Tuesday -- May 1, 2018
Water Level at Little Falls: 4.6     Water Temperature: 58

Happy May!

Lets hope that the river doesn't flood too much like last month.

Thankfully, we were able to have the work fest last Sunday. The river was just barely low enough to get everyone over here. It wasn't easy mind you. The river was cranking out 25000 cubic feet per second and the wind was howling at 15 miles an hour making it the most difficult day that I've ever had running the ferry, no joke.

Once we had everyone on the Island we had a grand time. It was so great to see all of the new wait-listers and old members coming together and bonding over Island chores. I want to thank everyone that came out and pitched in. And a special thanks to George and Shelly for doing the grilling and to Kevin Haley for leading the charge to get the docks out. I was also very grateful for the brand new wait-listers that arrived. It looks to me like we have a great new batch of future Islanders.

I got approval to buy new screen doors to replace the old decrepit doors that we now have. I had painted and hung a new screen door as a sample for everyone to look at at the workfest and to my delight, everyone seemed please with the door I picked out and the way I prepared and hung it. It's already exciting to see how nice it's going to look up there with out those old, (is this place abandoned?), screen doors. I'll order the rest of the doors today!

The other major improvement that was made to the deck is the addition of a brand new shade umbrella! Ever since the large maple was taken down there has been no shade on the deck, making it impossible to sit up there in mid day. Now there is shade. The new umbrella is red, a perfect contrast to the green clubhouse, and fit right into the table that we already had. I think everyone, even the treasurer, will agree that it was worth the 60 bucks that I spent.

Friday -- May 4, 2018
Water Level at Little Falls: 4.1     Water Temperature: 68

Good news! The spiral pedestrian bridge has been reopened and a detour trail has been built around the condemned trolley bridge!

Tuesday -- May 8, 2018
Water Level at Little Falls: 4.9     Water Temperature: 70

It looks like we may have to close the ferry later on this morning. The river is going up to 5.2.

Wednesday -- May 9, 2018
Water Level at Little Falls: 5.2     Water Temperature: 70

The ferry is closed right now but we may be able to open later this afternoon.

THE FERRY IS OPEN! It's such a nice day that I decided it was worth it to open the ferry a little prematurely. The river should be below 5 feet by the time the meeting starts.

Monday -- May 14, 2018
Water Level at Little Falls: 4.1     Water Temperature: 70

We had great weather for the down river race on Saturday but now that's over and it doesn't look like it's going to be a very good week to visit the Island.

It doesn't look like a very good week to go camping either but that's just what Mary and I plan to do this week. Follow our trip at canalbycanoe.com and help us as we try to raise money for school busses to get more kids outside and into our wonderful C&O Canal National Historic Park.

Our geese are still sitting our their respective nests. The nest under the deck has had 7 eggs in it since March 25 and I'm afraid that they are never going to hatch. Just like last year. So sad.

Thursday -- May 17, 2018
Water Level at Little Falls: 7.8     Water Temperature: 70

The ferry is closed and will be closed for a while. The river is predicted to reach 13.6 feet on Sunday! That would be the biggest flood since 2010 and one of the biggest in twenty years. I had to take down the ferry rope so it's going to be a while before the ferry is up and running again. That might be the least of our worries though, if these flood predictions hold up.

Mary and I tried to stay optimistic that the rain would not get so bad that we would have to postpone our paddle trip, but sadly we had to give in to the forces of nature and rush back to Sycamore Island to get ready for the biggest flood that we've had in over eight years. We hope to regroup and resume our trip sometime after the river goes down.

The river was already over seven feet when Mary and I returned here yesterday afternoon, but thankfully there were a couple of crews of Club members here on Tuesday and Wednesday that did the preliminary flood prep. John Noble, Drew Walsh, Richard Bertaut, Steve Newman and Dave Winer are the people that we need to thank for paying attention and taking action.

I moved all of the grills, safety equipment, and chairs up to the screen porch. I tied all of the picnic table down and I secured the ferry with a long leash. Tomorrow I'll start taking the boats off of the lower racks and I'll tie them to the long chain that I laid out under the zip line.

Sunday -- May 20, 2018
Water Level at Little Falls: 9.8     Water Temperature: 62

It looks like we dodged a bullet and the river is not expected to hit record-breaking levels like they predicted two days ago. What a relief. Now maybe I can go back to my vacation.

There will be some major clean up to do though. All of the boats will have to be put back in their place and many of the club canoes are full of rain water. We'll have to watch the docks closely and send them out as the river goes down. We don't want them to end up on dry land. There will be lots of mud to clean up and one silver maple fell, just down stream of the lego dock. It's roots just couldn't hold on in that saturated soil.

Amazingly, we discovered a newly born fawn lying in the jewel weed with the flood waters creeping in around it. We thought about moving it but didn't. Today it was gone, so I guess that there is a mommy and a baby deer somewhere on the Island. The other amazing thing is that while I was looking for the fawn, I found a turkey! It was on the ground next to me when all of the sudden it leaped into the air! Holy cow, you never know what you'll find when you take a walk around the Island.

Monday -- May 21, 2018
Water Level at Little Falls: 9.1     Water Temperature: 62

Make sure that you go to canalbycanoe.com and check out the pictures of Sycamore Island during the flood. Also, there is a picture there of a black snake swallowing an adult squirrel. Amazing nature-viewing on the Island lately.

Wednesday -- May 23, 2018
Water Level at Little Falls: 6.7     Water Temperature: 66

The ferry is still closed. It looks like we won't be able to open the ferry until about Monday. First we'll have to rehang the ferry rope since I had to take it down for the flood.

We found a fence post washed up on the Island and it had an address on it, 3436. Mary, in her genius was able to search that address in flooded locations like in Frederick or Point on Rocks. Amazingly she found a place on Catoctin Creek that seems to match the address. We're thinking about going by there to bring them their lost fence post.

Monday-- May 28, 2018
Water Level at Little Falls: 5.0     Water Temperature: 66

The ferry is closed today, Memorial Day, due to high water and flood damage to the ferry rope.

There is tons of rain in the forecast so it's anybody's guess as to when things will get back to normal around here. Sorry folks.

Tuesday-- May 29, 2018
Water Level at Little Falls: 4.9     Water Temperature: 66

The ferry is closed, no pull rope yet.

Wednesday-- May 30, 2018
Water Level at Little Falls: 5.3     Water Temperature: 66

Today the ferry is closed because of high water.

We're hoping that the river will go down tomorrow so that we can have an emergency cleanup here from 3-6. So please come down to the Island tomorrow and pitch in to help us get things cleaned up here after the flood.

Thursday-- May 31, 2018
Water Level at Little Falls: 4.7     Water Temperature: 66

The ferry is running again!