The Boat Wreck Section

 I stop to write, easing the canoe up against the sandy silt shoreline in a long relatively unused section of the river. A goofball on a jetski has decided to play with his toy in pretty much the same spot. The goofball looks bored. He pumps the throttle, goes upriver, turns and goes downriver, and pumps the throttle some more. He doesn't go anywhere, and I doubt that he has seen what surrounds him. Nature doesn't reward the easy solution. Nature rewards those that make, at least, a modest effort.  Go home and play video games already.

A fleet of sea kayaks is setting out just as I am gathering my gear. There is a 50-50 chance that we will be paddling in the same direction...it's a river, after all. I take my time and make sure they have a good head start. I run into groups like this a couple times each summer.  I'm glad that they are out and paddling, but to me, there is something backwards about paddling in a herd. I suppose they're thinking "safety in numbers." Robert Perkins (just a creative guy who's made some good canoe trip videos) said something to the effect, "people who tell you to never paddle alone, have never paddled alone."

The mighty Rocky Hill ferry at full capacity

I head downstream into the section of boat wrecks. The river is sleepy, and 800 feet wide... always. The weather has finally dipped into the mid 70's with low humidity.  There is a cooling breeze out of the north. Starting out downstream with a tailwind always has the possibility of a return that is a grim crawl, but I haven't been in this section for a couple years. 

I cross the river and get into the shade of the trees on the east shore.  I don't know why this section of the river has boat wrecks. There are no real hazards other than some large sandbars. There aren't any submerged rocks, sharp bends, or dangerous currents. The first wreck is on river right, an upside down runabout securely mired in the shallow bank. Next comes a cheap plastic rowboat that is missing the aft two feet. A little farther on is the remains of a 17 foot Penobscot. I'd like to have one of those (I have a 16 foot version). This one needs some work. After that is the upside down inboard runabout. It was there the first time I paddled here. Somewhere is a wrecked sailboat, but I turn earlier than normal due to the return headwind and I suspect it is farther down. 

It has been good for Great Blue Herons - about ten sighted. Also, a couple Kingfishers and a few Osprey, plus I got to watch an Osprey chase a young Bald Eagle away from the prime fishing spot.

At first, the return is a grind. I thought it might take two hours to return, but I end up in some slow current (by chance) and the wind slacks off (the weather service was unusually accurate). I continue up a short ways past my start point just to extend the day a bit.