kork4 Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 Can someone give me a time/distance estimate for going around plumIsland?I vaguely recall it taking me 5 hours when I did it a bunch of years ago.Using some rudimentary map skills I measured it, on mapquest. Either my distance measurements are really off (16 to 17 miles) or I'm a lot more casual when paddling than I think.I realize this sounds highly naive ;-) Everyone planning to join me has done the Blackburn repeatedly so anyone fearing a newbie skill set need not be fearful for us.I'm trying to judge tides to make sure that we have lots of water on the backside for the second half of the trip.Kirk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djlewis Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 It's more than just lots of water on the backside. Be sure to get the tidal currents right, as they run up to nearly 2 kts in lower PI Sound.--David. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kork4 Posted August 16, 2004 Author Share Posted August 16, 2004 >It's more than just lots of water on the backside. Be sure >to get the tidal currents right, as they run up to nearly 2 >kts in lower PI Sound. Which can be harder than it appears at first glance. On an incoming tide, the water flows north past pavilion beach to the Parker river and south from Joppa Flats to the Parker River. A few years ago, doing the 3 rivers race (which I believe has disappeared) we had an incoming tide. I told fellow racers that theycould tell if they ever took a wrong turn, north of the parker river,because if the tide was ever going in the same direction they had taken a wrong turn and were headed up a creek.I was playing in the lower PI sound yesterday, as the remnants of Charley went by. It took us 75 minutes to paddle from pavilion beach to the metal garages, in the refuge, and 45 minutes to get back. It's definitely nice having the wind and current with you.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Gwynn Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 I just charted it out on my Blue Charts on the computer and got 19 miles around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donperry Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 I made the round trip this year on June 19 in a slow boat. It started out as a fishing excursion leaving from Pavillon Beach just before high tide. I was trolling and managed to stay on top of the tidal crest most of the way through PI Sound. A southwesterly wind pushed things along too and I didn’t have to paddle very hard. After Pine Island Creek the current picked up on it’s way into the Merrimack. A weak cold front crossed and the wind veered to the northwest. It was almost too good to be true & I decided then to go for it. I just let the current sweep me on to the Merrimack, which was ripping by then. You have to stay out in the current on a weekend because there are too many people fishing from the jetty. There’s also lots of boats & confusion at the inlet so be prepared for anything. I stayed as close to the shore break as possible all the way back to Bar Head where it was dead low tide. There was no current returning to the landing but the wind was against me on the way in. The GPS recorded 20.8 miles and 6.7 hours. I trolled most of the way and didn’t catch anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmfos Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 It's 19 statute miles around. The time it takes depends on your paddling speediness.I've done it twice and I put in at Pavillion Beach both times. I went through the sound and timed it so that I was going through the Parker River area around high tide (otherwise, it's dry back there). Ate lunch at the northern tip of Plum and then went down the oceanside of the island before reentering the sound to get back to Pavillion. Make sure you have your Mojo for this last part since the tide will be racing out of there and you'll have to paddle hard to get back. Stay out of the center of the channel since that's where the strongest current is (as well as the motorboats).Have fun! Hope you have a good day for itJimVCP Avocet, AquaNDK Explorer, White on White Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kork4 Posted August 17, 2004 Author Share Posted August 17, 2004 >I've done it twice and I put in at Pavillion Beach both >times. Concensus is 19 miles by map, 20.8 by donperry with a GPS.Last time I started at the breakwall in Newburyport, went through themouth, down the front, then up the sound. I prefer going through theone possibly challenging section, the mouth of the merrimack, while fresh. It adds challenge figuring out the tide for the sound when youdo the sound last.>Have fun! Hope you have a good day for it ;-) Any day paddling with no one getting injured is a good day....thanks for the help.Kirkusually on a yellow/red mako millenium Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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