Charles River - Watertown to Esplanade - December 4, 2011

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

Charles River - Watertown to Esplanade - December 4, 2011

Post by norm »

One last good weekend in 2011. I've never tried paddling in December before, but this was not a normal start to the month as far as the weather was concerned. Another day in the mid-50's was forecast. Tides were not favorable for a salt-water trip and wind forecasts started out bad but tamed a little 24 hours in advance. We still decided to go with the proposed Charles River trip to be safe.

Jordan and Sue carpooled up route 24 and Bea met me along route 3 to carpool. Our put-in spot was the Boston CRCK rental kiosk location on Soldiers Field Road. The kiosk was closed for the season and everything was gone except the dock and ramps that extend into the river. Sue, Jordan and Bea launched from the dock and I used a ramp.

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The water was nice and calm. We headed up-river first with the Watertown dam our target destination.

This is prime rowing shell territory with large boathouses everywhere. The architecture of the boat houses is always interesting, old and new. It was much easier to appreciate the buildings themselves at this time of year with so little activity around them. Just up-river from our put-in is the Henderson Boathouse of Northeastern University.

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We crossed paths with a group of traditional row boats festively decorated for the season.

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At a park along the riverbank, there was an extreme example of why you need to clean any plants growing out of the cracks in your masonry work.

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The next boathouse we came across was in Brighton, Community Rowing. This is a very successful public rowing program started in 1985.

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Looks like they have so much success they had to build a second, glass boathouse right beside the wood exterior building.

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There is also a boat ramp here beside the boathouses. This place must be very crowded in summertime.

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To add to the summer congestion, there are yacht clubs on both sides of the river. The power boats are limited to a speed of 6 miles per hour and must have to stay in the center of the river. There were large cabin cruisers left in the water for the winter at both clubs, most of them sealed in plastic. Here is the Newton Yacht Club.

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When we reached the Galen Street Bridge in Watertown, the water beyond the bridge got too shallow to proceed any further. We were all in glass boats, so nobody wanted to scratch up their gelcoat. We wouldn't be able to go far enough up-river to see the dam on this trip.

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We all went a little up past the bridge and drifted back down with the strong current.

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On the way back down-river, it was easier to make out the sign on the church tower that was hard to make out from the closer bank. It was the Perkins School for the Blind.

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We learned in our earlier Charles River trip this year that proper etiquette is to stay to the right as much as possible to make room for the faster boats. We did stay right most of the day, but found very shallow areas several times.

Heading back down-river we encountered some rowing shells and noticed they don't bother with PFDs, never-mind cold water clothing.

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As Jordan and I paddled under the right arch of a bridge, we heard a horrible scraping noise behind us. Apparently this guy had snuck up behind us, ran out of room with us in his way and scraped his paddle on the bridge. He didn't look very happy, but didn't say anything to us.

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The Cambridge Boat Club which hosted the Head of the Charles Regatta.

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The Weld Boathouse of Harvard University.

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I think this graffiti on the railroad bridge pier is appropriate for the guy resting as he coasts on by waiting for the rest of us...Jordan always comes back "Stronger, Faster, Better" after shoulder surgery!

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Our Boston skyscrapers, the Hancock and Prudential buildings.

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The Charles widens to about one third of a mile wide at the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge and the water gets a little choppier. The partly cloudy day presented some interesting highlight photo opportunities with certain brightly colored building domes shining brightly in the sunlight with muted surroundings. Notice the State House Dome in the center of the picture with the Mass Ave Bridge in the foreground.

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We made our way down the right side of the river, heading for the Esplanade Lagoons.

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There are five bridges along the Esplanade Lagoons.

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We came upon a playground that I don't recall seeing on our earlier trip in September. I think it may be brand new. It looked like the most popular feature was a kid's zip line.

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The last two bridges.

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The Hatch Shell is closed for the season and winterized.

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A side view of the Hatch Shell and an cannon on display.

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We landed at the same docks we used during Steve's September Charles River trip and found that the same nearby benches were available for our lunch break.

When we proposed this trip, I made the mistake of mentioning that maybe we would get one more nice weekend since Monday was my birthday. My paddling buddies seized on that fact and Sue mentioned she'd make cupcakes. Well, she got more creative than cupcakes, she made a cake and decorated it with a perfect likeness of my Kajak Sport Artisan Millenium kayak. She even picked out the proper color jimmies to match the trim of my boat. The icing ran a little during three hours and eleven miles of paddling, but it still looked great. She even brought plates, utensils and napkins.

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Bea gave me a couple gifts that she described as self-serving - a calendar to plan out next years trips and a memory card to keep taking pictures. Thanks!

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Getting back on the water from the dock was done in stages to stay clear of the messy end of the dock that was covered in goose turds. Jordan was the last one into his boat and Bea helped him from the water. It proved more difficult getting into the boats with all the dry gear we were wearing.

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We went back into the Esplanade Lagoons for the trip back up-river.

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On one of the islands, there is a giant, modern sculpture of Arthur Fiedler's head. Another item I did not notice on our previous trip.

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Paddling is so much easier in the calm water of the lagoons.

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A couple of ducks caught my eye. I don't remember seeing a mallard with coloring this light before.

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Somehow I managed to get ahead of the gang and got a head on picture of everyone for a change.

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I noticed a building with twin domes at the far end of the Mass. Ave. bridge and wondered what it was. Google maps says it is Maseeh Hall, part of MIT housing.

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The Pierce Boathouse of MIT.

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The DeWolfe Boathouse of Boston University.

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The Western Ave. bridge was highlighted by the sunlight behind the Cambridge Street bridge still in the shadows.

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A look at some Harvard building's towers and domes.

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The Weld Boathouse again from a different angle and in bright afternoon sunlight.

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Coasting along Memorial Drive, admiring the geese.

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Back to the CRCK kiosk take-out. It looks like they are constructing a larger building, but have not made much progress since September.

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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: 9:49am
Stop for lunch: 12:49pm at 10.98 miles
Back on the water: 1:34pm
Take-out time: 2:51pm
Total Distance Paddled: 15.42 miles


On the way home we stopped in Braintree at the Tennessee Barbecue restaurant for PPR. Thanks for treating me to dinner Jordan. I made out like a bandit. I think I should have a couple birthdays next year!

Thanks for another fun trip everyone. You made this a special birthday for me.

For anybody that reads these reports, we're hoping we might be able to start a new tradition and paddle on New Year's Day if the weather is favorable. So, don't put away your boats and gear for the winter yet!

Norm
Last edited by norm on Sat Dec 08, 2012 11:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
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kayakerjnj
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Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 12:12 pm
Location: Randolph MA

Re: Charles River - Watertown to Esplanade - Devember 4, 201

Post by kayakerjnj »

Thanks for another good paddle late in the season!
Paddle with a big smile, its contagious 8)


Jordan
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