Adventures with Julia and Thundery Kayaking

This weekend I met up with the lovely Julia Schoen in Portsmouth, New Hampshire for a weekend of sunny beaches and other adventures. On Sunday I met up with the NH AMC paddlers group at Odiorne Point State Park and joined them for a saltwater, tidal, and thundery day trip at the mouth of the Piscataqua River...

The kayaking part...

After Julia and I sadly parted ways (she's off to Brazil for a year), I was due to meet up with some kayakers from the NH AMC paddlers group at Odiorne Point State Park in Rye, NH. There were 5 of us in total. The tide (! that scary thing that doesn't exist where I come from) was really low when we put in, so the banks of the shore were SUPER muddy and I almost lost my chacos getting in. Normally I try to keep my feet dry when I'm getting in my boat (call me a wimp), but there really was no getting around it this time (and of course I couldn't seem like a wimp around these new peeps!).

The launch site at low tide.

Taking a break on Leachs Island.

As we were first heading out, we heard some rumbling in the distance, but the trip leaders said it was from a nearby bridge. It was definitely thunder. But as usual, I figured these NH'ers knew what they were doing and followed blindly (do you see a theme? if not, read the previous post). We paddled along the beaches at the park and then cut across to circumnavigate Leachs Island. On the way over, we had to pass under a bridge that constricted the water, and since the tide was coming back in, we were flushed right through. As I was being rushed towards the bridge, it occurred to me that a couple of the bridge supports were closer together than the length of a sea kayak, and definitely would have made for some good strainers. I only realized this at the last moment and had to resort to a hasty yet somewhat effective side slip. Woohoo!

The way back through the bridge was a lot harder because the flow rate had increased and the downstream water was churning in all kinds of directions. I hopped in an eddy before ferrying across and paddling as hard as I could upstream to get back to the other side (COE whitewater class is highly recommended!) .

Once we were on the other side of the bridge, the rain started coming down and the thunder picked up. I was not so cool with that, and the end was in sight, so I paddled in as fast as possible. Just as I got my boat up onto my car there was a HUGE crack of thunder directly over our heads. I probably jumped 1.5 feet into the air and decided to make the trip home in my wet clothes. For some reason everyone else seemed less phased than me... maybe I should add thunderstorms to my list of fears (right after spiders), or maybe I just have a very conservative attitude towards kayaking in thunderstorms.

ANYWAYS, I made it home alive, only slightly dusted with dried salt water and frizzy hair. I miss my Rochester and Ithaca paddling buddies!

This is the part where you stop reading if you just care about kayaking (perfectly ok).

Date: Sunday, June 20th, 2010
Distance: ~ 4 Miles

The other adventures...

Rewinding now to Friday night. Julia and I both pulled into the parking lot of Shel-Al Campground (we think it's a contraction of the superbly sweet owners' names) exactly 2 hours later than planned. I managed to leave my tent in the backyard and only realize once I was halfway to the coast, and she locked her keys in the car and printed out the wrong directions. It worked out quite well!

There really aren't many places to camp along the NH coast (correct me if I'm wrong). Shel-Al was the only place within a reasonable driving distance of the coast, and it's mainly caters to RVs. But it worked out quite nicely since there were very few tent-ers there this weekend.

Both Friday and Saturday night we went into Portsmouth and explored. It's a really lovely city with a bunch of streets with *local* restaurants and shops. I'd love to return when my mother is in a shopping mood (is that terrible of me?). After making a stop on Newcastle Island (just had to do it. brown ale is just too good), we had dinner downtown at a little seafood restaurant with a very friendly waitress. After dinner we sat on a big rock by the ocean and listened to the waves.

At Newcastle Island!

Up early to watch sunrise

On Saturday we drove up and down the coast (Route 1A, Ocean Blvd) multiple times, testing out Odiorne Point, Rye, Jenness, Hampton Beach. Julia made me get in the water, which was good because I'm a chicken when it comes to these (icy cold) things... While in search of a surf shop we discovered a delicious little cafe on 7th street in Hampton called KB Bagels. Highly recommended.

Saturday night we cooked couscous and black beans for dinner, and I took an ice-cold shower to dampen the terrible sunburn I managed to acquire. Around dusk we decided to make some hot drinks, and the mosquitoes decided to join us. They came out in droves and we fled to the safety of the Volvo. We put the seats back, sipped our hot cocoa with Bailey's, listened to Jack Johnson, and watched our classy neighbors setting off fireworks (just for us of course). Magical.

5am sunrise at the beach

The next morning we woke up to the 4am alarm and dragged ourselves back to the coast to watch the sunrise (5:03am). At first we worried that it would hide behind the clouds, but around 5:30am it revealed it's cheery face. It was quite a relief since Julia would have hated me forever if it hadn't.

After another trip to KB's for some much needed coffee and a frigid swim (by Julia), we parted ways. Now you can scroll back to the top and start over! (This is the post that never ends... and it goes on and on....... sorry.)

KB Bagels. Just amazing!

Acquiring sunburns.