Another way around Jamestown
I got up in the morning to a high surf advisory for
all of Rhode Island, and immediately began scrambling for alternatives. ConnYak was doing
the “Jamestown Circumcision” paddle, and we’d be exposed to open ocean for
half the paddle, and would also have to pass over a reef off of a south-facing headland.
It would be one thing if it were a private group, but this was a club paddle. Different
criteria.
The paddle is called a circumcision because you portage across a narrow spot in the island
to effectively “snip the tip” of the island, and do about 10 miles instead of
the entire 18 nautical mile circumnavigation. A long running inside joke…….
Anyway, Judith and I drove to Beavertail Point to assess the situation. The dire
predictions turned out to be wrong, and it looked fine. We went to Ft Wetherill, and
gatthered up the group that was going. There was one woman nobody had ever seen before
that showed, and she was gushing on about how excited she was to be trying
this……..uh oh………once we got down to the water, she was launching
without a sprayskirt --- ConnYak no-no #1. I sent an emissary to politely suggest that she
put one on, and she replied that hers was “dirty” and that she refused to wear
it, because she was going to turn back after about an hour anyway. I said fine, she’s
not with us officially, and we’re not watching over her. Them's the rules.
We set out, and found the seas about 2 ½ feet. We played in some rocks along the way, and
the seas kept building to about 4 feet. The waves were confused, and reflected off the
point, and there were swells running under them. It was great fun. The skirtless woman had
turned back by now because of the seas (Someone went with her & he met up with us at
lunchtime). We crossed the reef without incident, and started surfing up the west side of
the island. The group got spread way out, and the back group appeared to be not moving.
Those of us in front waitied 20 minutes for them. I called Doug on the VHF, and he
didn’t answer, so I immediately figured that someone had capsized, and was being
rescued. Turns out I was right. We all re-grouped, and headed for Dutch Island.
We found a beach out of the wind, which was building to 15 knots, and took an extended
lunch break. Just relaxing in the sun. When we launched again, the wind had picked up
more, and we headed for the portage from Dutch Harbor to Mackerel Cove. As we approached
the portage trail, I could hear surf on the other side --- yee haw!!!! Mackerel Cove is my
favorite place to surf. You’ll hear all these radical tales of surf at Narragansett
Beach and Matunuck, and that’s fine of you like typical violent east coast
shorebreak. Mackerel Cove has a long, shallow-sloping beach that’s all sand. The
waves come in and break gently, and re-form and break again in predictable and easy to see
sets. You get some really long, fast rides there even in small surf. Perfect for surfing
in sea kayaks.
We found that the surf was about 2 ½ feet, and building. I got some great rides in, and
practiced surfing sideways in the foam pile. About this time, Nick capsized, which shocked
everyone --- he likes the Matunuck type stuff, and he was the last person I’d expect
to see go over here. He rolled, and headed out to get another wave. Just then, Doug went
over, too, and also rolled. People started paddling away right after this. I really wanted
to stay for a while and surf some more, because the waves were getting bigger. Oh well.
We paddled up the cove, and I saw waves crashing on the rocks at the entrance. I paddled
into the rocks, and the waves there were about 4 feet or so. The water outside the cove
was bumpy as far as you could see, and irregular. We split into 3 groups, and headed back
towards Ft Wetherill. Doug and I stayed back to make sure we had everyone. At the entrance
to the cove we launched from, several paddlers just sat there looking in. They were going
to have to surf in. The waves were now 4 – 6 feet, and running straight into the
cove. Jim was capsizing and rolling in the waves, just having a ball.
I surfed in, and hung out in the cove rolling in the waves with a few other folks. Once
everyone had landed, I went in. About 5 minutes later, we were shuttling our boats &
gear up the hill, when we heard a whistle being blown in the water --- a diver was blowing
his whistle, and yelling for his dive partner. 3 of us still had boats on the beach, so we
launched, and 4 others scaled the rocks on the sides of the cove to look for bubbles.
Several minutes passed, and Nick spotted bubbles, and pointed us to them. The lost diver
came up, and was fine. The water was murky from the waves, and he got separated from his
buddy. While we were out looking for the bubbles, I found a 12-meter yachtsman's hat in
the water -- full of shrimp, but very nice. I grabbed it and took it with me. It's from
the Wind Dancer.
But all in all, it was a great day. We had good-sized seas, lots of surfing, and rocks to
play in. Doesn’t get much better.