Paddling august 3 to 5 2009

Upernavik Greenland 2009 Travel Notes

August 3^rd – 4^th, 2009

Gail Ferris

After spending a day looking around the next day August 3^rd, 2009, I launched and paddled farther eastward on the coastline of Amarqua where I found some interesting cliffs with bird colonies.

This is my view and on the left side is Nutarmiut and on the right side is Saningassoq island. I am paddling east. What was especially interesting to me was that I coming nearer to the Upernavik Glacier.

Even though, in this photo below, it is hard for you to see the glacier in the center and to the right; you can see that eerie glow of the glacier looming under the clouds along the horizon. The brilliant white of the glacier reflects on the low clouds over it.

This you can see over the glacier which is in view off on the right side of the photo below. I was now getting closer to the part of Amarqua where I had been that I could recall in 2003.

#080

Below is a map generally showing the area and you can see that there is a restriction between Saningassoq and Nutarmiut islands.

#081

Again I found some bird colonies. Below are two photos showing them and the type of granite they are living on. For bird colonies they have the best nesting conditions on granite rock with fault lines and shelves, basaltic rock unless it has some fault lines does not offer so many flat areas large enough for nesting.

#082

I accidentally let my video camera bag slide off the stern deck into the water and ruined my camera just after I took this photo.

That was just simply due to carelessness, believe me. How I made this error was that I plopped my camera in its drybag but instead of fold the seal over twice to form a watertight seal all I did was to just clip it together at the top to keep the camera from falling out. Then I just placed the camera bag on the stern deck.

In a casual moment I unknowingly brushed this semi-closed drybag off onto the water, while I was doing a reverse sweep with my paddle to back up and reposition for taking another photo.

Only when I heard an unusual sound did I realize that my camera bag was being towed open through along scooping water as I was paddling forward. So that was the end of my video camera.

This accident is one of those things that can happen when in calm water while preoccupied with photos.

I thought the camera may have escaped but what really happened to ruin the camera was that I paddled forward dragging the open bag.

I discovered near this island in the photo below some crisscrossing currents. Seeing that these currents could not only make riffles but even more exotic watching the currents colliding together create and boils on the surface made me aware that lots goes on down beneath my little kayak.

I got to watch two icebergs come from opposite sides of this island and cross each other.

That was a good one! The kind of thing you don’t believe might be happening until you actually see it. That is the nice thing about ice on the water you get to see what the surface currents are doing by what they do.

#083

As I was now progressing farther eastward down Angmarqua when I noticed for the first time the ice.

Looking at the photo below I saw from my cockpit this line of ice neatly spread across the entire passage. I took a photo of it from afar.

This was the first time I was seeing this ice gathered together made me wonder what the rest of my kayak trip in this area would be like.

Now that the ice was out there spread from side to side of this passage there was no doubt that I had to think about where that the ice is coming from and what it will be doing in this area.

Undeniably my situation was that now I am nearer the glacier now there could be much more ice in this area.

#084

Back in Upernavik I certainly saw ice off Upernavik in some unexpected spots and saw the icefjord filled with ice from end to end.

I knew that circulation of ice was to be thought about, anticipated if possible and respected even if it seems ridiculous where the ice happens to be at the moment.

What if I became entrapped? Another reason to have brought a satellite phone, which I did not bring this time.

My only refuge was to watch and wait, hoping for the best.

#085

In the photo below you probably wonder what is this silly ice doing in this photo? It looks like I have crashed into it! Well the story is one of those “oh no! I can’t believe I just did that”. Well it is true it really happened.

Now if you look at the picture above that was taken just before the photo below and then at the photo below you will see that the water is quiet.

So of course I must be just gliding along looking through my camera. I am looking at the view in the photo above. There I am solely preoccupied and not paying much attention any to the object in the foreground of the photo below.

I took the photo because I was especially interested in the bright yellow orange color and basaltic appearance of the rock.

In the photo below there just happens to be this ominous chunk of ice which I suddenly realized as I was just about glide past that this chunk of ice was overhanging my port deck. Not a good place to be as I was perfectly lined up to hit it. My paddle that was resting on my deck would have collided with the ice and discombobulated me in my moment of photographic composure. Oh how esoteric! As my paddle would have slid off into the water. The ice would have wreaked havoc with me broadside as well. Not a good situation to be in I concluded at the moment.

