Hi, All, This past Sunday I took a brief afternoon trip with North Shore Kayak Outdoor Center on Bearskin Neck in Rockport. This shop runs a camping trip to Thatcher Island, just of the coast of Cape Ann, that I had been thinking of taking, and I thought an afternoon trip might give me a sense of whether or not I wanted to plunk down my money on it. It was a really beautiful day, sunny and in the 80s, and dry. I really appreciated it, because here in the Northeast it seems we've had months of crappy weather -- a tough winter followed almost immediately by an oppressively hot, wet spring and summer. It was windy, however, and there was quite a bit of wind-driven chop once we got out from the protection of Rockport Harbor. We made north towards Granite Pier, where we stopped on the lee side of a point of land. A bunch of us found little starfish sitting on the rocks. New information to me: they feel like rough Velcro -- kind of like 3M Double Lock. We went north and around the point again to explore Pigeon Cove and environs for a few hours. Pigeon Cove has a ramp and is overshadowed by a former factory that the tour operator told me was once a paint factory and had been bought by a developer but stalled. To me one of the fun parts of touring busy harbors like those in and around Rockport is the ability to paddle through the "boat parking lots" reading the names of the boats. My favorites this time were Third Mortgage and Fish Finder. The group was mixed in ability level, and I was impressed to see how well even the novices were doing without recourse to a rudder or skeg on a windy day. The group was small -- ten boats -- with a leader, a following boat, and a sweeper who went up and back along the group. On the way back we had a following sea and a strong tailwind, which made for some fun wave-surfing. Just as I was about to turn around the jetty to return into Rockport Harbor, I noticed I was having a hard time getting my boat to go where I wanted it to go -- I couldn't turn to starboard. I thought, is this a tidal eddy, or is the jetty just really happy to see me? I cranked the boat around towards starboard, hard, and put the skeg in for the first time on the trip and paddled as hard as I could to get myself clear of it. Mission accomplished. Overall it was a fun afternoon and I did decided to go on the camping trip. Some things I would share with other people thinking of going on day tours or more at NSKOC: 1. There is really no parking in Rockport at all. I think I spent more effort getting my boat to and from the car than I did in the water. I would definitely have someone drop me off the next time. One the good side, I think I did my bit for tourism. In walking my kayak, with the Paddleboy, the approximately half mile from the busy pedestrian shopping area of Bearskin Neck, I had my picture taken no less than 4 times. Look, ma, I'm a tourist attraction! An 18 foot boat will get you all the attention you ever wanted and more. 2. The tours are cheap, relatively speaking. Afternoon tours are $35 with boat rental, overnights on Thatcher $125. It's not less if you bring your own boat. Contrasting this to other local companies in and around Boston, where prices can range from $99-$125 for a daytrip, not an overnight. As guided tours with boat rental included go, it's purty darn cheap. All of the boats seemed to be in good working order, and the PFDs seemed new and not faded; everybody had a pump and a paddlefloat, etc. I have a bunch of nonpaddling friends and I would recommend this as a place to try it safely in a group without getting sticker shock. I took some pictures and made a small thumbnail gallery, which you can view here: http://www.cadence90.com/images/kayak/ The pictures for this trip are labeled Rockport_Aug_03. Lisa W. PS. Does anyone have a thumbnailer program that they use that they are happy with? I frequently post pictures to the web and haven't found one I really like yet. ______________________________ lisa_at_cadence90.com Lisa's website: http://www.cadence90.com bikes, books, internet radio *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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