Monomoy Weds 24th August 2011

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Briggsy
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Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2009 6:59 pm
Location: Sarasota, Florida

Monomoy Weds 24th August 2011

Post by Briggsy »

Due to the Shark infestation on the outer Cape beaches, the Atlantic sections of my Cape Cod Circumnavigation trip will have to take a back seat for now so Norm and I decided on a trip down to the tip of Monomoy and to check out the lighthouse renovations.
Norm picked me up from my house and we arrived at Battlefield Rd launch spot at 8.30 and were heading out by 8.50. It was already quite breezy despite the forecast being only 5-10kts. From the harbor entrance we headed south directly into the wind and waves, it was going to be a long trip. Norm suggested we take the "inner" South Way to get out of the wind and save our energy. It sounded like a good idea so we did a sharp left and headed for the inner route. Unfortunately the wind seemeed to be everywhere and there was no relief, even on the more sheltered side of North Monomoy. We picked up the channel that leads between North and South Monomoy and after a short break on a sandbar headed out into the swell of Nantucket Sound. The waves were coming straight for us so it really wasn't too bad.
Heading South
Heading South
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As we got level with the lighthouse we decided to continue on to the southerly tip of Monomoy and visit the lighthouse on the way back. We encountered a large seal group in the water which followed us and swam under our kayaks for quite some time. Months ago when I was planning the "Round Cape Cod trip" I had set this date for going round monomoy as the slack current at the tip occurred at 11.50 am followed by a flood tide that would have pushed us north along the Atlantic side. I did have a few thoughts of suggesting to Norm that we just keep going but then the thought of the sharks brought me back to my senses. The left hand curve of the tip seemed to just keep going and watching the speed start to increase on the GPS, I knew we were close to being caught in that flood tide. We reached the buoy marking the southernmost tip paddling at an easy 4 to 4.5 kts. We did a tricky U turn and headed back. By this time several commercial fishing boats had gone past and a combination of the wakes and wind waves and ocean swell in this confusing area made for an interesting return trip. Needless to say we took no photos at this point. We saw the seals again on the way back up and finally made it back to the slightly sheltered landing at the lighthouse. After a quick lunch we hiked in and were surprised to see a front end loader, dumpster and pop-up camper at the lighthouse. Two guys were working on it and said they would be there till the Fall. The building was re-shingled including the roof, new windows and a big garbage pile. Also a huge sign reading "Your Recovery dollars at work" !!!
Jeep used used by construction workers...weird to see it out there
Jeep used used by construction workers...weird to see it out there
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We hiked over to the Atlantic side to check it out and was surprised to find completely flat sea, perfect for a Monomoy circumnavigation !!
Back to the kayaks and ready for the trip north. By now the wind had shifted to the south east but the sea was no kinder, swells came from 2 directions, from behind (perfect for a surf or two) and the occaisional larger swell from the rear left quarter that would catch you out as you caught a nice wave. We battled our way north looking for the gap into the "South Way".It was just after low tide so the sand flats were extensive around us. I had marked the mouth of the channel as a waypoint on my GPS on our way down and finally we came to the turn. The surf gave us a nice ride in and we followed the channel through. At last we had small waves and the wind at our back. It didn't take long to get back up to Stage Harbor, arriving at our launch at 4.45. We had covered 19.3 nautical miles (22.2 miles) and according to my GPS had averaged 3.2kts (3.7mph) over the whole day.
I only took a couple of pics but Norm no doubt has a bunch.
Thanks for the ride Norm and a great paddle.Finally broke the 20 mile mark.
Briggsy
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NorwayLady
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Re: Monomoy Weds 24th August 2011

Post by NorwayLady »

Wow, I am exhaused and dizzy just reading about it. Congratulations on breaking the 20 mile mark with such tricky conditions!

Bea
Bea
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norm
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Re: Monomoy Weds 24th August 2011

Post by norm »

I was a little worried when we brought the boats down to the water and the wind and waves were so big inside Stage Harbor. What would it be like out in the open water.

