mattdrayer Posted August 24, 2016 Share Posted August 24, 2016 Trip Report: Cape to Cape Crossing, 2016-08-20 (Race Point to Pavilion Beach) I woke up at my brother's place in Gloucester at 3:45am on Saturday morning, 8/20 to get going for the big trip. I had been watching the weather for weeks, and we were now meeting my uncle at Cape Ann Marina at 4:30am in order to load my Epic V10 surfski onto his boat for a shuttle down to Provincetown. Mission day had finally come. I was about to realize a multi-year dream of paddling 45 miles across Massachusetts Bay, an open ocean crossing from Cape Cod to Cape Ann. At 5am we were heading South out of Gloucester Harbor with stars in the sky and a mirror on the sea. After an hour the day brightened and we began to spy bits of Provincetown in the far distance. We approached and passed the lighthouse at Race Point and headed into Provincetown Harbor to refuel, then headed back out to Race Point where we anchored just off the beach. The wind had started to pick up slightly, the waves were beginning to run, and there was a raft of seals playing in the shallow water of the sandbar jutting out from the point. After a couple high-fives and fist-bumps, I climbed onto my surfski and paddled to the beach in order to touch the sand. GPS route activated, tracking app started, and VHF check complete, I took a couple deep breaths and pushed away from the beach. I confirmed my bearing with the chase boat — 328.5 degrees — and picked up the next wave that came along. The swell was running almost perfectly with the wind, which was running almost perfectly with the bearing. The water was warm, the temperature was moderate, the sky was clear, and the ski was flying -- it really couldn’t be much better. I spent about an hour getting a feel for things and surfing the runners. At our first check-in I shouted over to the chase boat, “This must be what heli-skiing in Alaska feels like! It’s absolute heaven out here!”, and it really was. Every catch of the paddle felt perfect, every wave was a charge, my energy was high, no pain, no strain — what a day. At the 1.5hr mark I decided to stop and eat something, and was caught off-guard by a misaligned wave which dumped me right into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. There I was, floating 10 miles offshore in Massachusetts Bay. What was I thinking??? I looked down and thought about how deep it was here, thought about sharks, shuddered, and quickly remounted my surfski and picked up another wave. The conditions were still fantastic, and they remained that way for another hour and a half. At the 17mi point I was moving right along, averaging 6.75mph and still feeling like Superman. Then my mile-splits began to drop off, subtly at first — 10 seconds slower, then 20 seconds, then 30 seconds. I reached the halfway mark, took a break, and noted that the water had started to become somewhat messy. I was working harder and going slower, like I was caught in a current — but there wasn’t anything to see for miles, and the water was over 200 feet deep here. What was going on? My chase boat checked in to make sure I was okay. I told them I felt like I had just finished the Blackburn. And now I had another Blackburn to go. As the afternoon developed the wind and waves continued to build — large rollers began sweeping by me and I did my best to take advantage of their energy, but it was getting hard. My average speed had dropped closer to 6mph. Foam was blowing off the waves, which had become extremely noisy and confused. The chase boat was working, too. I could hear the engine revving up and down to keep a steady pace and course. The guys were shouting encouragement and insults — family I dumped and remounted several times over the next couple of hours, each time pausing to ask myself if I should pull the plug, and each time responding with conviction that I had enough in the tank to continue. After five and a half hours of paddling I hit the 32-mile mark, the distance of the Molokai Challenge. The waypoint was a physical and mental test for me, and I had passed. But the waves had increased far beyond the predicted range of 2ft, and it felt like all of the rhythm was gone from the sea. I found myself flashing back to the 2015 Blackburn race, which I described to people as running the Boston Marathon with Mike Tyson screaming in your face and throwing haymakers your way when you weren’t looking. The ski bucked around like a bronco and it took all I had to keep upright at times. I could feel fatigue setting in. I thought about quitting and shook it out of my head. