Wed Lunch Paddle 5/25/22: Lanes Cove <> Rockport

[Joseph Berkovitz]

Yesterday Mike Habich, Sue Hriciga, Prudence Baxter, Jody Harris, Barbara Ryan, Dan Foster and I (Joe Berkovitz) paddled from Lanes to Rockport. And back to Lanes, too, if you were wondering about that. The weather was beautiful and sunny, temp maybe around 60 F although it felt warmer to me.

On the initial leg we had very little wind until we rounded Halibut Point, after which we had a 5-8 kt headwind out of the south. Some of us hugged the coast and rocks in the modest swell while others stayed further offshore. We all moved at a relaxed, exploratory pace enjoying the beautiful conditions and the soft air and light. Eventually we reached Rockport and landed at our usual place, below a small parking lot on Bearskin Neck.

Immediately a young guy appeared above us in the parking lot and politely—and perhaps a bit apologetically—explained that we were on private property and would not be able to land there. We protested, equally politely, that we'd been landing there for some years now, but he said he was from the adjacent kayak rental place and it was not up to him: the policy was due to the owners of the adjacent building (the Lauri Kaihlanen Gallery) and that someone from there might come out and yell at us.

Barb gamely offered that she knew the owner of the kayak shop... but it turned out that the kayak shop had been sold recently and had a new owner. Nice try!

Some of us wished to stay and risk the ire of the property owner, but we could not access the rest of the town (ice cream, bathrooms... did I mention ice cream?) without going right next to the owner's building through a gate clearly marked PRIVATE NO TRESPASSING PRIVATE PRIVATE PRIVATE etc. I made myself slightly unpopular by suggesting we cave in and land at the public boat ramp, which we did. Below is a picture of Rockport Harbor with the forbidden landing and the public landing marked appropriately:

The public landing is a broken down old concrete ramp in a state of extreme disrepair that at low tide is not usable by any wheeled vehicle and for that matter is barely walkable. Perfect for a bunch of kayaks on a pre-season day: we could leave our boats there without inconveniencing anyone. Off we went to enjoy the as-yet sparsely touristed environs of Rockport. Sadly the beloved Helmut's Strudel was "temporarily closed for the season" (perhaps this amounts to abuse of the word "temporarily") for reasons of staffing shortages and supply chain problems. Mike wondered aloud about the supply chain for strudel. However, a workable ice cream stand was found by some to provide a good nutritional supplement to our packaged lunches.

Back we went through Sandy Bay, now with a strengthening tailwind that had turned a bit more to a quartering SE. Again around Halibut and back to Lanes. Approaching Lanes at low tide we entered an area with gently pouring pour-overs over seaweed-cushioned rocks. We noted how bright the colors were, especially the verdant sea-lettuce glowing through the shallow water. We had a nice play session there for another 30 minutes, and then returned to Lanes. A beautiful and rejuvenating paddle with friends on a late spring day. Not much more I could ask for...

...except some photos from the trip. If anyone has some, please post!

[Dan Foster]

I only took one photo, of Joe perfectly timing the swell to ride over the "Devil's Tooth" pourover. (If you're having trouble picturing why this feature is called "Devil's Tooth", that's further evidence of how perfectly he timed his ride, and how perfectly I captured the moment. But trust us, there's a shallow rock there somewhere...)

 

After the Wednesday Lunch Paddle dispersed, I went out on a solo Wednesday Dinner Pedal, and paid my respects to Thacher Island, many of the inland quarry paths, and the backroads that circumnavigate Cape Ann. I was very glad it was low tide, because my route dumped me out on Good Harbor Beach, which involved a half-mile stretch of wet sand riding to avoid the dunes.

 

[Barbara Ryan]

Thank you so much for planning this Joe and what fun we always have!
I didn’t get many pics- having too much fun! That is Jody and I standing behind Joe so excited to be getting ice cream! Next adventure more pics. 

[Jody Harris]

Lots of good pictures! Kudos to Dan for managing two activities on the same day. Looked like a fun ride!