Porkine Petrifications

[bob budd]

Left Riverhead Beach at 10:30AM. One trip to the burger shack to get some water, forgot that. Another trip to the car for sunscreen, forgot that but my trip to Maine last night left me with my son's bottle. Also without chart, though the visibility this day would call for none given our "float plan".

Ah yes, the float plan. Halfway Rock, the Pig Rocks, and back. Well we got into the modest swell and played on the rocks of Marblehead Neck until we could practically spit onto Tinker's Island. Didn't take long to decide not to backtrack just see another granite protrusion from these calm seas.

As we approach Tinker's we found several heads, partial torsos, and legs protruding from plastic tubes. No this wasn't the remains from a shark attack. Just a group of a dozen or so who had taken their motorized skiffs from somewhere, probably nearby, to spend the day bobbing in the water. A prolonged stop/stretch ended in a decision to circumnavigate the island and head for the Great Pig.

Everywhere we went we found places to poke our noses in. Given our, at least my, skill level the day was perfect as any and all places were reachable and there was enough swell to test a few strokes. From there it was a quick stretch of the torso to reach the porkine petrifications.

Aside: Suppose a kayaker takes a rag to keep his (or her) glasses clean while paddling. For how long do you suppose said rag is indeed dry enough to serve its purpose?

Upon reaching the rocks I took in what was very similar to the Salvages with a few more "islands". We were there at low tide but the flora on the lower rocks and the lack of guano stains meant they were wet at or most likely near high tide. Great stuff that, you could coast up on flat section to seal land and slide right back into the water. Most of the people I know who are pretty finnicky about scratches would have been at ease.

A relatively protected portion of "the Pig" had a small cove with a bloom of cyan algae. The stuff almost glowed, even given the bright sunshine of the day. On its back side I got caught with bow on rock in the receding water and tumbled slowly seaward. It was easy enough to scull back to the service and snap up, also freeing the bow.

From there we proceeded to Ram Island for more rock play and then to the coast. As we approached Devereaux, not eager to recircumnavigate the neck, we found the beach goers had stretched nearly half way down the causeway. Deciding that especially that last leg through the oily and crowded harbour was not to our liking, we landed about mid-causeway where there were the human population grew sparse.

In three legs we were able to tandem carry the boats to the Riverhead parking place which I had fortuitously chosen near the sculpture. Especially unpleasant was the soft, dry sand where it seemed you were almost slipping backwards. Wonder how often they see two kayaks in a crosswalk.