I recently had the privilege of hosting the first Spring Kayaking Social (at least in a while) for the MIT Outing Club. It was my first chance to deliver a formal trip report as a Sea Kayaking Chair and I decided to keep it close to home by presenting “A Sea Kayaking Tour of Southeastern Massachusetts.” The report focused on four trips from my most intimate and frequented paddling destinations and served to highlight local history and off-beat sub-plots while reminding the MITOC membership that you don’t have to go very far from Cambridge to get in a great paddle.
The tour started in my hometown of Plymouth, MA on a classic mid-summer trip to Clarks Island where we explored the legend of a much larger and more historically significant Plymouth Rock. From there we traveled up the coast to Scituate where we experienced the ship-building history and unique ecology of the North River before diving into a surf session at The Spit. Out next stop was Cohasset Harbor where we came to appreciate contrasting conditions while exploring the numerous rock gardens, surfing the standing wave, and taking in the sights of a quintessential New England harbor. Finally, out tour took us full circle when three friends decided to paddle home to Plymouth from Boston. Their epic saga spanned over two days and 50 miles of paddling to include unexpected portages, crash landings, stealth camping on the beach, and numerous other sub-plots that stirred the audience into a giggle or two.
The talk attracted a couple dozen club members and friends. It seemed to be quite a hit with people sticking around for a few hours to socialize and share outdoor stories leading me to believe that it was a great success. My hope is that this series will grow over time to include classic trips from other notable regions from Maine to Alaska and abroad!
Happy Paddling!
-Kayak Dave
Note: Visit the Trip Report section for more in-depth descriptions of the trips presented in this talk.