Between working on my house, hiking in the snow, and shoveling snow everything in my body hurts. Add staying up late two nights in a row and I was less than excited about paddling. But the weather looked good and my home project is in limbo while I wait for materials to show up, so what the hell!
Traveling to RI for kayaking from central Mass is quite a commitment. It’s typically about a 75 mile commute. My usual ritual is get up at 6, eat a good breakfast, pack my stuff, make my lunch, leave the house at 8, and arrive at around 9:30 for the 10 o’clock paddle. In winter I like to put the boat on in the evening before. Even on a day like today when it is forecast to be low forties it is usually only about 20 degrees when I walk out in the morning. On this particular morning it was quarter of seven when I got up and the boat was not loaded. Fortunately I’ve got my boat and equipment fairly organized so when suitably motivated I can gather everything up very quickly. I was on the road just a little past 8 and I was the first to arrive at the bay campus.
Matt showed up, ironically planning on paddling solo because he did not know a paddle was planned. Ken and Cat followed and finally Joe showed up at the last minute. We all geared up for the cold water. Cat and I were probably a little over dressed expecting a bit more wind and a little less sun than we had. We discussed plans to make a loop of the lower west passage and agreed to do it clockwise so that we’d be protected by the Narragansett shoreline if the wind should pick up. We would be fighting the tide but the neap tide was not very strong.
We decided to make a more or less direct crossing from the bay campus to beavertail. The crew was full of capable paddlers and the conditions were fine so we had no fear of lingering in the middle of the channel. (We saw only two other boats in the distance the whole day.) In the open water we could see that a powerful swell was in evidence. It was not high but with its long wavelength it was pre-disposed to build over the bars. On the Jamestown shore the boys showed great discretion in avoiding too much play in the rocks. At Beavertail we could see some waves steepening up over the shallow water. We chose to stay out of this and head towards Whale Rock. From there we turned due north. We were headed to lunch just inside the cove where Bonnet Shores is. But it would get a little exciting at the corner when we were all caught by a set of 3 waves that tried to surf us into the rocks. It was my first chance to see how the new Impex Force 4 would respond to a steep growler. It stayed upright as did everyone else’s boat but provided for a little excitement to spur on the lunchtime conversation.
After lunch we were headed to Bonnet Shores beach for a little surfing. Everyone except me donned their helmets. I was in a new boat in winter. I thought it was best that I avoided all the rock gardening that the crew was doing along the west shore.
We explored the beach from west to east. The waves were a bit larger on the west side. We were all a bit tentative about getting wet. Somewhere east of center the waves seemed about right and everyone started taking rides. They were a perfect 2-3 feet and the surfers would just disappear from view as they rode in. I was a bit tentative with my new boat. I simply didn’t know how this long, low rocker boat would handle the surf. The larger waves were arriving in sets of 3 (as we experienced just before lunch). For my first few rides I avoided this set and played in the smaller waves in between. As I became comfortable with the boat I started surfing the third of 3 so that if I was to get messed up I would not have 2 more big ones to pummel me. I was building up body heat and the spray of heading back out through the breakers actually felt good. The boat surfed pretty well so I decided to try and back surf it on a smaller wave. It did this well also but bracing when back surfing is a confusing proposition and I ended up upside down in shallow water. I tried to set my paddle up for a roll but had difficulty getting it into position. Possibly I was pinched by the sandy bottom. I chose to bail out.
We all had a few more rides then headed around the point and back to the bay campus. As expected there were some pretty impressive walls of water coming over the bar inside the point. We discussed some of the adventures we’ve all had at this point on numerous previous paddles.
The route back always seems long. It is only a mile and a half but we are usually fighting the current there and it’s anti-climactic as the swells die out in this section of the bay. This section gave me plenty of time to think about the fact that I hadn’t rolled this boat yet. I was rationalizing that I hadn’t foamed it out yet but I’ve jumped in a lot of other people’s boats and rolled so that was no excuse. The water was cold but I had to try it. I managed a reasonable roll and called it a day. The cold water was delayed from reaching my head by my neoprene hood but as it soaked in I knew it was enough.
Post paddle was a simple coffee and bagel at dunky’s. We wished each other happy new years as we left from our last paddle of 2007. Knowing a first paddle of 2008 was not going to be too far away!
12/30 Air and water 42. Winds light. 10.5 miles round trip.
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