We put in at the grubby little launch in Uncasville. This was S's first trip on this river and maybe my third or fourth, although my trips were spread out over different sections. The day was fine with temps in the high 70's and a light wind, until we had paddle about a 1/2 mile.
The first point of interest was a shut down power plant. But after that, the west side of the river has a nice forested shoreline of small sandy beaches and and bedrock banks with only a few dispersed houses.
Our trip inadvertently coincided with a rowing regatta which has got to be the most boring events ever. In the two hours we were out only one pair of shells passed. There were scattered spectators on the shore and I imagine they were entertaining themselves with stories about their sororities and fraternities in between healthy belts of liquor. There was a lot of cheering from an event tent in Gales Ferry that was well over a half mile from the nearest end of the race course...go figure.
However, the real purpose of the trip was to show S the Groton submarine base. A few of the submarine conning towers could be clearly seen, but the most interesting part of this trip is to watch the small Navy patrol boat race up and down the river escorting any boat that passes. They don't bother with the canoe as I know enough to stay near the far shore, but I have no doubt that they know where we are.
Unfortunately, the wind had come up not long into the trip and we were working with a so-so chop that kept the paddling busy. We saw a few Great Egrets, two families of Canada Geese with 7 goslings, and a couple Osprey.
No comments:
Post a Comment