The whole thing makes me just laugh because believe me this was a sight for sore eyes!

So there I was and I figured the quickest solution was to grab the overhanging ice and just push it backward. Nice idea right! Just push the whole thing backward and it will go away, right!

So gleefully I just grabbed the nose of the ice protruding over my deck and with flippant dispatch just pushed it back, or so I thought.

Great maneuver and for all my effort, all that happened was that the ice did not move instead it just rolled over backward because that was the easiest for this heavy chunk to do. Oh no! Now what? Naturally the next thing the ice did was to just start to roll forward back to me.

Quickly I decided this ice is easily heavy enough to just roll back over onto me and just pull me under. Certainly when it rolls back to me its combined weight and momentum would be just enough to grab my deck on the port side and pull it down.

Rather than play a wagering game I decided the best decision was to admit defeat and not to stick around. Conclusion to the story is that I quick like a bunny fled but before that chunk of ice in the photo below rolled back over

#086

I continued on after this golden island finding myself where there was no wind just past the second group of islands. In the next area I found that I was in a tidal squeeze complete with weird boils. Talk about strong currents and water flushing through around these islands I felt disconcerted that current was really roaring along.

This showed me how intensely the water circulates here signifying that not much moves that fast along these rocks. The passage must be not just narrow here but also deep and the islands really are obstructions.

It may look innocent on the top but when I see things like ice zooming by or worse yet ice crisscrossing I know that the currents are very strong.

I passed through a region where many birds live and beneath their rocks was water just loaded with filamentous bluegreen algae.

Below is a photo showing the algae line at the tide’s edge.

#087

I saw some more large amounts of yellow granite and some overhanging bulges of granite cliff surprisingly enough which I have not seen before anywhere in all of this area. The overhangs were curious. I saw many ramps as well but they were just ramps ending up against cliffs.

Curiously I did see a trawler at work and later I saw a motorboat probably somebody on their way back to Aappilattoq. I can’t imagine the skill it takes to get a motorboat through that ice near Aappilattoq island’s north shore on the edge of the icefjord.

#088

I made my way eastward passing by a pretty high walled rounded rock lined cove with no water. I did not see any flat areas for tent, no beaches and no water. The map even though it suggested that it might be a nice area, if you really looked at it with a magnifying glass showed no water and there were no flat areas. From my cockpit all there was were rocks and cliffs right down to the edge of the water – so forget that idea I said to myself.

I knew just from general knowledge that there must be a place around here which I was looking to come in for a landing would have to be a flat open area and there probably would be some water there. People used to paddle their kayaks from Aappilattoq and down a long passage to avoid cliffs and ice near the Upernavik icefjord. When they got to the end they would pick up their kayaks and walk over land to the other side where I was. I knew that where I would find a place to come in would probably be an extensive flat area, and so in the next cove there it was.

Coming in from the outside I saw clusters of ice and I thought about it.

My goal was to find a place where there is water and wide not very deep bay where I do not become trapped and cut off by the ice if the ice should it collect and ground out here as a barrier.

Because I saw that there was the possibility that a bunch of ice was working its way past to nest itself to close off the deeper part of the cove, I decided to camp next to the large boulder.

Even though this bay may be a nice to visit I would like to be able to leave.

Looking around I came upon an expansive shallow beach of very soft mud.

I glanced around the corner farther inside the bay behind the island and realized that it was even shallower and muddier in there - not a good place to go. Kind of “Do you like wading in really gooey mud up to your eyeballs just to come in for a landing?” This is not my idea of a good experiment in “adventures in fine paddling”?

I have tried this launching trick in Stony Creek during one of those perigee low tides combined with full moon and storm. From the firm beach to liquid water there was a huge distance of mud and no place to float my kayak. For me walking my kayak over the mud I started sinking down deeper and deeper with every step as the mud became softer and more embracing, less viscous, threatening to suck me and my kayak into the goo the closer I dragged my kayak to liquid water. At the last I had to put one foot in the bottom of my kayak and push myself over the mud with the other foot hoping I could pull my foot back out of the mud with each step. It was nip and tuck finally I reached water deep enough to float my kayak. I jumped in and paddled away. Some launch that was. Can you imagine what would have happened to me if I had tried to carry my kayak on my shoulder out to water deep enough to float my kayak? I would have disappeared.

