Newbury Neck

It had been breezy all week, but the forecast for Friday looked good- just for one day before the wind picked-up again. So, continuing my exploration of Blue Hill Bay, I drove to Newbury Neck in Surry and set-out to paddle around the southern end.


The eastern shore of Newbury Neck is consistently settled, but spacious with grassy pastures spreading down to gravelly beaches. I paddled against the incoming tide, but managed to catch eddies close to shore, and made good time to High Head. I slowed-down to drift below the serpentine igneous bluffs, dripping with icicles. The land here may be all privately-owned, but the owner, who has a house on Burnt Point, has left much of the southern end of the neck untamed and beautiful.


A dark, massive front eased-in from the west as I rounded the southern end, connecting the dots with recent trips: Long Island, Blue Hill, Morgan Bay. I took a fifteen-minute break on Jed Island and spent the next fifteen minutes restoring feeling to my fingers with some all-out paddling.


Back at the car, I loaded-up, aware that it would probably be my last paddle of the year. It was a good way to end 2011 and think about the year to come. There’s always something new to find out there, always more to learn, whether it’s how best to maneuver the boat, or learning the lay of the land and sea. The more I discover, the more I feel almost overwhelmed by how much I don't know, by all the places on the chart that I haven't seen, and the more driven I feel to keep at it.


So, with such an obsession, who needs resolutions? Happy New Year.

Winter, One Day at a Time

As it gets colder, my paddling excursions become tinged with desperatation to make the most of whatever tolerable weather comes along. I check the forecast compulsively, watching for any window of opportunity. Lately, that's any day above thirty degrees, with winds mostly under ten knots. And since I've had a little more time lately, I've been car-topping the kayak to check-out some areas I don't have time to drive to in the summer, when I work more. Also, I try to choose a route that might be more sheltered from the wind than other areas.


One day I took a tour around Blue Hill Harbor, and out past Parker Point as far as Blue Hill Falls. I like all the nooks and crannies along this shore, many of which have perfectly-situated cottages- all pretty much empty this time of the year. It's impossible to paddle here without being wowed by- and maybe even a little jealous of all these century-old architectural fantasies. In one cove where the ice was building-up, I came to an impasse and had to retrace my route to get out.


Another day I took a spin around Morgan Bay, just east of Blue Hill. I ate my lunch at the head of the bay, in a sunny spot out of the wind, thinking "this winter paddling isn't so bad." But I arrived back at the launch after dark, strapping the kayak to the car with numb fingers, thinking "this winter paddling is nuts."


One day I headed up the Benjamin River, just seeing how far I could get, portaging over a couple of beaver dams until the ice stopped me. I ate my PB&J in a sunny meadow and headed back down the river to Eggemoggin Reach.


The late afternoon sun lit-up the shore as I paddled past until, at Billings Cove, that afternoon sun seemed to abruptly morph into an early sunset. I arrived back at the launch well after dark and cranked the heat in the car while I got out of the drysuit and loaded-up.


I wasn't expecting snow yesterday, but it was coming down pretty hard as I paddled in Union River Bay, along the shore of Newbury Neck. It was just a little colder than previous days, and I had to keep a quick pace to stay warm. The snow tapered-off as I followed the shore around Patten Bay to Weymouth Point, then rode the waves back across.


These have been good trips, yet I'll admit that I'm not feeling super-committed to winter paddling this time around (and it's not even winter yet). I have plenty of numb-finger moments: struggles with drysuit zippers or getting the sprayskirt onto the cockpit rim- things that would be easy in warmer weather. But I can't stand the thought of not getting out. I keep poring over charts obsessively, finding places I want to check-out, and at the same time, watching the weather and the tide charts, and some days it all lines-up. I may not paddle all winter, but it seems impossible to stop looking ahead for that next good day.