Friday afternoon Harold & Panzy Blumke, along with some friends,
were getting things ready along the river in case of foul weather.
I would like to thank Harold and Pansy for hosting this passage into spring
each year. They really do a fine job. I stopped by to take the boat out
for one last shake-down with my partner Kevin. After a testing on Burt we
cleaned and dried the boat as much as possible. We were expecting a freeze
and I wanted to keep any ice from forming on the decks.
Saturday Morning at 6am there was a definite chill in the air as
we readied the boat for departure. I was hanging on to my coffee
like a life line as the engine hummed to life and the dock lines were
released. Slowly we made our way into Crooked River and headed down
stream toward Burt Lake. It was still warm in the cabin area and we
were all thankful for that. Sipping our coffee we slipped
along the river watching the world starting to wake.
It was a strange scene that morning. The sun
reflected down an erie glow through the low clouds and over the water.
The shoreline silhouette against the pink and purple backdrop
marked the way as we pasted marker 75.
Reaching the open water entering Poverty Bay we watched as the
ducks skimmed the water leaving a broken trail in the surface
of a rolling canvas. A few moments later we were cutting our own trail
across Burt Lake south to the Sturgeon River.
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