Release Date 11/6/2017

I released this message off of Cedar Beach in the Peconic Bay.

I was out tending my oysters on a gray fall day. The water is getting cold and the oysters are going into a sort of hibernation for the winter. If I go out any more it will just be to harvest some for eating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weather was in the 60s windy and overcast. It rained on me, but just a tiny bit.

I paddled over to Jessup Neck, which strangely enough is a very small National Wildlife Refuge. I paddled up on a deer and two wild Turkeys eating acorns. Because I came from the water they let me come right up on them.

Jessup Neck is pretty cool just a long skinny spit of land with some big hills on it.



I paddled around some of the houses and had some lunch.


I saw lots of boats out and some guys snorkeling. Turns out it was the opening day of Scallop Season for Bay Scallops. We should try that next year if the water is warm like it is now.


There was a very strong current pulling out to sea on the way back, and with the wind I got confused and went way off course. It wasn't until I was over near the other shore that a realized I had been pushed very far East.

Truth: Technology can Fail.

Release Date 10/21/2017

I was up in North Florida for some boating, fishing, and hunting.

It was wonderfully warm, but not hot, unfortunately the wind was blowing very hard the entire time which made it difficult to drive our airboat and also made the fishing and hunting unproductive. 

The water up here is always the color of coffee, and because of the wind we could not get out into deep clear water for flats fishing.

I went North as far as Shired Island, and South as far as Cedar Key.

Shired Island was by far my favorite just a tiny desolate spit of sand out in the marsh. We met a really interesting guy there in an ancient camper who looked like he lived there. I could understand about every other word he said, no shirt, just burned brown by the sun going on and on. I can only imagine what he is like during the cocktail hour.

We saw a ton of signs of hogs on a little private island up there, that we were not allowed to hunt on. This would be a good place to launch kayaks.

Cedar Key on the other hand is the exact opposite just crappy restaurants and all touristy. Locals were super friendly and were able to get 2 free rides. One we repaid with a drink at a bar, and were entertained by his stories of life in the Islands and off color humor, the other we forced a $10 bill on.

This area is beautiful in its own desolate way, and hopefully it will always stay this way.

I did find a cool island for sale, Deer Island, a bit out of my price range, but they seem to be flexible, and a conservation easement might really knock the price down.

Truth:  Some Awards are better than others.

Some pictures are below. 

Release Date 9/29/2017

We did a crossing from Orient Point to Stonington CT.
Ebb Starts Race 07:15
Max Ebb Race 10:00 2.0 Kts
Flood Start Race 13:20

 

 

getting ready at Orient Point.

Sunrise just after we lauched.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Launch 06:40
Little Gull Land 08:25
Little Gull Depart 09:10
Noank Land 12:55
Noank Depart 14:40

Wind North shifting to SW 10kts.

We drove out the night before because the start was so early. It was a beautiful morning clear and sunny, and really warm for this time of year. It was in the mid 60s when we launched and much have gotten up to 80 by the mid afternoon.

We were traveling on the Neaps so the current was not super strong. We went the traditional "inside" route along the sound side of Fischers Island.

We took a break at Little Gull Island. Even though it was early there were a lot of seals there.

Great Gull in the morning with the sun behind the island.

Seals in the water at Little Gull

It was still pretty early at Little Gull.

This tree looks just like a pig!

Race Rock was a nice little rest spot out of the current.

Lots of people fishing in the race. They were all catching Bluefish.

Entrance to Noank Harbor.

We stopped at Noank to have a giant lobster lunch at a place called Abbotts. 


I had a lobster for lunch and some beer.

The paddle from Noank to Stonington was against a weak current, but we had some nice surfable waves. The Wind had changed and we could go downwind for over half the trip to Stonington.

Dinner was at the great Portuguese holly ghost Society in Stonington.

We then stayed up there through the weekend. We went surfing on Saturday at Sugar Reef, then went up and paddled along the rocks in Narragansett.

A stogie during the last day of the Sunday.

Truth: Things Look different from different perspectives.

Release Date 9/10/2017

We did a hook to hook paddle. Sandy to Red...

Left about 14:20 on 9/9/2017 from Red Hook and had a really fast paddle to the Verazano It was just one hour total. We had a light wind at our back and perfect current planning.

 

 

 

 

We met up with some CIBBOWS swimmers who were doing the same trip. I broke off from the paddlers and played swimmer escort for a few hours. The swimmers took a much more easterly route and we had great current.



Eventually it got too late, they pulled my swimmer and I paddled in some significant swell over toward the campsite and amazingly met the rest of my group about 45 minutes before they reached the beach.

The campout was great with lots of fun people and really amazing grilled lamb and kielbasa as the main course. We had car support to bring the heavy food and drinks.

For breakfast the leftover lamb, sausage, and rice was mixed with some duck eggs for a really filling breakfast.

 

 

 

 

 

The paddle back was much more difficult. Wind was about 15 knots so against the current it slowed us down and also made for some real swell.




We took a break at the lighthouse south of the Swinburne. There was yet another dead seagull on the top of the lighthouse just like we found on our Ft. Wadsworth trip.

We then went up to Swinburne and the Sebago folks departed off to coney island creek. We were exhausted and hungry so stopped at Voodoo beach. At this point the current had turned and we opted for a motor tow home since we found a kind soul to break away from the Bills game and save us. The tow worked great and we took 5 boats home to Red hook 2 empty and three full on the tow.

 

Release Date 9/8/2017

Went for a ride in new motorboat.

We went out for a shakedown cruise and met a friend in a kayak.

We tried some highspeed kayak towing which ended in some exciting times. For short bursts we had some amazing surfs. We couldn't push enough water through to stay up on the wake without towing.

3 Full size men in the boat it performed ok, but not great. It still worked ok when we added a forth and went for burgers and Lavender Lake.

I went out a few days earlier with just 2 people and drove much better. In the Newtown creek we were able to open it up and plane and really fly down the creek. Saw a seaplane landing that snuck right up on us, it would have been interesting if he had landed a few minutes early since it went a lot faster than we did.

 
 

Truth: Its hard to see in the dark.

Release date 8/10/2017

I released this message in French River Prince Edward Island Canada.

I was taking a canoe trip from cousins beach to French River. It was a really nice paddle along the coast. Dramatic sandstone cliffs, sea caves, and little pocket beaches. Unfortunately it was a canoe and it got pretty rough so I was afraid to take my camera out to take photos.

Before the wind came up we actually saw a lot of, 5, lobsters just crawling along the bottom. In the future I want to bring a net and catch bag to grab some!

Truth: Caves are dark.

a string of mussels on a farm.

A view of French River Bay from the hilltop.

 

 

sunrise over the gulf of St. Lawrence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few days before the PEI trip I did a trip on the Mississippi river in a house boat. It was a real blast we traveled up and down the river for a few days. The boat was slow, but we could stop at beaches to swim and hang-out, and we always had our kitchen and bed with us at all times.

stocking up before trip. Total Wine was great, especially because I won the toss and didn't have to pay!

an old storefront in a river town.

the boat on a beach. No tide means easy docking!

The captain supplied an amazing bottle of wine that we had with steaks on the grill.

the view from the kitchen.

The boat at a dock at a the national eagle center.