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming At 4pm, seven hours in, I went over again. I blew the remount and continued over the other side head-first. “Nice, with the water up your nose.” I thought. “Get back on your boat, dummy.” I had travelled 40 miles so far and could now see Gloucester in the distance. I climbed back up onto the ski. I was tired, and it was far later than I had originally planned to be doing this. I decided I was done working the larger waves — between those and all of the slop it was taking more energy now than I had and it made more sense to let the big stuff roll by and focus on staying upright. The noisy chop had continued to worsen, and I thought to myself that it must be all of the wave energy reflecting from the North Shore all the way back out here. Who knew. Approximately 2.5 miles from Dog Bar, the sea was an absolute disaster. It's always bad off of Eastern Point, but this was ridiculous. I could see lobster boats pitching around and the buoys couldn't seem to make up their minds about which way to point. I looked at my GPS to check my course and the LCD was blank. It didn’t matter, though — I could see the harbor entrance now. I battled through the energy reflecting off the breakwater to the hooting red channel marker, and finally I was around the wall and inside. My brother blasted the air horn and I took my hand off my paddle to wave, almost going into the water again. I shouted out that I had precisely 1.8 miles to go (thanks, Blackburn...) and set my sights on Pavilion Beach. The harbor water was rough, but it wasn’t anything like the 20-mile mogul field I had just traversed. This was simply icing on the cake. The Greasy Pole came into view as I approached the beach. I sat up in the bucket and took fatigued, but well-formed strokes. Pictures and all. Then I was crossing under the pole, and the ski was on the beach, and my kids were running up to me cheering. I saw my mother and my wife, and I was standing up. Hugs, kisses, tears. The horn went off again and we all turned and waved to the guys. What troopers they were to go through that with me. Amazing, simply amazing. What a day. What a trip. What a dream come true. Mission accomplished Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattdrayer Posted August 24, 2016 Author Share Posted August 24, 2016 Facebook link to more info -- photo album link is available in the comment thread: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattdrayer Posted August 24, 2016 Author Share Posted August 24, 2016 Tracker link: https://www.endomondo.com/users/2312439/workouts/789814967 -- downward spikes are stops/spills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leong Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Congratulations Matt. I’m so jealous. That was a fantastic feat. And to think, I knew from your Merganser days (before you want to the dark side). I just looked it up -- we both raced kayaks in the 2011 Nahant Bay Race (I was in my Epic 18X). I don’t think I ever beat you after that race. -Leon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Sylvester Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Congratulations on a great accomplishment. Well done, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inverseyourself Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Awsome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattdrayer Posted August 25, 2016 Author Share Posted August 25, 2016 Oh, let's not call surfskis the "dark side" @leong There's no reason to attach a social stigma to what is a very fun way to play in the water The 2011 NBR was my first ever kayak race, and taking part in that event opened up a whole new world of adventure, competition, and community for me that I hadn't had in many years. So I'll always have a special place in my heart for that one Cheers, Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leong Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 13 hours ago, mattdrayer said: Oh, let's not call surfskis the "dark side" @leong There's no reason to attach a social stigma to what is a very fun way to play in the water Yeah, yeah, I know. The Borg (McDonough, Dwyer, Chappell and Duggan) almost recruited me a few years earlier. My wife warned me that resistance is futile. Luckily I broke my leg and broke free. -Leon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katherine Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 Wow, wow, wow! Many congratulations! !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 That paddle is on my bucket list. Having a support boat is really smart as it makes things much safer. I am glad you were able to achieve that goal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katherine Posted September 1, 2016 Share Posted September 1, 2016 & missed the great white that was floating around. .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattdrayer Posted May 5, 2017 Author Share Posted May 5, 2017 Over the winter I worked on an interview-style article with Epic Kayaks about crossing Massachusetts Bay -- it's now up on the site -- here's the link: http://www.epickayaks.com/article/article/capetocape Cheers, Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattdrayer Posted December 1, 2018 Author Share Posted December 1, 2018 Just discovered the Epic article is no longer available on the site (wah) -- I've attached a copy of it here for future reference. Matt EpicLifestyle–CapetoCapeWithMattDrayer.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inverseyourself Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 Always great to read the story again! Thanks Matt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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