It's Been a LONG Time...

For some reason it has been hard to find time to get on the water this summer.... Life conspires to keep us wrapped up with other things.
After a several weeks of working on the house, being tangled up with work, and meeting non-kayak based social obligations, H & I finally managed to get back on the water for a paddle. We planned an unofficial show & go out of Gooseberry Point. The weather was perfect - sunny but not too warm. There wasn't much wind and the seas looked calm.
This meant that the parking lot at Gooseberry was packed when we showed up for a 10am meeting time. It was a good reminder about why summer paddles put-in at 9am. H & I kept our eyes peeled for parking spaces as the rest of the crew arrived. We were expecting three more cars - MA, Bubbles, and CC with Cam.
I really wanted to paddle over to the wreck off Gooseberry and Bubbles really wanted to head over to Allen's Pond. So, we decided to do both. We'd paddle over to the wreck first and then head to Allen's Pond for lunch.
I had a rough idea where the wreck was, but not an exact location. I knew that it was somewhere off Gooseberry heading towards the mouth of the Westport River. I figured we'd spot it as we paddled along. The rusting hulk is pretty large...

My lack of specificity gave Cam a chance to learn how his GPS worked. The screen showed a label that looked like it could be a wreck that was in the generally correct direction. Since nobody had a better idea, we followed the GPS and found a nice little rock garden....
From the rock garden, however, we could see the wreck. It is a pretty neat structure to paddle around. The ship (or possible barge) is split into two pieces that you can paddle between and around. The structure, and the rocks that caused the wreck, create some interesting water conditions.
Today the water was flat everywhere; so, after checking out the hulk we turned towards Allen's Pond.
At Allen's Pond we took an extended lunch break. H was glad to just have some time to lay on the sand. Bubbles played in the miniscule race at the mouth of the pond. CC and Cam explored the beach. MA did a little lounging and a little exploring. I did a little longing and a little playing.
After we were sufficiently lunched out, we headed back to the put-in.
Before getting off the water CC, Bubbles, and I did some rolling practice.
After a thoroughly enjoyable return to the water after a long, long absence, we all headed to the Head of the Westport for the Roll-Up and Rebuild event to support Carl and Sam Ladd's recovery from the fire that destroyed their inventory early in the season. The event was a great time. They had awesome food, good music, and a large crowd.