Boston Harbor Outer Islands and The Graves - June 20, 2012

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norm
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Boston Harbor Outer Islands and The Graves - June 20, 2012

Post by norm »

The first heat wave of the summer was forecast and I was itching to take a day off. I knew my trusty buddies Bea and Sue were available, so I proposed we take a trip from Hull to the Brewsters and the Graves on Wednesday after our Tuesday night navigation class. The whole thing came together at the last minute with no time to post the trip to see if anybody else was interested. We came up with a launch time of 10:00am from the beach at the end of the Hull municipal parking lot across from the high school.

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I knew we'd have the tide against us both on the way out and on the way back. But, it was the smallest tide of the month, so I figured we would have little trouble skirting along the edges of Hull Gut to stay out of the current. Our timing put us against maximum flood and returning against maximum ebb. We only noticed how strong the current was when we had to stop for traffic for a moment before crossing the Nantasket Roads channel.

The weather was perfect, with temperatures into the 90's. It was very hazy in the distance. Boston Light was visible from Hull Gut but we couldn't see the Graves Lighthouse.

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Everything was nice and clear when when you got up close.

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We watched a small Coast Guard boat drop a man off at the dock. Looked like he pulled a cart with gear for a few days stay at the keeper's house.

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Looks like they're trying to reinforce a bit of the island with some stacks of caged rocks.

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We passed south of Little Brewster Island before turning north and then I realized I should grab a shot of Sue on her first kayak visit to Boston Lighthouse.

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Bea and I both took some pictures of Middle Brewster Island.

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There is a lot of rusting iron on the shore from an old barge or ship that's been rotting away there a long time.

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The lonely archway on Middle Brewster.

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Many shades of green in the early summer.

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Heading between Middle and Outer Brewster.

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We can finally see The Graves Lighthouse off in the distance.

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Synchronized paddling...

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I thought I had read that there was a sandy beach on Outer Brewster so we circled the island to see if we could find it. All we found was the suction of holes in the water near the shore caused by swells that tried to suck us in against the rocks.

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Rounding the inner end of Outer Brewster, the WW2 bunker comes back into view.

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Graves Lighthouse is about a 1.5 mile paddle in open water from Outer Brewster Island. Sue's first visit via kayak.

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We circled the lighthouse in a clockwise direction but could not get in close amongst the rocks due to the swells.

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Sue was headed for a confrontation with a lobster boat coming around a blind corner. Odd thing is there was a fisherman doing push-ups on the roof of the boat.

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Cormorants and gulls on the rocks. Wind and swells pushing us toward them.

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Once in a while it looked inviting to get closer.

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Trying to capture a picture of the waves from swells crashing on the rocks.

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As close as I'm going to get on this trip.

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Heading back in, searching for a beach to take a lunch break.

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We saw lots of young sea gulls with watchful adults nearby.

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Paddling past Calf Island and the lone fireplace that looks like it is starting to lean a little.

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The cliffs of Great Brewster.

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There is now an old chunk of concrete with a pipe sticking out of it visible at the top the cliff. Only the pipe is visible in the 2008 book I have about the islands.

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The Great Brewster spit was starting to rise out of the water as we stopped on a nearby beach for lunch.

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Bea was the first to venture inland off the beach and experience the dive-bombing gulls.

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Bea was also the first to take a swim. All 3 of us eventually took swims to cool off from the 90 degree heat.

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The 100 foot high hill of Great Brewster looked very inviting for a hike. But not this time with all the nesting birds.

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We only saw a few oyster catchers and they weren't very cooperative about letting us take a good picture of them.

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We made another attempt at heading inland and found that we were at the former camping area.

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Sue and I climbed up the small hill of the south drumlin but were chased away by the gulls before we could make it to the top.

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Bea stayed down on the beach.

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I have a feeling Bea has a picture of us at the top.

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Apparently there was a dock here in the past but it was washed away. No regular camping here any longer.

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Sue was identifying bird bones on the way back out to the beach.

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This gull didn't care either way about us walking by and just stood there while we passed.

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After walking in the high grass and unknown types of bushes and plants, we took another swim to rinse off any plant residue. Seemed to work well - no itching the next day. Then we headed around the north end of the island.

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Still too early in the afternoon to capture great shadows in the cliffs.

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We traveled single file through the rocks and shallows at the north end of the island.

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Boston Light and Hull back in hazy view.

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Making our way across in the shallows between Great Brewster and Little Brewster.

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The water was smooth as silk.

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The white of the buildings seemed brighter as we got closer.

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Bea hustling to catch up after stopping to take a picture.

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A lumbering party yacht with a loud droning engine. Bea and I thought we should wait for it to pass but Sue said we'd easily get across the channel before it came near. Sue was right. We beat it with plenty of room to spare.

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Another slow moving obstacle. I've never had such an easy, smooth, afternoon crossing from Boston Light to Hull.

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Almost back to Hull Gut.

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No fishermen in the gut, just a few women and children.

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A fitting name for our weekday paddle in the name of a little tug boat: "Success". A great day on the water.

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Here is a topo map of the area with our track highlighted.

