It was time for the annual Boston Harbor paddle. PB and I always get an interesting crew for the paddle and it is always a nice time. I expected today to be no different. The weather was predicted to be nice. The tides were ideal: the gut would be a non-issue, the current would carry us out to the islands in the morning and push back to the launch in the afternoon.
PB’s plan was to be at my house at 7:30, load boats, and be on the road before 8am. That gave us plenty of time to get to the launch by a little after 9am and prepare for a 10am launch.
At 7:40 I woke up and sort of panicked. PB was in the driveway getting ready to call and wake me up…. I had relied on Bug being my alarm clock since she never sleeps past 7. Oops.
We managed to stay on schedule. We were at the put in just after 9am and mostly ready to go by 10am. More impressive was that we did it without rushing or forgetting anything.
Our launch was a little delayed by the friendliness of the local rowing and lifeboat historical society. Several members came over to check out our kayaks and give us updates on the conditions in the outer islands. We were not in any rush and they told us about a really cool art exhibit at the fort on Georges Island.
When we got to Boston Harbor Light, the keeper, in full period garb, came down to inform us that the island was full. We were welcome to come back for a tour between ferry groups. She must have known that a RIC/KA group with only one Tim was trouble.
Before moving on to explore the more interesting parts of the Brewster Islands and the Shag Rocks, we donned our brain boxes. The water was just on the fun side of bumpy and we all wanted to play. The Aries was itching for some fun.
We made our way around to the backside of Little Brewster and out to Shag Rocks. Then over to Great Brewster for lunch. It was fun paddling. The bounce was just enough to make things exciting. We played in and around the rocks a lot. It made me appreciate the Aries even more. It is built for play.
After lunch we headed around the backside of Great Brewster. With the added exposure, the conditions were just a little more bouncy. We were having a good time looking for play spots.
About halfway around Great Brewster, there was an interesting little inlet with a big rock formation in the middle. Two paddlers went in for a look. TG and I planned on skipping it since it didn’t look that interesting. I, however, drifted near the center rock formation keeping an eye on the paddlers in the cove. The waves were small and manageable, so I was not concerned….
Then a bigger than average set of swells drove me sideways into the rocks. I was pinned with my side on the rock ledge and the hull against the portion of the rock sticking out of the water. Rolling was not an option since I was basically on dry land, with the occasional wave slapping the hull back into the rock.
I decided the only plan of action was to get out of the kayak, push it into the clear water, jump after it, and let the others do an open water rescue. It all went according to plan. TG was right there to scoop me up on the bow of his kayak while the Aries was retrieved. They popped me back into he cockpit with ease and made sure I was all set before releasing me to my own care.
Everyone kept asking if I was OK. I was fine aside from a few scrapes. Once out of the kayak I was on a nice stable ledge and once I jumped into the water I was clear of any rocks. I was far more worried about the Aries. A quick look showed only minor scrapes and there didn’t appear to be any leaks.
We continued our trip out around Cliff Island and crossed over to Georges Island by way of Lovels Island. I’d like to say that my brush with doom made me play it safer. The chances for play were just too good to ignore. Besides, the chances of me wrecking twice in one paddle were low.
On Georges I got the chance to inspect my injuries and the Aries. The minor scrapes were bigger than initially thought. There was nothing that required stitches, but there was a lot of scrapage. My left calf was hamburgery. It gave Dr. Paul another chance to break out the industrial first aid kit. He applied some sexy purple self-adhesive tape to my leg to keep it clean. Reportedly, I was only a slightly less fidgety patient than Bug getting her splinter pulled.
The Aries had a decent crack on the deck. It didn’t puncture the glass, but it did do some damage. It was going to need to visit Dr. Carl.
The art exhibit turned out to be a bit of a bust. There was one big display by the beach and a few things that may have been displays. The one big display was inside the fort. It was made up of some pulleys and other stuff. I think it was supposed to be a wind powered instrument of some sort. The group, made up mostly of scientist and engineers, spent a lot of time trying to figure out how it worked and reverse engineering it. It was less of an art installation than an engineering problem. In either view, it was a bust. It didn’t work.
The paddle back to the beach was uneventfully pleasant. It was a great way to come down from an exciting paddle.
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