Well, the first words out of West's mouth when he called for check in was "you know there are times when you just have to call it quits for the day". They paddled 26.8 miles today. It was a very tough ride today. They woke up to all of their gear being frozen.
The wind was all over the place. If you notice the spot tracker, you'll see they crossed the river a couple of times. The second crossing, with the wind and waves, Jeff dumped. He was fairly close to shore, so after a few minutes of working to get his boat upright, he went to shore and West pushed the boat in. Jeff got a fire started on a real nice beach and worked at getting warmed up. He started drying out all their stuff. They spent about 3 hours on this beach.
After getting back under way, they continued to fight the waves and wind. Their progress was very slow. Eventually, they made their way into the town of Yuryevets. West called it more of a tourist town because they had really nice, concrete docks. It was very nice and welcoming. He walked around town trying to find a market to purchase some water. Well, he "SCORED"!! He found water AND Snickers with hazlenuts! He said that was better than anything else he's tasted in a long time. He said their caloric intake had been depleted and this was just what they needed. He learned how to ask for water without fizz in it. He said it like "Bee Is Gaza". He accidently tracked mud on the floor, asked for something to clean it up and they told him don't worry about it, they will clean it up. He said they were extremely friendly and helpful.
--Barbara
