Cape Cod part 7. Thursday 31st May 2012

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

Cape Cod part 7. Thursday 31st May 2012

Post by Briggsy »

Tides and currents lined up pretty good for a stab at the Monomoy cicumnavigation, the 4th time this Spring but so far the weather had not co-operated. A week before the trip the forecast was lousy but as the days wore on it got better and better. Finally, a few days before, Norm and Kate said they would come down for the trip. This was one of the sections of the Cape Cod circumnavigation trip Norm and I had been doing last year but due to a Shark problem we were unable to complete.
The day dawned warm and still and on the way to the launch I stopped at Chatham light to look at the ocean, it was flat and calm. Norm, Kate and I met at 8.30am on Morris Island Causeway and carried our gear down to the water. As we got going a blanket of fog surrounded us and it was a weird feeling to be paddling in a "bubble" with a 50 yd view in any direction. We paddled over to the barrier beach as I wanted to try to get a GPS fix on a narrow section as we would be portaging over the beach to return to the launch.
Launching into fog
Launching into fog
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Heading south, the fog slowly lifted and we made good time over the glassy smooth water enjoying a fab day at Monomoy. The tide was going out but we still had to pick our way around sandbars a little, finally making it out to Nantucket Sound. There weren't many seals this time but plenty of Striped bass and Horseshoe crabs in the shallow clear water.
Magical Monomoy
Magical Monomoy
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The Lighthouse at the end of Monomoy never seemed to get any closer as we paddled towards it, Kate said it was like chasing a rainbow. About 11.15 or so we landed at the Lighthouse Landing and had a short break. We climbed to the top of the beach to see the lighthouse in the distance. We were so lucky with the weather, it was really fantastic.
Slack water at the tip of Monomoy was predicted at 11.56am so we set off again. Last time Norm and I were here it was rough and choppy, but this time it was smooth but with a slight steady ocean swell. The water temp now dropped as we moved from the Sound to the Ocean. Norm and I noted where we had turned around last time while Kate, who had circumnavigated Monomoy before, scoffed at our inexperience (!).
As we finally completed the long +/- 250 degree left hand turn and headed north, the wind began to pick up. We had picked up some current though as at one point I noted on my GPS that we were doing a steady 5 kts at an easy pace against the wind. Norm however thought we were going that fast because we were just THAT good !! The sea kicked up a little and it was pretty lumpy in a few places. The main highlight of course was the amount of seals on the Atlantic side. There were colonies of 100 or so seals and there were at least 8 or 10 colonies, so 1000+ seals along an 8 mile stretch of beach.
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The trip north was in fact a slog, paddle,paddle,paddle, look at seals, paddle, paddle, big wave, paddle, paddle.........then repeat.
3 miles short of the portage we took a break. The surf was the dumping kind and there seemed nowhere else to land so we rafted up and had an on water break for ten minutes or so. The slog continued and up ahead we could see a sandbar just offshore. It was luck that the sand bar created a safer place to land very close by to where we were going to portage. We landed and checked out the other side. We were slighly off so we launched again and paddled up another 200yds and landed for a well deserved break. The weather was still great, just the wind was still blowing enough to be tiresome.
Revived after food and drink, the terrible portage began, soft sand made it hard work,but we were soon in the water again and headed for the take out.
We covered 21 miles in total, (including the portage of a few hundred yds which was the hardest part !)
I had a great day on the water and thanks to Kate and Norm for coming down midweek and risking the changeable weather.
Briggsy
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Mark
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Re: Cape Cod part 7. Thursday 31st May 2012

Post by Mark »

I don't blame you for cancelling the trip for sharks. My one experience paddling with sharks was a harrowing one.

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noseykate
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Joined: Thu May 17, 2007 6:50 pm
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Re: Cape Cod part 7. Thursday 31st May 2012

Post by noseykate »

Nice report! I hadn't taken any photos during the glassy early section - amazing how still it was.

Thank you for giving the dread portage its due homage. Even more dread was the prior two-mile stretch, during which both my arms dropped off and I muttered words of mutiny under my labored breath. Watching Norm do not one but two surf landings, beautifully, made up for it though :)

I only took a few photos...

Norm striking a heroic pose at lunch break.

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Briggsy striking a heroic pose at lunch break.

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Our launch location.

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The first seals.

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Sand flats on the inside of Monomoy.

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Monomoy is a magical place. The sheer number of blubbery seals is astonishing. Be sure to bring duct tape to hold your arms on, if you decide to go around it.

NK
NorwayLady
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Re: Cape Cod part 7. Thursday 31st May 2012

Post by NorwayLady »

Looks like you had a fantastic day. Monomoy is truely magical!

Bea
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norm
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Re: Cape Cod part 7. Thursday 31st May 2012

Post by norm »

That WAS the worst portage of my life.....till today, when we made the Monomoy portage look like child's play by portaging 8 boats and 8 sets of camping gear a quarter mile across Washburn Island. But that's a horror story for another day. I'd rather think about Monomy again, so here are a few of my pictures.

Here's a close-up of a horse-shoe crab we saw at the put-in. We saw many more in the shallows in the southway and between North Monomoy and Monomoy Islands.

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Kate and Briggsy with the fog that rolled in and out to start the day. That was an interesting first for me, paddling in the fog, unable to see more than a few hundred yards.

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North Monomoy Island.

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Briggsy and Kate in the calm water of the Southway.

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Kate came across a few other Loons out there besides Briggsy and I.

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A view of the Monomoy Lighthouse. This is as close as we would get on this trip.

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I've seen many seals, but nothing like the quantity on the Atlantic side of the island. So many different sizes and ages and colors. Fun to watch them scurry up and down the beach, in and out of the water, alone and in groups.

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Monomoy is just a bunch of sand, sea grass and seals...

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We were a little too close to shore to get a good view of the lighthouse from the ocean side.

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Kate never looked tired to me in the 20 miles of paddling. I checked my GPS track when I got home and stepped through the trip on my old topo software - we kept a 4 to 5 miles per hour pace all day regardless of whether we were in calm water or battling a headwind and waves.

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The offshore sand bar that made our surf landings easier.

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Our sandy portage trail.

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And the final stretch of the portage to get back in the shallow water of the southway.

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Thanks for a great trip Briggsy. It was hard work, but worth every minute of it.

Norm
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