I got lucky here in this bay in Amarqua where I landed even though the mud was quite soft I got in. In this mud there was a large amount of rock flower in it. On the beach area above the soil was soft and showed the footprints of the many ducks that come here. The water oozes out of the bog above percolating throughout the beach.

There was a large boulder near by probably a glacial erratic. After this extensive flat area the basaltic rocks lead back around out to the outside to the southwest from where I had just arrived.

What a deal trying to find a place to put my tent because the whole area was just a watery bog with soupy dirt on the beach. Duck and goose manure was everywhere. As you can imagine there I was trying to find at least some semi-dry land but I could not avoid the calling cards left by my winged friends. Where I found the only suitable place I had to resort to just pitching those organic objects off to a new site where they would enrich the environment. Really I decided that I don’t need direct enrichment myself as I am stretched out on this area in my floorless tent.

True I do use space blankets as ground cloths but still I really do not like any type organic material adhering to my space blanket ground cloths.

I planted my tent as I always prefer to do so that it faced the beach with a view to keep an eye on my kayak and toward the wind coming off the glacier.

Now that I am even closer to the glacier I notice that the colors of these clouds over the glacier have even more blue and white hues in them and less gray.

I see that there are some gray clouds but I don’t know if they organize into a storm. I have seen how the glacier in this area fifteen miles within the fjords can have the effect of dispersing storms. Many times storms will come into Upernavik which is on the edge of Davis Strait, Baffin Bay but will not penetrate into the fjords and reach Aappilattoq fifteen miles away.

Aappilattoq has much more pleasant weather than Upernavik.

#089

There are some gray clouds in the photo above. I did not know if they would organize into a storm since the glacier can have the effect of dispersing storms. Many times storms will come into Upernavik on the edge of Davis Strait and Baffin Bay but will not penetrate into the fjords and reach Aappilattoq fifteen miles inland.

I remember once in Kullorsuaq watching the temporary effect the glacier had on an incoming front. I wondered if this might happen here as I looked at the clouds. The front was actually held back by dense cold air and wind from the glacier. I happened to witness the event and to take a photo. Believe me I was glad I was not out there in my kayak that storm was truly very powerful driving all the icebergs into the foreground.

#090

The sun is out but it is raining lightly I am glad that this tent is still water proof and the space blankets have survived all these years of assorted rough ground usage without getting punctured.

In 2003 my tent fell into pieces due to solar degradation so I had to create a substitute using just my ripstop nylon tent liner suspended on the tent pole as the inner surface covered by space blankets tied in place as the exterior. These same space blankets I have been using since 1992 are of such tough Mylar that they have no holes in them. On this 2003 trip I was very lucky not to encounter any rain storms.

On this trip in 2009 they are just fine.

Looking at plants here I was quit surprised to find that there are no birch trees and no ripe blueberries.

Growing conditions must be cooler in this area.

What always amazes me, which is why I find it so fascinating to paddle here is that this area is just filled with microclimates because of the topography and air circulation. One place can be warm and another frigid. The types and stages of development of the plants vary widely.

#091

Tuesday August 4^th 2009, it is a calm bright morning. I launched at 10:00 and paddled until 16:00.

Below is a photo of just what it looked like starting out.

I am just leaving my campsite and am about to cross Amarqua passage.

As you see all that ice I was glad that I was not attempting to paddle back to Aappilattoq via the ice fjord as I did accomplish by the skin of my teeth in 2003.

#092

Below is a scan of a saga map showing both in yellow my 2003 paddle and in orange my 2009 paddle

#093

Below is a map showing my route on August 4^th.

#094

I headed southeast down the passage in the photo below between Uilortussoq on the left and Saningassoq on the right.

It was nice to once again be paddling in the calm morning air. You can see the glacier in the middle of the photo.

All is backlit because I am looking into the sun as I took this photo.

I am wondering what it is going to be like to view the coastline of Saningassoq this time.

#095

In the photo below I can tell you what a relief it was to once again encounter a small teardrop shaped island to the right in this photo. It is right next to Saningassoq and across from Uilortussoq islands. What I noticed was that this little island was covered with dense bright green grass hummocks.

I have fond memories of what that looked like then and how it looks the same now. I passed by this island when I was on the Iput in 1993. I always wanted to come back here and see it from my kayak. Here I am in 2009.

