Poking Around Pt. Judith

Today marked H's return to the water after the long, cold winter. BR's wife, MR, also joined us for her second outing. BH returned to the group after a too long hiatus. JS used the paddle to begin his recovery from knee surgery.
The weather was nice for mid-May. The sun was out and it was not too windy. We still needed thermal protection and H did groan a bit about putting on the wetsuit. (Wetsuit are miserable and I stick to my drysuit whenever I need thermal protection.)
Right out of the dock BH had a major equipment malfunction and was forced to return to the put-in. The rest of the group, however, enjoyed a leisurely paddle around the western edge of the pond.
I was a little nervous because last time I paddled in Pt. Judith Pond I took a huge divot out of the Q-boat's bow. Fortunately though we passed along without incident.
At lunch we enjoyed plenty of chocolate. CC brought along the remainders of RS's birthday cake-a homemade mass of chocolate torte. It was soft and had just the right amount of sweetness. H supplied a healthy chocolate alternative - brownies made with flax seed instead of oil. They were good in a very dense way, but the torte... oh the torte...
The return to the dock was the normal paddle home in the wind. It was pretty mild though.
Back at the dock the rolling ensued. RR showed us that you can do a balance brace with a Euro paddle. He is preparing to take the BCU 3-star and, according to RR, BCU does not allow a paddler to use a stick for the evaluation. So, he has put his stick away for the time being.
After getting all wet, we adjourned to Java Madness for some warm caffeine. It was close to perfect.