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Didn't bother to take any pictures of the light house on the way out of the harbor...it's just not worth losing your forward momentum against the wind and waves to grab a shot of something you've already captured many times. The detour into the southway instead of staying west of North Monomoy Island didn't work out to be any easier. There was no blocking the relentless wind. I was happy when Briggsy suggested a break on a sand bar between North and South Monomoy before we headed back out into the open water for the push all the way down to the southern tip of the island. It was about 10:30 and I was ready to eat my breakfast bars for a little energy boost since I had left home at 6:30.

The sandbar we stopped on.

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Briggsy headed ashore on a low area away from all the birds.

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Close-up of the cormorants hanging out on the lower part of the sand bar. Notice the waves behind them. This is where we'd be headed next, for the next 5 miles into the wind.

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A look across the higher part of our break sand bar. A trip out to Monomoy is a lesson in dealing with waves rolling in over sand bars.

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Looking across more shallow areas to the lighthouse off in the distance.

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When we got past the light house and near the southern end of Monomoy, we started seeing seals popping up all around to check us out.

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Briggsy looking at the rip at the southern end of Monomoy as the current is starting to suck us around the corner.

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The seals were waiting for us when we turned around and headed back to the light They seemed even more playful this time.

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Not sure what kind of ducks these are but the really stuck close together.

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There's a big blue sign at the trailhead that leads to the light house. There's no dock or ramp, just beach. There is one mooring ball, but I think it's for official use only.

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The tide was pretty low and the beach was steep where we pulled the boats out. We ended up setting them near a seal carcass.

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The land on the Nantucket Sound side of Monomoy Island near the light house is quite different than the land on the Atlantic side. The sound side is marshland, grasses and lots of low bushes.

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We wondered if some of the bushes are cranberry bushes?

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I thought part of the contractor's priority for the renovation work was that they not disturb the island too much. I don't recall if there was a roadway last year, but the ruts they've made with the front end loader look like they'll be there for a while.

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I wasn't too surprised that the work at the lighthouse was not complete, but I was a little surprised at how messy the area was. I hope they secured all the trash before the hurricane arrived.

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They probably did some work on the building's underpinnings. The deck at the house entryway was gone and the house looked very straight and level. It looked like all the windows and doors had been replaced and most of the shingling was done except a little bit at the roof peak. I don't know what the guys were doing on the staging around the light house. They assured us that the tower would not be going anywhere in the hurricane.

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They had restricted area signs up near the work area but there was a little trail that led by the perimeter and allowed us to walk out to the Atlantic side of the island. The landscape is all sand dunes on this side.

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We did not see any seal colonies on the Atlantic side beach this year.

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There were a few seals playing in the shallow water on this side of the island too.

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We hung around long enough to watch this boat go by. I think we were both curious to see if it was a shark patrol boat, but it was just a regular fishing boat.

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I think the views of the lighthouse as you approach from the east are much more pleasing right now.

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The trip back to Stage Harbor was difficult at times as described by Briggsy, so I didn't take many pictures. We did see one odd thing that I tried to capture but was too slow with the camera. As we made our way past a sandbar, a flock of cormorants took off and flew across in front of us. The last bird to fly by had a quahog stuck to its beak. It got into the air for a seconds but soon crashed into the water. It got up once or twice and tried to fly, but crashed into the water again and went under and didn't resurface. Very sad to watch, but nothing we could do about it.

We also found out you really need to stay in the channel in the Southway all the way to Morris Island if the tide is not high. The sand bar at the north end of North Monomoy Island is huge. We both agreed that paddling in shallow water felt like paddling in molasses.

There were kids playing on the steep sand dune on Morris Island again this week.

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We did not encounter much traffic coming out of the harbor, but there was one sailboat coming out.

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Thanks for planning and making the trip to Monomoy and the lighthouse Briggsy. It was a great trip and some more learning experiences for me, surfing big waves in shallow water where a dump could be painful. And it was my first trip over 20 miles. It was a very tiring day when you add 4 hours of driving to 8 hours of paddling and hiking.
Last edited by norm on Mon Aug 29, 2011 12:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
TraceyJ
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Joined: Wed Sep 15, 2010 9:47 pm
Location: New Bedford, MA

Re: Monomoy Weds 24th August 2011

Post by TraceyJ »

You got some really good pictures, Norm.
Glad you could finally get your 20+ miles.

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