I guess that the green grass might be a byproduct of Eiders nesting there in midsummer. I have been told that people used to set their tents on that island in the summer in the old days when families traveled by umiaq during the summer. I was also told by Matias Løvstrøm and Adam Grim that people hunted from that island.

What is surprising to me is how noticeably dense the tussocks of grass are on that island.

#096

I decided it would be wonderful after all these years to once again paddle along the coastline of Saningassoq. I went some of the way near this coastline in 2003 but at that time I was really intent on making miles and the sun much of the way was backlighting the island.

What really delighted me this time was to see how beautiful where I began my paddle this time along the north side coastline was. I saw instead of a coast of cliffs straight up and down rather what was there was a low coast in rounded granite ledge with lots of green where ever soil had accumulated.

#097

Paddling down this passage on the left side in the photo above is Uilortussoq island. Uilortussoq coast line was rather grim because it was very dry and stony made up mostly of basaltic rock. I was surprised in 2003 as I expectantly paddled by to find that there was no place to land and visible no flat areas.

On the right side of this photo actually is a bird colony that has stained those rocks white. I visited this colony in 2003 and was not expecting to find that only gulls were here.

There is a dramatic view of the glacier from that corner but I forgot to take that photo.

Even though you cannot see in this photo above as I round the bend I am heading for an area in the passage which at low tide is quite narrow.

In 2003 paddling back out the opposite way I had a strenuous battle attempting to paddle directly against the incoming tidal flood in 2003 and had to resort to running the shore eddies to get through.

I was really shocked to find myself just paddling in place not getting anywhere at all, believe me the coastline was not changing I was just flailing away completely in vain.

This was one of those moments when I was glad I had learned the value of eddies in all those whitewater courses and run whitewater slalom races. In a slalom race working the eddies means the difference between getting through the slalom gates or just being swept helplessly down stream.

There was an interesting wind once I paddled down below the restriction between Uilortussoq and Saningassoq island in the photo below.

If you notice there is something about the topography that is curious. What is going on is that these valleys are scooped through by the glacier making they look like the cross section of a hemisphere.

There were some waves, as you can see in this photo, but when I emerged past this area the wind switched.

#098

I decided not to go all the way down to the glacier but I have included a photo that I took in 1993 from the Iput

For me the effect on the light by a glacier takes my breath away because it just glows in such an uncanny white. Here and there in the glacier are nunataks in dark brown. These nunataks have survived glaciations. As the glacier is receding the nunataks are emerging in greater size and number so every time I visit this area I always wonder about how much they have changed since I last saw them in 2003.

#099

In the photo below I was continued farther along the coastline on Saningassoq. I so enjoyed, at long last that I was finally here in the moment, able to see this friendly coastline with this terrain along this side extending many miles. I just paddled and gazed in awe at the bright yellow granite on the low coast line with some little islands and tiny coves here and there.

The water was rich with seaweeds as well.

At all I was very pleasantly surprised. I had no idea this island, Saningassoq, was so beautiful

These views reminded me of some of the paddling near Innarsuit in 2008.

#100

I crossed over to Nako island. In the crossing I made a serious mistaken assumption that I was crossing over to a peninsula on the mainland. I never noticed that I should have made that crossing sooner and if I had I would have been automatically paddling along the mainland.

I had no reliable way to coordinate my position with my gps with my map. I was so enjoying the coastline that I never noticed I was making this error.

During this crossing to Nako island I encountered a huge whirlpool and a nasty wind evolved as I went through what was a tide exchange or a rip area. The smooth gyre resolved into a rip with over falls, waves capping at one foot. This was my first experience of this type. Because I was at the juncture of two islands and the main land the physics of the topography created this.

Had I actually crossed to the mainland side of the passage I would have never encountered this tidal exchange.

I was once again glad I was in a well designed kayak. A kayak designed to be versatile and this was one of those moments when it showed its colors - so to speak!

Kind of like being a spider in the toilet situation.

From that spot I was paddling against a nasty wind the wind at the end was threatening one good reason to be paddling a boat you can really trust to get you through when your are all alone.

I must have been paddling against a wind coming in from the west, the outside.

I spotted a very interesting rock while I was on my way looking for my 2003 campsite. I never realized that I was paddling along the coastline of Nako island. The interesting rock is a granite boulder which was split off at both ends making it look like a loaf of bread cut on both ends. Below is the photo.

