Robin-HG Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 (edited) This is my second trip to Monomoy. The first attempt was last August. In that trip, we only circumnavigated the south Monomoy. The condition was very challenging to me and the entire team. On our way back, we encounted 3-feet waves and heavy wind. Some kitesurfers were playing the wind and waves with us. Also, as you can imagine, there was tons of trrafic near the stage harbor channel in mid summer time. I would not call that trip as a success as we underestimated the weather effect and planned the trip poorly.Stand up from where you fell. With this words in mind, I accepted my friends’ invitation of another attempt to Monomoy point, the north end of Monomoy on May 25, 2014. We prepared more carefully this time. On May 25, high tide was at 10:21am, and low tide was at 3:44pm. Wind was 0-10mph. Water temperature was ~55F. We planned to paddle as far as we can but turn back before reaching the Monomoy Point, which had 1.5-2 knots tide current.The team had 4 members, Rani, Daniel, Bai, and me. I was assigned as the pointer and group leader. Bai was the sweep. We planned on launching at 10am and returning at 3:30pm. However, we failed to stick with our original plan and we launched at 11:10am. We launched at Barn Hill Lane, Chatham. It has a park lot, a boat ramp, and a small sand beach for launching kayaks. We paddled along the Oyster Pond river to Stage Harbor. I regrouped the team before we crossed the channel and ask the team to move together. After getting out of Stage Harbor, I directed the team to turn southeast and we aimed at the north tip of Monomoy. There were some boats traveling from Chatham Harbor to Chatham Roads, and we can see some buoys in the sea. However, those buoys are neither red nor green. I am not sure how boats travel in this area, so we stopped for few minutes and watched the boat traffic. Interestingly, boats did not travel between buoys. Instead, they travelled in a “S” shape and travelled on the outside of each buoy. I am still not sure why they did it that way, and would like to hear opinions from experts. Anyway, we kept our kayaks close to each other and crossed this area carefully.As we launched one hour late than we expected, the water was shallow near monomoy. We had to keep ourselves far away from the shore otherwise we stranded in the shallow water. We saw many horseshoe crabs, some seals, and many birds. The sky was cloudy when we launched, but it became sunny and warm as the day went on.We had our lunch break 1:30-2pm, and decided to paddle for another 1.5 hours before turning back. The trip after lunch break was a little rougher. We had 1-1.5 feet waves came from south. I was worried about Rani as this was her first sea kayaking trip. However, she did surprising good. At 3:30pm, we were about 1-2 miles away from the Monomoy Point light house. Although the light house was my original destination, we decided to turn back. My friends were not used to long-distance paddling and we still had a long way back. So, we said Hi to the lighthouse from distance and rode the tide back. Companion is more imporatnt than destination. On our way back, we encounted some side waves. Daniel found his rudder does not work properly and he kept turning into the waves. I decided to switch kayaks with Daniel. In my preious trips, I tried not to use skeg/rudder so I was forced to practice controlling my kayak in various conditions. The practice seems helpful. I handled Daniel’s kayak well though I felt I was in a bathtub when I was in his boat.A man was flyfishing in Stage Harbor.We got back at about 7pm. Our friends were waiting for us on the dock. Smile was on everyone’s face.photo courtesy Kurt YangOne challenge of kayaking at Monomoy is you never get the accurate chart as the landscape keeps changing. The good news is you do not have to rely on charts. Just paddle along the shore. Based on my compass reading and google satellite map (I think it updates more often than nautical chart), I drew a rough route of our trip. We paddled about 12 miles totally. Applause to Rani and Daniel as they also did a 5-mile run before launching. Edited May 29, 2014 by Robin-HG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BethS Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Sounds like an excellent day! I've always wanted to paddle there, thanks for the inspiration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfolster Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Nice trip report Robin! I don't know the area, but it might be that the buoys were set up for a race course as it sounds like the boats were running a slalom through them. I have noticed on several trips this year that there are a lot of buoys on the water that are not typical aids to navigation, but rather temporary markers for areas to avoid, such as oyster farms or other fisheries. I don't remember seeing so many in years past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pintail Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 ...or perhaps those buoys are of non-specific colour because USCG cannot make any guarantees in those waters? (Local sand movements being ever-changing and all that...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 ...or perhaps those buoys are of non-specific colour because USCG cannot make any guarantees in those waters? (Local sand movements being ever-changing and all that...)They aren't official USCG buoys. The local harbormaster attempts to mark the channel and as you point out it's ever moving thus the buoys are just a rough guide. It's a nice place to paddle if you don't mind walking next to your boat in search of deeper water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prudenceb Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Good for you, Robin for organizing a trip,and keeping it safe and making good decisions. Photos sure showed it was a beautiful day!pru Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Z Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 An excitingl trip, Robin. Great to know you made it and accumulated good experince. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtyang04 Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Great report and congratulation on first trip being a leader. It would double your pleasure, right?Since two of my close friends have been NSPN members, I may join the NSPN formally in next two days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katherine Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Way to go, Robin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin-HG Posted May 31, 2014 Author Share Posted May 31, 2014 (edited) Thank you to all who replied this post! I appreciate your encouragement. I have learned a lot from NSPN trips and workshops. Looking forward to more exciting moments on the sea!I agree the bouys might be set as local markers. They are not seen in the chart. Edited May 31, 2014 by Robin-HG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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