Fog

Sunday morning: thick fog, like every other day lately. Brighid paddles over from Old Quarry and meets us at Colwell Ramp. We discuss options, finally deciding to just go "out there". We start across the Thorofare, but there's the sound of a motor, getting closer. We back up to the red nun and watch a lobster boat speed past the spot where we'd just been. When it's gone we decide to point toward 180. We paddle with no sign of land. At first, I'm convinced that my compass is wrong, but of course it's just me: fog is disorienting. And sort of fun. We hit island after island, finally crossing Merchant's Row and hitting pretty much the spot we'd hoped.



The nice thing about circumnavigating, is the navigating part; you just keep the island on your left and keep paddling. Around Merchants, then Bills. Before hitting Bills, we thought maybe we'd missed it and were crossing Merchants Row, but then, there it was.


Aside from those two lobster boats early on, we had the archipelago to ourselves: a good Sunday morning.

Smoked Eggs

Launching

Sometimes I wonder why I bother blogging . I suppose I like the process of trying to find one or two acceptable photos from an excursion, and then I like trying to find something to say about it, even when it may have been similar to the last paddle, and nothing really extraordinary happened. The good news, despite the lack of posts lately, is that I've been paddling more than I've been blogging, which I'd say is a healthy priority.


Last Sunday's excursion turned out to be more eventful than we'd hoped. It started as a relaxed paddle, checking out the schooner Victory Chimes, which was anchored in the harbor. We meandered through the inner archipelago, and eventually decided to head for Fog Island. After a couple hours of paddling, we were just arriving at Fog, both of us ready for a snack. Todd thought "those hard-boiled eggs are going to be good."

Unfortunately, those eggs were still back home, in the pot, on the stove... with the flame still on.

Todd has a tense moment

We pulled up on the island. I dug-out the cell phone and discovered it had a dead battery. VHF: the same. Todd finally managed to get someone at Old Quarry Ocean Adventures on his. "I'm not in trouble," he told the person who responded, "but I think I may be burning my house down." They called Rebecca, and, as it turned out, Todd's neighbor Aimee had recently started working at Old Quarry. So a couple of people were soon rushing to the scene. We climbed back into our kayaks and headed toward Stonington, but we had five or six miles to go.

Smoked Eggs

As we paddled, Todd monitored the VHF, waiting for news. We tried to imagine what would happen to a pot left on a flame for two or three hours after the water boiled away. It might not be that bad. After all, we couldn't see any smoke in the direction of Stonington. Finally, the news came through that his house was "a bit smoky," but otherwise okay. The eggs didn't make it.

There's a few obvious lessons here, which I won't belabor, but I can assure you that it's a bad feeling when you finally need that cell phone and the VHF, and discover that having it doesn't count for much if you don't check the batteries. The story has a happy ending after all. Todd took us all out for dinner: a small price to pay for people on shore who can help you out when you need it.