Same Paddle, Different Day

I’ve held this theory since I was in High School that you can’t do the same thing twice. What I mean is: If you have a lot of fun and try to set up to do the same thing again it just won’t be the same. How does this apply to paddling? Well, I claimed that a paddle I did out of Westport in June of last year was the best paddle of the year. Here we were again 10 months later. What would happen?

BH suggested a paddle from some mysterious “Gooseneck” place I could not locate on the map. I think he meant “Gooseberry” and right away I had visions of a paddle we did just about 12 months ago. A very exciting “Surf” paddle off Allens Pond. JSc suggested that the winds were more conducive to a Rt88 launch so that’s where we met. EricJ,BillR,PaulB,MA,CarleenM,CaroleC and BobH all showed up. We had a slow start for reasons I don’t fully understand. But it allowed me to poke around in an eddy by a rock just off the launch.

When we all gathered up we rode the out going tide through the mouth of the river. As we passed The Knubble we were facing a fairly stiff SW breeze which was quite away from the north wind that was forecast. (There is probably some lesson to be learned from that but it turns out to be inconsequential to this paddle.) We all agreed that we were going to head in the direction of “Goosewing” beach. As we headed west CM and I were greeted by a couple of seals.

The paddle west was calm and easy. BH, EJ and I caught a few open water surfing opportunities. The small waves were amazingly pushy in a few spots. We stopped for lunch in Little Pond Cove. This was about a mile short of Briggs Beach, the more logical destination because of its more sandy beach. It was my vote because I was hungry and I was thinking about the group and the SW breeze that we had not paid much attention to because it was behind us.

Lunch included the usual relaxing conversation and food sharing. The high point being HC’s “healthy” bran brownies. (Honestly I have no idea what was in them but she said they were good for me!) I was a bit cool again in the breeze despite the warm sun. It is difficult to stay toasty in the drysuit at lunch time. I think it’s due to evaporation. How can I prove that to myself? Hmmm?

When we headed back it became clear that the breeze had softened and my concerns about slogging back into the wind on an early season paddle were unfounded (this time). The group spread out a bit more than we probably should of. The clear water at a depth of about 6 feet over Tripp Ledge, a ½ mile off shore, made for a very pretty paddle. Some unnamed rocks off shore were asking for exploration and provided the focus for us to group up again.

We rafted up together near shore by Acoaxet. Here, with the heat built up in our drysuits from paddling, we were very comfortable, just basking in the sun. The conversation turned to seals and interestingly, CM and I realized we were the only people to see the seals on the way out of the river. Apparently, the seals must have popped up behind the main group in that characteristically seal way.

JohnS met us on the end of Horseneck Beach with his wife and dog. He had not joined the paddle due to flooding issues in his basement. The timing of his beach stroll was perfect!

Back at the launch CC, BR and I made some roll attempts with various degrees of success. The water has lost a bit of its winter bite but exposed hands are still chilled very quickly.

So as I would have predicted, the paddle was very different from my favorite paddle of last year. It stands as a very enjoyable early spring paddle. But the story doesn’t really end yet. I seem to have forgotten to discuss the “post paddle” activities in recent blogs. This day was to end with a very enjoyable gathering back at CM’s house. Hours of snacking and stories and laughing. Finished up with a showing of “This is the Sea Volume 1” and talk of our own kayak adventure plans.

3/31/2007