Suunset / Moonrise Paddle to the Spit - 8/12/11

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norm
Posts: 2126
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:13 pm
Location: Stoughton, MA

Suunset / Moonrise Paddle to the Spit - 8/12/11

Post by norm »

After helping out with safety at the NSRWA sunset / moonrise paddle last month, I thought it would be nice to do it again, but with no responsibilities this time. I mentioned it to a few people and there seemed to be a fair amount of interest. I ended up waiting till Monday to pick which night to go. Saturday would be the correct night, the true full moon, but the long range weather forecast was for clouds to move in Saturday night. So, I decided we'd have to give Friday night a try. The moonrise would occur long before sunset, but we'd make the best of it.

We had 11 people show up, including: Pat and Sue, Bea and Russ, Karen M., Chip, Audrey, Ron, Gif, Bob and me. After getting all the gear loaded in the boats and carried down to the water, we launched pretty much on-time. We all moved to the sides to let a motor boat pass, but managed to all miss getting stuck on the mud-flat this time.

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We had the wrong person in the lead, me, and ventured too far out on the spit initially, but realized our error and waited for the experts to catch up and tell us we had gone too far. The spot we were looking at would probably be awash with the incoming tide before we were ready to leave. Some of the group headed further out to check out the waves while the rest back-tracked to pick a better spot to view the sunset and moonrise. The waves were pretty small, so the group ended up all back together pretty quick.

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That's not a chip on Chip's shoulder, that's the moon which rose long before the sun set.

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Lots of people brought food, but Bea has to win the award for bringing the biggest item and being the most prepared. She brought a small blue tarp, cutting board, bowl, knife and a watermellon! I didn't see who all brought the other items of food, but there was cheese and crackers, salsa and chips, and brownies.

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Russ wanted to show us how big the watermellon was so he compared it to Bea's mellon.

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I was having a photographicly challenged night, having issues with both of my cameras. I didn't really get any special moonrise of sunset shots. Here's the best I could do.

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We stayed till it was pretty dark and started heading back at about 8:35. We had quite an assortment of boat lighting. I think Audrey gets the most creative award for her multi-colored little light-stick hoops she clipped to her deck lines all around her boat. I wish I could have gotten a picture of all the lighting variations we had, but I knew my cameras would not work well enough in the dark.

As we launched from the spit, we learned a valuable lesson - head out into the channel immediately because there is a very shallow area at the back end of the spit. I think our problems paddling over the shallow spot were compounded by the moron in the power boat that opened up the throttle and charged up the Herring River in the darkness, sending waves across the sandbar making us bottom out. I ended up getting back out of my boat and walking about 50 feet when I got tired of trying to knuckle drag my boat over the sand. Thank goodness the trip back to the take-out was uneventful, with no other power boats to contend with.

Overall I think everybody had a good time. The moonrise was too early and there weren't enough clouds for a dramatic sunset, but the food and fun made the evening worthwhile.

Thanks for coming out everybody. Please share some of your pictures, adding them to this trip report. I'm sure there have to be some better shots than I got.

Thanks,
Norm
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norm
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Location: Stoughton, MA

Re: Suunset / Moonrise Paddle to the Spit - 8/12/11

Post by norm »

Three additional photos by Karen Monaco, forwarded to me from Bea.

Group shot with everyone but Karen, who was behind the camera.

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Bea squeezing the moon.

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Bea holding the moon up.

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Thanks for sharing the pictures Karen and Bea.
NorwayLady
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Location: Marshfield, MA

Re: Suunset / Moonrise Paddle to the Spit - 8/12/11

Post by NorwayLady »

Norm, thank you for organizing the Sunset-moonrise paddle. It was a perfect evening, and several of us mentioned we need to do this again...and again!

Here are some of the pictures I took:

The Driftway launch
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The Driftway at dead low:
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Heading out the Herring River
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Almost there
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Russ happy that he has the time to join "the Turkeys"
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Exploring the Spit area where the North and South River meet
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Gif and Bob returning from New Inlet
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Chip and Ron heading for shore
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The Spit at low tide
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The full moon over 4th Cliff
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Bea
Proud foster mother of Athena (P&H Cetus LV turquoise-white)
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Ron
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Re: Suunset / Moonrise Paddle to the Spit - 8/12/11

Post by Ron »

A few more pictures.
The Driftway:
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Moonrise:
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Gull enjoying the sunset:
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Sunset:
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Getting ready for the return:
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Image P&H Cetus HV
TraceyJ
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Location: New Bedford, MA

Re: Suunset / Moonrise Paddle to the Spit - 8/12/11

Post by TraceyJ »

It looks like I missed a wonderful night out with all you Turkeys.
Very nice pictures.

Tracey
Valley Aquanaut / white-on-white
P&H Delphin 150 Surf / Yellow
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