#101

I was looking for my old campsite and I deceived myself into thinking that I had found the site. I thought that the split rock above was next to that campsite but I wondered to myself why I had not noticed it before. I did not see that rock above because I was never there on this 2009 trip.

Below is the 2003 original photo taken from that campsite. I happened to be viewing farthest away the opening to Laksefjord which was most reassuring to me at that time.

The island on the right is a good question for the moment?

When I launched as you see all the profusion of fucus seaweed on the rocks this area was very rich.

#102

I found sea urchins on the rocks below. I fished up some of them and ate their eggs, Uni. What a wonderful feast in the sparkling sunshine that morning. This is one of the joys of paddling in this area of Greenland – fishing up and eating sea urchin eggs from my kayak.

#103

I was not ready to stop paddling the sun was bright and I felt like covering some more miles. I spent my time just gliding around the interesting bays.

There was plenty of rounded granite.

In general where I actually was paddling was along Nako island on its northwest coast but I did not know this at that time.

Had I stuck to the north side coming down I would have found the glacial valley where there was an interesting archaeological site that showed a sports area.

I wondered why I did not spot this round shaped valley I should have used my binoculars to really find out where I actually was rather than just assume.

#104

I decided to just paddle and look at the rocks I did not feel like bothering with getting out and looking at archeology sites. All this time I did not know I was lost!

The wind piped up and blew briskly in my face. I began to tire. I started to feel increasingly desperate to find a place to duck in out of the wind and camp.

Finally I found a tiny but very well protected inlet as I was really starting to flag. The wind in my face was taking my toll and I realized that the waves were becoming threatening to come in for a landing on any exposed shore. This is not a nice feeling.

The wind piped up and blew briskly in my face. I began to tire. I started to feel increasingly desperate to find a place to duck in out of the wind and camp.

As I was struggling past this peninsula saying to myself I really need a pocket cove right about now, something out of this cold nasty wind. Wow was I suddenly ever so glad when rounding this point I came upon just the ticket a neat little pocket bay right out of the wind.

I slid around the corner hoping that inside there might be some sort of beach. At first as I came in through the opening of this horseshoe shaped tiny pocket all I could see were vertical walls of stone, impossible to use. Then I came in past the spit at the opening and I saw initially to my left that there were some boulders.

I thought to myself, now we are getting warm because boulders don’t sit on cliff faces there might be some flat land here although at this time I could sleep squished up between some boulders if I really had too. Not a pleasant thought but this kind of thinking happens when I feel like resorting to “any port in a storm”!

Wow was I in luck. Sure enough there was a lovely beach complete with firm stony sand and solid earth filled with plants along the top. The beach faced south and opened to the west which is very cheerful.

The plants were all sorts of berries and large bushy plants and along the top of the tidal margin was my first time encountering lush short grass on hummocky sod.

What I found was some more of the large pale green lichen just like I had found at the Ammassat site. I was surprised to find this huge lichen again in such a tiny area.

Below is a photo I took some years ago which is similar to what this lichen looked like to me at this site.

#105

I have never encountered a dense accumulation of essentially clay and humus sod at the top of a beach before. I do not know how it got there but I guess the sod must have been a glacial deposit even though it was a small area. The beach was sort of a combination of rock along its western margin blending to this rich earth area with some meter diameter boulders in basalt here and there.

I pulled in at the beach and after last night’s drudgery landing in what I would blithely call “the mud special landing” I was wondering if I might have the privilege of stepping out without sinking up to my eyeballs in mud. Sure enough it was just a nice firm beach. Whew! That was a relief.

Visions of being inhaled by mud at a landing are not my favorite. It is one of those situations where everything looks flat but that does not tell you about that surface just right there that you are going to be stepping on. I am always the optimist and never find out until it is too late Oops this is not good, hey where are my feet, my booties are getting sucked off!

The worst place I ever found mud what actually pale brown rock flour in the bottom of Laksefjord. Always keep any eye out for some rocks they may be very handy in this situation to keep you from suddenly loosing sight of your feet or more.

The beach was littered with boards and debris from fishing boats which I treasured because I knew how handy they would be for sliding my kayak over their smooth surfaces as I dragged my kayak down the beach to launch.

I did my favorite trick of just bring the boat up, tie it off and unload it; let the tide bring it up.

