICKI
KREG KRUEGER
EUREKA MCCORMACK
CHRIS RONEY
PAULA HARRIS
MATT BARTMAN

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