Red Rock Obama Paddle, October 12th 2008.

Marjorie Little posted a fundraising paddle for Obama on the BASK email list. I cringed when I saw this because putting political announcements usually starts a flame war. Sure enough, some conservative members took the bait and bitched about abuse of the listserver. The bitching back and forth went on and on and ultimately resulted in lots of people showing up for the paddle. I think it is best to quietly delete and ignore political content on apolitical lists like this.

We launched from Ferry Point in Richmond with the plan of paddling into the wind towards Red Rock. The wind would then blow us back to our cars if conditions were too rough. Apparently conditions were too rough for many because I looked around soon after rounding the point to find only a half a dozen paddlers still with me. Everyone else turned back and went up the channel towards the Richmond Harbor.

We few hardy paddlers kept going despite watching super tankers pass in front of us and commuter ferry boats zip behind us. We made it safely to Red Rock Island and stopped on Toilet Bowl Beach for a snack. On the trip out and on the trip back the wind continued to die down and conditions became better and better. Everyone else should have followed us to Red Rock!