I have just made the discovery of the century – now get this – barnacles don’t come out of nowhere, they don’t just drop out of thin air! Beat that!

I can see that the normal high tide will be up close to the ten but the tent is pitched on grass sod which I hope is above the tide?

One thing I wish is that I had a GPS that shows an active route map because staring at the paper map is very nerve wracking.

I have this creepy feeling that I am not too sure where I am exactly and I wish that I had gone to the expense of bringing a satellite telephone. Even John Kislov has one, an Imarsat because a satellite phone is the only form of portable communication that works in this area. Everything else, CB marine band radio and cell phone, is out of range.

The lithium batteries in the GPS are still fine.

I recognize a place that is unique like Laksefjord because it has a special appearance.

Below is an aerial photo I took on approach to Upernavik.

The flat top of this land form is due to the surface having been glaciated and the elevation is due to tectonic rebound after the weight of glacial overburden was removed when the glacier receded.

#106

This time I am paddling in reverse from what I did in 2003 and I am finding that I do not remember what things looked like since I was here last time. It has to have been just a wild guess how I ever got to Aappilattoq in 2003. I did rely on watching motorboats which at one point showed me where the passage was I was looking for on the north side of Saningassoq.

Actually what I did not know when I wrote the above was that I was lost. I was paddling up the north and west side of Nako island not along the mainland.

#107

I awoke very late at night at 23:00, to be precise, when I heard a soft shush right near me and felt something touching the very bottom of my sleeping bag. That something was just a lovely soft wave lapping the bottom of my sleeping bag bivi sack just inside my tent doorway.

I asked myself “Oh this can’t be happening to me of all people. What is that which I just felt budge my sleeping bag ever so gently? Things don’t just push your sleeping bag, really! Especially since there is nobody around. It is me, just me, all alone on this island. If a boat came in I would have already heard it and that is highly unlikely in this secluded spot.”

Well before I wasted any more time in this mental effort expostulating on how it just couldn’t be possible that actually the tide might just be making its way under my tent door I sat upright and took a look.

Well all I can say is that at least it was not something like a polar bear and unfortunately it wasn’t anybody stopping off for a visit while on their way by. Undeniably there it was some water making its way ever so gently and quietly but unstoppable inside my tent.

Glad my shoes were right there easy to grab and put on. I donned them unzipped the tent door and scrambled out.

You never saw anyone move a tent so fast in your life! I just yanked up the stakes put the tent up higher, moved the space blankets and all the bags, everything up the beach.

I set everything on top of the space blankets. Positioned my tent over top of all and staked it down anyway I could.

Sometimes staking a tent down requires some august creativity. Jam the stake into the ground sideways so that it just goes under the grass sod rather than straight down with the guyline tied to it and then put a rock on top of it.

There in view was not only the tide right out there but worse yet there was my kayak about to float off to nowhere.

Those trusty floating polypropylene throw-lines had loosened up and one of the two lines had just floated free the boulders I had tied them to. I have found in my experience that the knots in throw-lines will loosen if there is no tension on them when they are immersed.

Here was one of those very close moments when my kayak were just about to float free of the now submerged rocks I had tied them to.

I thought it was safe enough to just wrap these throw lines a couple times around some hefty rocks and tie these lines off with a simple square or Boleyn knot. I had not really carefully thought about how floating line behaves. This line does not hold knots when the line is in water without tension on it and is being gently sloshed by waves working them at them.

I had to move my tent and kayak tie downs a good six or eight feet up the sod. Then I noticed that there really were barnacles and seaweeds where I had set my tent.

Somehow I had convinced that the barnacles I saw were just accidental deposits as if barnacles grow in mid air but really that big flat spot I choose for my tent looked so inviting so I told myself a story “these barnacles are just here because of a storm tide” as I naively set up my tent.

Once my tent was resituated and I was comfortably ensconced I immediately dozed off again. Then I woke up a few times later to get to see yes the tide is really coming up to the top of where that seaweed and barnacles are but it stopped before it reached my tent this time.

I resorted to tying the kayak off to the huge boulders at the top of the beach just to be sure after the last near catastrophe.

Can you imagine me sitting there hoping somebody will find my kayak and rescue my sorry self just because I was so foolish as to not tie my kayak off properly?

Next morning “Seeing is believing!” now the water has been where my tent was and those short hummocky grasses are the type that can grow in saline waters.