Napatree Point Pre-Hurricane Irene Surfing - August 27th 2011

Drove up to Stonington CT saturday to see if any pre-Irene surf had developed. Fog ruled out going to the tidal races/overfalls east of Fisher's Island, so went to Napatree instead. Zip-tied a digital camera to my helmet to see how that would work. Managed to capture some video! Only uncertainty was knowing if/when the camera was on or off! Basically pressed the on/off button and hoped it worked.

Four (4) video links below:

Two Boats on One Wave

Various Rides at Napatree

Napatree Rock Slide

Unexpected Capsize

URI to Narrow River - ConnYak paddle 8.13.11 - "GoPro Hero" Camera "test"

Posted some photos from yesterday’s paddle from URI to Narrow River here: https://picasaweb.google.com/paddledude5/URIToNarrowRiverConnYak81311

The “experiment” with the suction-cup mounted GoPro Camera on the rear of the deck wasn’t perfect but fun to try – camera was on loan, I have to return it to my office traffic engineering department which uses it to record vehicle flow patterns, but wasn’t putting the waterproof housing to good use so I offered to “test it” for them. It was set to take just 1 photo every 60 seconds – on the paddle out it took roughly 150 photos (little over two hours) before the battery died (?) so no photos on the way back. Of these 150, only the ones on the link were marginally worth looking at. Key would be to get a taller mounting pole to get a wider view and to set it to take photos more frequently – the surf at Narrow River only had a few random shots. Ah well. Had a great time and a nice paddle back to the put-in with John.

Steinhatchee to Suwanee FLORIDA – 3 Day "Solo" Journey in March of 2008

Captivated by the less-developed gulf coast of Florida during my 2006 “scouting” trip, two years later in 2008 I decided to drive the trusty Pintail down again and do a solo camping journey along the “Big Bend”. Got a shuttle to the put-in from a nice fellow Capt. Russ McAllister who runs Suwanee Guides.  The coast was magical and desolate – bringing maps is “a must” to find the designated camping spots and keeping a sense of your paddling speed is helpful too because the coastline is so similar looking, few landmarks. Saw no other paddlers on the first leg (few motor boaters too). Reached the campsite, set up and settled in alone “in the middle of no where” with a minimum of supplies. The idea of solitary camping away from civilization, in a place where the Florida panther is known to frequent, was exciting and somewhat stress-inducing, but I was determined to be self-sufficient in this desolate and remote place, actually began to relish the challenge of solitude - when to my surprise 3 other paddlers showed up near sunset! They hadn’t reserved the site with the Fish & Wildlife Commission (as I had) but their company was welcome.  These other guests included 2 medical doctors and they had tons of extra food and wine!  So if I’d been injured and starving, I would have had no trouble finding help.



White Pelicans - FL Gulf Coast



Paddled both "Ends" in one short Weekend! (July 30th/31st, 2011)

Stayed at a friend's place this weekend in eastern Long Island. Since I usually avoid the "high season" for reasons of cost and crowds, it was a new experience for me - so decided to hit my two favorite LI paddling spots - Plum Gut and Montauk Point.  Plum Gut was supposed to be at 3+ knot ebb when I got there at 1:00 on Saturday, but no particular swell so mild conditions - a few fun rides nonetheless. Lots of jellyfish.  Then a paddle to Orient Beach State Park - great park with a kayak drop-off spot, beautiful beach, and nature trails.

Plum Gut - Southwest of Lighthouse

Montauk Point was super fogged in last time I visited, but this Sunday was totally clear.  Made the trek all the way to Ditch Plains beach and admired the many handsome properties along the bluffs - I'm told these include Stanford White "cottages" and homes owned by Andy Warhol and Dick Cavett among others. An inspiring paddle along a truly exposed coast.  Spear fishing seems on the rise in popularity as I stumbled across a few startled snorklers searching for fish.

View from the Cliffs of Camp Hero State Park

On my way to Ditch Plains (thanks for taking photos Becky)