Watching the Blackburn - Sat the 21st

[brwells]

Five of us - Liz, Nathalie, Chris, Monika and I - launched from Smith's Cove on Rocky Neck (not a nice place to launch, steep rocks down to a muddy area strewn with broken glass, but we did okay.) We paddled leisurely around Rocky Neck and into Gloucester Harbor. Our first idea was to land at Ten Pound Island and then walk over to the west side, but we could see that would put us fairly far away from the Blackburn paddlers. So we decided to go to the Dog Bar and watch from there.

As we left the South tip of Rocky Neck, we were joined by Al and his wife, Leslie and (whoops, can't remember your name!) Al, of course, was still getting comments about the Cetus and joked that he should charge for rides and he would make out very well.

We got to about 100 yards North of the Dog Bar where we could see the racers very well. Liz led the cheering as the first racers came by. Watching the forward stroke on these first dozen or so single racers (on surfskis and some fast kayaks) was amazing. Seeing the wooden two-person dorries was also humbling in that these looked large, heavy and yet they had been rowed 20 miles. Quite impressive. The variety of boats made the time go fast. We stayed at the Bar for about an hour and a half, all the while battling a wind that kept pushing us towards the Bar, the choppy conditions, and the frequent boat wakes. All the boaters seemed very accommodating considering the race was entirely within the channel in the Harbor; that is all but the Whale Watch boat that was going considerably faster than any other boat, never mind its wake.

While watching we saw Rick C come by and disappear outside the Bar and soon after Bob C and Walter appeared. Never saw these two paddle so fast. Heard a rumor they were looking for "facilities."

Al and his group went off to Kettle Island. The rest of us then split into two, three went to Pavilion to join the racers at the end while Monika and I took the scenic shore route back to a nice beach just West of Wonson's cove. Did I mention Monika did all this in a 12' rec boat??

Wonderful weather, though a bit windy. We all had a nice time on the water. Special thanks to Liz for all the local knowledge (she also seemed to know half the racers) and to Nathalie for showing me a nice beach on which to land instead of Smith's glassy Cove.

Brian

P&H Capella 163

Red/White/Black trim

NDK Explorer

Melon/Teal/White