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View Tall Ships from Spectacle Island Saturday - June 30

Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 9:16 am
by norm
I don't have a solid plan yet, but I'm thinking of going out very early Saturday morning, launching from Wollaston Beach at something like 6:00am. Head out around Long Island for a peak out to sea and try to see the tall ships if the weather is clear. Then go over to Spectacle Island and find a spot to sit and watch the ships sail in from Deer Island between 7:00 and 11:00am. After 11:00, decide whether to venture out for a longer paddle out to Gallups, Lovells, Georges Islands or just head back to Wollaston. High tide is at 8:26am.

Total trip mileage could be anywhere from 9 to 18 miles. Conditions could be choppy as I expect there will be a lot of boat traffic in the afternoon. This could be a long day, but I guess the group could break up and shorten the distance and time if people don't want to stay all day.

The launch spot would be the break in the sea wall between Tony's and the Clam Box, closer to Tony's. I'll add a map later if anybody is interested.

Wet exit/Rescue skills are required.
I would recommend at least a 15 foot boat with front and rear bulkheads.
Ability to paddle 9 to 18 miles.
Bring a lunch, snacks and lots of water and sunscreen.

Please respond if you plan to attend.

Norm

Re: View Tall Ships from Spectacle Island Saturday - June 30

Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 2:57 pm
by NorwayLady
Sounds nice, Norm. I would love to join you even if that means Queen Bea has to get out of bed really early!

Re: View Tall Ships from Spectacle Island Saturday - June 30

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 8:01 am
by Sandy V
Are there trees on spectacle island, so I can string up my hammock for a long nap. 6:00 AM start means 4:30 wake up (at the latest). Not sure yet...

Re: View Tall Ships from Spectacle Island Saturday - June 30

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 8:52 am
by norm
Sandy V wrote:Are there trees on spectacle island, so I can string up my hammock for a long nap. 6:00 AM start means 4:30 wake up (at the latest). Not sure yet...

Sandy - There are definitely trees for a hammock:

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Oh, but wait a minute...you would know that if you didn't bail out on that May 26th trip because you thought there was going to be a little wind... :D :D :D

Norm

Re: View Tall Ships from Spectacle Island Saturday - June 30

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 6:04 pm
by Azane
Steve and I are interested. Will you be at the Thursday night Hingham paddle?
Abby

Re: View Tall Ships from Spectacle Island Saturday - June 30

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 7:06 pm
by norm
Azane wrote:Steve and I are interested. Will you be at the Thursday night Hingham paddle?
Abby

No, I won't be there Thursday night. Paddling on the Cape during the day and not likely to be back in time to paddle in Hingham also.

Re: View Tall Ships from Spectacle Island Saturday - June 30

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 7:38 pm
by Sandy V
norm wrote:Oh, but wait a minute...you would know that if you didn't bail out on that May 26th trip because you thought there was going to be a little wind... :D :D :D

Norm



Me, bailing out??? Hell yeah!!!! Didn't feel like going for a swim.

I'll join this time. :-) with hammock :mrgreen:

Re: View Tall Ships from Spectacle Island Saturday - June 30

Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 7:06 am
by Azane
okay Norm
Well count on us at 6 AM on Wollaston Beach. I hope we can find one another in the crowd...
*snicker*
Abby

Re: View Tall Ships from Spectacle Island Saturday - June 30

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 9:57 am
by NorwayLady
Hi everyone,

I will not be able to join you after all. I had a fight with a small pine tree and it won! It pulled a muscle in my right shoulder. Hopefully all I need is a few days of rest.....

Bea

Re: View Tall Ships from Spectacle Island Saturday - June 30

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 10:12 am
by norm
NorwayLady wrote:Hi everyone,
I will not be able to join you after all. I had a fight with a small pine tree and it won! It pulled a muscle in my right shoulder. Hopefully all I need is a few days of rest.....
Bea

Too bad you didn't reply to my wise-guy text yesterday to tell me that you hurt yourself...I could have borrowed Briggsy's tandem and really given you the Queen Bea treatment!

Re: View Tall Ships from Spectacle Island Saturday - June 30

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 11:18 am
by Chip
NorwayLady wrote:Hi everyone,

I will not be able to join you after all. I had a fight with a small pine tree and it won! It pulled a muscle in my right shoulder. Hopefully all I need is a few days of rest.....

Bea


Welcome to the shoulder armory. :D Pretty soon we will have to have rehab sessions instead of skills sessions. :lol: Of course, Jordan can lead that as well.

Re: View Tall Ships from Spectacle Island Saturday - June 30

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 12:49 pm
by norm
More planning information:

I'd like to launch at 6:00am, so please plan to arrive at about 5:30am. The ships are supposed to start coming in from Deer Island from 7:00am to 11:00am.

Here is the map to the parking spot where there is an opening in the sea wall that makes boat transport easier. It is also handy that there is a traffic light nearby that breaks up traffic flow when you need to back out onto Quincy Shore Drive at the end of the day.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=42.27585,-71.006471&ll=42.275348,-71.006345&spn=0.004604,0.009645&num=1&t=h&z=17

There is already a lot of activity in the inner harbor today. Too bad they've blocked most of the view from where I work with new buildings on the waterfront. Now we just get glimpses of ships going by. I believe today it is mostly Navy ships arriving, both U.S. and foreign countries, but there seems to be a little schooner sailing around firing off cannon salutes once in a while.

The plan for tomorrow morning should probably be to head straight to Spectacle Island from Wollaston Beach to grab a spot with a good view. Bring a chair if you can or a blanket. Below are 2 Google Earth snapshots. The first one shows the route out in green and the distance is about 4.25 miles so I think we can get there in about an hour. I think we should land away from the visitors center, near the old factory piers and haul our boats up onto the grass. See the second picture for a close-up of the place to land and the trail we can go up (purple) to view the ships from a little height (yellow highlights). Back to the first picture, there are yellow and red routes that we could take on the way back if people feel up to it and the conditions are ok. The yellow route is about 7.5 miles and the red is about 9 miles. The blue line is the route I expect the ships to sail. (I hope this all comes together!)

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Re: View Tall Ships from Spectacle Island Saturday - June 30

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 4:28 pm
by Aquaholic
This sounds like a nice trip, Norm, and a great way to see the tall ships, but 6 a.m. is too early a launch time for me.
I'd have to leave my house by 4:40 a.m.
Have a great day!

Audrey

Re: View Tall Ships from Spectacle Island Saturday - June 30

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 6:35 pm
by norm
Aquaholic wrote:This sounds like a nice trip, Norm, and a great way to see the tall ships, but 6 a.m. is too early a launch time for me.
I'd have to leave my house by 4:40 a.m.
Have a great day!
Audrey

It's not that hard to get out that early. I leave my house at 4:30am about 240 days a year. You wouldn't believe how little traffic there is at that time. Its great.

But I imagine you have other business contacts that will get you a tour at some point next week.

I hope you can get out paddling somewhere this weekend.

Norm