Adventures of Tejano Safari Man: Spring Equinox on Horn Island (Day 1)

It finally occurred to me that I'm many months behind on paddling trips to report about. This last weekend was one that I've wanted to do for quite a while. I'll try to start catching up on the past trips soon too.

As part of my training for this summer's Acadian Coast PrayerPaddle, I've tried to find time to get down to the Mississippi coast for some salt water kayaking. Horn Island has long been on the agenda since it's the most easily accessible of the barrier islands in the state. About nine miles south of Pascagoula, it's a wilderness island within Gulf Islands National Seashore. It offers the opportunity for paddling across a good bit of open water and the chance to practice going through the surf zone on the Gulf of Mexico side of the island. Since there are two other smaller islands along the way (Singing River Island and Round Island), the longest stretch between land is actually only about five miles. It also requires crossing two shipping channels.

I had hoped to go out to Horn back in December, but didn't since I wasn't able to find someone to go with me and it turned out a bit on the windy side and I also ended up with less time than I'd hoped for. So at the end of Spring Break I drove down to Pascagoula under beautiful weather. I felt more confident about going solo since I had a VHF marine radio and the water had warmed up to the upper 60s.

Loading up the gear at entrance to Lake Yazoo

I guess it was sometime around 11 am when I got on the water. There was a bit of a breeze (less than 10 kt) out of the north, which I figured would generally be a help. Although the wind picked up a bit, it was a nice ride over to my lunch break on Round Island. It was nice to see that there was still something left of the old lighthouse. As I shoved off southward to the east end of Horn Island, it was hard to make out exactly where I was headed to, but I knew it would get clearer as I got closer. Because of a break in the sand dunes, the easternmost part of the island really appears to be a separate island from a distance. It wasn't until I got to a couple miles offshore that I could clearly see the connection. Again I made good time on the crossing, and was surprised at how few boats were on the water.

Ruins of Round Island Lighthouse

Southeast side of Round Island

Looking east along the north shore of Horn Island

Upon landing on Horn, I took a break to look around and walk across the washed-over sand to the Gulf side. It was really a beautiful amazing place. So much sand! After a while I figured that I'd better inspect for waterlogged gear and then decide about doing more paddling. I was a bit annoyed to find that my leaking rear bulkhead had resulted in a wet tent. But with the wind blowing, I thought that I could dry it out pretty good if I went ahead and got it set up. So I set up camp a little after 4:00, before paddling around to the Gulf side to try out the kayak in the surf (about 2 to 3 feet). Surf landing and launching was an interesting and fun experience, but I knew that I didn't have a lot of time for playing around. While paddling just outside the breakers, I got a slight scare from a big big fish jumping behind me. Also saw some dolphins, but not close enough for decent pictures. A couple other surprises on the island were a big navigation buoy that had washed ashore and an impressive amount of smoke coming off the (presumably) prescribed fires on the mainland, probably in Misssissippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge.

East end of Horn Island

Smoke from fires on the mainland

View across Mississippi Sound to Round Island and Pascagoula

Surf on Gulf of Mexico side of Horn Island

Navigation buoy washed ashore on Horn Island

East end of Horn Island

Pond on Horn Island

Small crab in pond

Dunes on Horn Island

Horseshoe crab

Arriving back at camp, I scrounged up some driftwood for a fire, broke off a piece of firestarter that I'd been carrying around for nearly 20 years, and had a nice little fire going with the first match that would light. (The matches were also ancient.) I bragged to my wife on the cell phone about the freeze-dried "barbecue chicken" that I was about to prepare. And then I found out how awful it was! But at least it did fill my belly pretty good. During the evening, the weak sea breeze that had finally kicked in shortly before sunset suddenly was replaced by a strengthened northerly wind that threatened to tear apart the tent's rainfly. Since there was zero chance of rain, I removed it and settled down to try to sleep amid the noisy flapping of the wind.