Portsmouth/Gerrish Island Sunday 9/24

[PeterB]

Seven of us departed from Pierces in downtown Portsmouth, at around 9:30 on Sunday AM: Two Explorers, one Pintail, one Chatham 16, one Cetus, one Mariner, one Capella 163.

We sailed down the Piscataqua River with the ebb, lingered for a quick eddyline- crossing clinic at a stone pier in the river, and again at green can #9 by the old naval prison, and before long we were at the mouth of the river and Fort Constitution, crossing over to Gerrish Island.

At this hour seas were calm, so rock gardens off of Gerrish were not churning, but a good classroom for those looking to get acquainted or reacquainted with surfing modest ledge breaks. We eyed a ledge with breaking waves about a quarter of a mile out to sea , so we paddled out to have a look -see. It was a teasing spot; waves would wrap around the ledge, breaking in different directions, sometimes at right angles to one another; I witnessed some nice rides, helmets disappearing behind a crest of white water, then reappearring , too far away to see the grins on the faces of their occupants,

Grumbling stomachs and bulging bladders asserted themselves, so we scooted over to Sewards Cove (it’s labeled as “ foul†on the cart, meaning: no place for landing a boat), for a lunch stop, then set off again to see what the mouth of Brave Boat Harbor had to offer.

We paddled through a patch of fog, and arriving at Brave Boat, we found some good surf at its entrance , so we stayed and played. After about an hour , surf was showing signs of diminishing with the rising tide, and by 3 oclock various spousal/ barbecue / domestic obligations began to weigh on the collective consciousness of this all-male crew ., so we headed back to Pierces.

On the ride back the wind waves picked up and the marine forecast of 2-4 foot seas came to pass ; probably somewhere over 2 foot seas, with some 3 foot stuff when we padded near ledges & boomers. It was a choppy, bouncy ride, with the sun now in fill glory. It was nice to get back into the flood current of the Piscataqua , and get a push back up to Pierces (hey I always wanted to be a 5 knot paddler)

Some scurried off to various engagements, but four us sunbaked deadbeats wedged our cars through downtown Portsmouth, (thronging with weekenders) scurried over to Red Hook, and buddied up to 23 oz micros before heading home .

Good day on the water ,especially paddling with new and old faces. The only bad thing was finishing too late in the day to take a midday/ afternoon nap and too early to crawl into bed and go right to sleep.

[Rob Hazard]

Well told, Peter!

It was a thoroughly excellent day on the water!

But I felt slightly trashed this morning...!

Rob