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A few specs from the trip:

Launch time: 10:10am
Lunch stop: 1:41:pm Distance: 11.14 miles
Back on water: 3:23pm
Take-out time: 4:38pm
Total Distance Paddled: 15.12 miles


Thanks for joining me Sue and Bea. I guess we can make up our own nice trips when Briggsy is busy...


Norm
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Re: Boston Harbor Outer Islands and The Graves - June 20, 20

Post by centered »

Thanks, Norm! What a great day, and an awesome way to kick off Summer Vac.!
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kayakerjnj
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Re: Boston Harbor Outer Islands and The Graves - June 20, 20

Post by kayakerjnj »

You guys had a fabulous day!

Thanks for sharing
Paddle with a big smile, its contagious 8)


Jordan
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Re: Boston Harbor Outer Islands and The Graves - June 20, 20

Post by flabo »

Thanks for some great pictures and insperation! I'm new to the Wild Turkeys and haven't figured out how it all works yet; I have a 17' Sealion that hasn't seen the water in two seasons, but I did come close to launching this Sunday. Hope to hook up with you folks and do some paddling!!
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norm
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Re: Boston Harbor Outer Islands and The Graves - June 20, 20

Post by norm »

flabo wrote:Thanks for some great pictures and insperation! I'm new to the Wild Turkeys and haven't figured out how it all works yet; I have a 17' Sealion that hasn't seen the water in two seasons, but I did come close to launching this Sunday. Hope to hook up with you folks and do some paddling!!

Welcome! Your best bet for meeting some of the regulars and getting comfortable in your kayak in a group setting would be to come out and join us on a Thursday night. We get together each Thursday in either Hingham Harbor if the tide is good or at a pond in Hanson when the tide is lousy. This week the gang will be in Hingham. To keep track of which venue we'll be at each week, watch the "General Discussion" and "Skills and Training" forums. There is usually a new posting each week in one of those forums to get a count of who is coming and share the latest updates on what time to arrive.

Norm
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Birdseye
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Re: Boston Harbor Outer Islands and The Graves - June 20, 20

Post by Birdseye »

Great report Norm. I guess I'm becoming an armchair paddler :?
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Chip
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Re: Boston Harbor Outer Islands and The Graves - June 20, 20

Post by Chip »

Birdseye wrote:Great report Norm. I guess I'm becoming an armchair paddler :?


You and me both.
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Re: Boston Harbor Outer Islands and The Graves - June 20, 20

Post by NorwayLady »

Here are some of the photos I took.

Norm and Sue with The Graves as a back drop:
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We told Sue that all first timers have to climb the lighthouse ladder. She wasn't buying it (smart woman!)
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Last time Norm was here he had played a little in the rock garden. Too much surf this time (as the white foam on the water shows):
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The spit we had our lunch break was just a stone throw from Boston Light (separate island):
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Sue and Norm exploring the island. I stayed back since I am super allergic to poisonous plants and there were plenty of them!
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For those of you that say they have never seen Norm getting wet...well, here is proof. He went all the way under. I promise!
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Beautiful paddle back. The water like glass as we are crossing the boat channel back to Windmill Point!
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Thank you to Johnysmoke for sharing all his navigation skills with us!
Bea
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norm
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Re: Boston Harbor Outer Islands and The Graves - June 20, 20

Post by norm »

Bea - Thanks for NOT getting a close-up of me in the water!!!

You don't want to ruin a nice trip report with a picture of me shirtless and hat-less.
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Re: Boston Harbor Outer Islands and The Graves - June 20, 20

Post by centered »

Don't worry Norm, she only posted the close-ups on Face-book.
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Re: Boston Harbor Outer Islands and The Graves - June 20, 20

Post by cgr »

Birdseye wrote:Great report Norm. I guess I'm becoming an armchair paddler :?


Nelson - I saw a Melonseed rigging in the Hingham Harbor parking lot Sunday morning - nice boat!
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Re: Boston Harbor Outer Islands and The Graves - June 20, 20

Post by Birdseye »

cgr wrote:
Birdseye wrote:Great report Norm. I guess I'm becoming an armchair paddler :?


Nelson - I saw a Melonseed rigging in the Hingham Harbor parking lot Sunday morning - nice boat!


Thanks. I've been enjoying it. For those of you interested...

http://sippican.villagesoup.com/community/story/melonheads-take-to-marion-waters/843017
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Mark
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Re: Boston Harbor Outer Islands and The Graves - June 20, 20

Post by Mark »

LOL, they called it the "Melonhead Regatta". A bunch of familiar faces in that photo.
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Re: Boston Harbor Outer Islands and The Graves - June 20, 20

Post by Birdseye »

Mark wrote:LOL, they called it the "Melonhead Regatta". A bunch of familiar faces in that photo.


Yeah I know. I'm sure Roger wasn't too happy about that. Carolyn mentioned to me that she knows you. It was a good time. Bruce Gordon from BSKC was there also.
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Finn McCool
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Re: Boston Harbor Outer Islands and The Graves - June 20, 20

Post by Finn McCool »

Very cool little boats, those Melonseeds.

Norm, Bea and Sue...you know, you wouldn't be so concerned about the little inlet passage at The Graves if you weren't paddling such expensive and elegant boats. A clunky red plastic tanker can mean carefree peace of mind in such situations.

Just saying. I've got to take bragging rights where I can find them...even at the "beater boat" level. :P
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