Four brave paddlers faced howling winds and rising waters to test out their winter paddling gear and cold weather stamina. Hilldy joined us for a first run on VL and aced it in spite of 20 knot winds and 50 degree temps, It must be because she is from Switzerland. We had to make a big upstream arch to avoid being blown over the Breaks. Once in the GW canal we were sheltered from the wind and had a nice paddle. Dan showed up with his short, home-made rowboat and managed to get across the river in spite of the strong downriver winds. Barb B took the position of downwind recue boat in case anyone was blown too close to the Breaks. Natalie and Jack had good excuses for not showing up, but promised the would be on a future trip. After a tough crossing in the wind to the Maryland side, we got mostly out of the wind by closely following the Maryland bank to the takeout at Pennyfield Lock. Everyone was appropriately dressed for the weather and stayed relatively warm and were glad we made the effort to get on the river. Everyone agreed that Gus coordinated the best cool weather trip of the Fall. Water level was 3.34 ft. No canoes showed up.