Darn, No Kayaking to Inauguration

historic map of Washington D.C., circa 1916

During my senior year of college, an intrepid local entrepreneur asked me start a kayak touring company on the Potomac River. I loved the idea. It combined my dream of being paid to be outside (I had worked at the climbing wall and bike shop at the Outdoor Rec center for several years), with my urge to geek out on political and natural history. A few weeks into my research, my financial backer bailed for unrelated personal reasons, and the project never got off the ground.

If our company were alive and well today, we would be forced to miss out on significant business opportunity. According to DCist, the Coast Guard has banned kayaking as a form of commuting to the inauguration:

Well, so much for the bright idea of utilizing local waterways to break through the Inaugural gridlock on Tuesday. According to WTOP, 40 Coast Guard vessels will be stationed south of the Wilson Bridge, in part to patrol the waters for intrepid paddlers who thought that they could beat the congestion by kayaking to the ceremony.