News from Central Iowa Paddlers

Article by Michael Morain Reprinted from the June 23rd, 2010 Des Moines Register:

I've never really understood how high and low tides work. It has to do with gravity, I know, and the way the moon pulls water away from the earth, but it's hard to get a sense of it here in Iowa.

What I can tell you, though, is that some sort of lunar magic pulled people to Gray's Lake last month for the Des Moines Parks and Recreation Department's first-ever Moon Float, when people in kayaks and canoes paddled out on the lake at night.

One man heard about it on Twitter. Another saw a sign posted at the park a few days earlier. Two girls from Roosevelt High School - a junior and a senior who had just finished her last day of classes - just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

"You mean they only do this on the full moon?" said the graduate, Ollie Messina, a little surprised by her good luck.

It's true: This summer's Moon Floats coincide with full moons this Saturday, then July 25 and Aug. 24.

I arrived around 8:30 that night, just as the sun was setting over Water Works Park. Runners were making their final laps around the trail. Kids pestered their parents for ice cream sandwiches at the concession stand, and a guy with a black lab down by the shore let the dog fling itself into the water, only to climb out and do it again
I filled out a rental form at the rental station, grabbed a paddle and headed to the dock, where someone handed me one of those plastic torch lights people stick in their gardens. I tucked the base in my life-vest pocket, settled into my yellow plastic kayak and shoved off with a little push from Parks and Rec staffer Craig Campbell.

"You picked a nice night, but still no moon," he said.

He was right. The sky was clear. A breeze whispered through the air. The downtown skyline reflected on the surface of the water, like on the hood of black car or a grand piano, and the Capitol's gold dome peeked through a break in the trees.
I paddled out to the middle of the lake, where only a few sounds followed. The chugging splash of a paddle-boat. A few slaps at a mosquito. A voice from another kayak: "If only I had a remote control right now, I'd be fantastic."

Out there, I marveled at the different ways people have invented to get around. A man pedaled by on a hydro-bike. A parade of cars rolled along Fleur Drive. Planes circled over the airport, a helicopter flew toward Methodist Hospital, and a train whistled in the distance. It was like one of those children's books by Richard Scarry - "Cars and Trucks from A to Z" - where pudgy cats and pigs zip around in everything that can roll or sail or fly.
And then, there it was: The moon, big as a bass drum, rose over the south side of the lake, over the bridge with its rows of colored lights.

A woman in a nearby canoe flipped open a cell phone to take a picture.

"That was soooo gorgeous," said Messina, the Roosevelt graduate, back on shore. "This was definitely a great idea."

Her friend, Bridget Albright, suggested they return next time with a picnic - and maybe some boys.

"For some midnight smooches," Messina said with a laugh.
"We're pretty sure we saw some of that tonight," Albright added.

It's likely. One couple on the lake were planning to get married a few weeks later.

Another couple, from Woodward, rented a paddleboat and let their 5-year-old son, Ian, do most of the work.

"He rode on my lap and did all the paddling for me, so I just put up my feet," said his mom, Britt Thompson. "It was awesome."

His grandmother, Mary Thompson, watched the family from a bench, the official keeper of wallets and keys.
"I could hear their voices carry over the lake," she said.

In all, there were about 85 boats on the lake that night, including a half dozen that people brought from home, and rentals that were checked out several times over. (Parks and Rec spokeswoman Marlene Anderson used the word "turnover" and then reconsidered, considering the subject.)

I turned in my life vest and paddle at the rental stand, took one last look over the lake - and thought of another kids' book.
Goodnight moon. Goodnight mosquitoes. Goodnight bridge, and goodnight lights. Goodnight air. Goodnight paddlers everywhere.