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Wed. Lunch Paddle 9/21/22: Rockport -> Thacher I.


Joseph Berkovitz

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The people: Fred Goodman, Britta Magnuson, Joe Berkovitz, Mike Habich, David G Mercer, Ricardo Caivano, Bill Voss.

The launch: Rockport Granite Pier.

The tides:
08:58 am    high    7.42
02:46 pm    low    1.97

The journey:

We launched just after 10 from the pier in clearing skies and mild temps. The forecast (which seemed to be holding) was for light NNW winds to switch over midday to S winds as high pressure passed overhead. So it seemed reasonable to head south and have a tailwind in both directions.

Despite the sea state forecast having diminished since the trip was posted, there was ample wave energy with about 2 feet at 6 seconds. It seemed to me that there might also be a longer-period swell that emerged at odd moments to deliver a little surprise. So we played along the rocks at a relaxed pace down past Straitsmouth.

Around this point the wind was dying down and Thacher looked inviting. We could see that the tours had ceased operating and the ramp looked empty. Off we went across the channel to Thacher, going around clockwise first, inspecting (and turning down) the waveswept beach at the southwest end and opting for the ramp. The ramp was a bit squiggly and slippery but it worked well enough, although the land/launch process was slow.

IMG_3880.thumb.png.463d86079473b9cd4bb06bdd189f7300.png

As we arrived we said hello to two other well-equipped local paddlers who were just in the process of leaving. We had a nice lunch on the tables at the top of the ramp, looking out at the Rockport coast:

IMG_3879.thumb.png.2799cb1f5ced40b9b6b3095b388fbb25.png

Eventually we returned, passing around the outside of Straitsmouth and indulging in some very leisurely play in the occasional rock features in the diminishing swell. The south wind did not really get around to building and the air and water were both in the 60s. A drysuit was pleasant for me this day thanks to the gathering cloud cover in the afternoon.

Thanks everyone for a beautiful day on the water! Please post pix if you have them.

-J

 

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