Stand up paddle boarding (SUP) on Lake Anna

By Kurt Michael

Vrooom. There goes a power boat. Vroom vroom. There goes another power boat. Brace for the wave … waves from passing boats and jet skis brought an element of excitement to my paddle boarding  experience on Lake Anna (see map).

I launched my paddle board from the marina located on the east side of the route 208 bridge and headed toward the power station two miles away. The late-September day was sunny and warm with temperatures in the mid-70s as I paddled under the 208 bridge.

Around Seay Point towards Brumleys Point…

I finally reached my destination, the nuclear power plant, where buoys mark its perimeter restricting public access.

Lake Anna was created because of the power plant. In 1971, a 90-foot dam was built on the North Anna River near Bumpass, Virginia, creating the 17-mile long lake that would cool the plant’s core.

An interesting fact is that the North Anna Nuclear Power Plant is ranked number seven as “most at risk” of the core being damaged during an earthquake, as reported by NBC-29. This is out of a ranking of 104 nuclear power plants nationwide, and North Anna faces an annual 1 in 22,727 chance of the core being damaged by an earthquake and exposing the public to radiation. On August 23, 2011, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit Louisa County where Lake Anna is located. Luckily, North Anna was designed to withstand a 5.9 to 6.1 earthquake.

Thank goodness we have competent engineers and technicians and not Homer Simpson running the plant.

I turned my board around and paddled back to the marina admiring the million-dollar homes along the way.

The 208 Bridge soon appeared in the distance where I would return to the place where my day began.

Read more SUP adventures from Kurt Michael:

– Rivanna River Reservoir, Charlottesville – September 2014
– Beaver Creek Reservoir, Charlottesville – September 2014
– Sherando Lake near Waynesboro – September 2014
– York River, Yorktown – July 2014

More about SUP:

– Surf Blue Ridge
– Blue Ridge Outdoors

Photos by Kurt Michael
September 2014