AMC Paddle - Battleship Cove

It was a picture perfect day for this paddle adventure from Bristol, RI to Battleship Cove in Fall
River, MA.  The water on Mt. Hope bay was unusually placid as 7 hearty paddlers took to their kayaks.

In short order, we pass the  Brayton Point Power Station across the Massachusetts state line.

It's all calm here beneath the I-195 bridge into Fall River.

What's neat about this paddling adventure is you can get really "up close and personal" with the ships in Batttleship Cove.  You can't get these views of the USS Massachusetts by visiting the museum.

Don't you think this gun turret looks curiously similar to the front of a Imperial AT-AT ?

Sort of.  Sorry for the diversion.

The name Massachusetts clearly emblazoned on the  ship's stern.

The USS Lionfish patrolled the waters around Japan back in 1945.

Here's a fine view of the destroyer USS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr..

Boy our kayaks look small, don't they.

You get a feeling for how the museum ships are tucked under the I-195 bridge.

We stopped for lunch at Bicentennial Park in Fall River.  The park  has it's very own Iwo Jima statue.

On the way back, we heard of the roar of "cigarette boats" racing down the Taunton River into Mt. Hope Bay.
Look carefully for the high water wake.

A ways further, and we made it back to our starting point.  Our trip today covered 11.31 miles in 4:15. 

Cape Recap

This year, as always, we had numerous fun adventures on our Cape Cod vacation.  Since much of the week does not involve just sitting at the beach, I thought it would be fun to quickly recap some of those big adventures.

Saturday

It was a little drizzly Saturday morning, but that didn't deter us in the least.

We stopped by the old  Stony Brook Grist Mill in Brewster.  Today they
were actually grinding corn into meal.  Dominic also learned about weaving
on a loom.

Later, we went miniature golfing.
Catherine is getting the hang it - put the ball in the hole.

Afterward, we went to Mass and had a nice dinner at the condo.

Sunday

Sunshine all day long!  Let's make it a beach day.  We loaded up the boats and set off for the Brewster beach, albeit with a little juggling of cars.

With the high tide, we paddled from Linnell Landing well into the Namskaket Creek Marshes.
You can see how close we got to the bike trail (green line along the bottom of the picture).
The distance was 4.1 miles in 1:30.

Betsy paddles her Calypso easily - there's lot of water at high tide.

Monday

Cassandra didn't get enough paddling yesterday, to at her suggestion, we rented a 4th boat and all of us paddled in the Orleans town Cove.

The Town Cove landing in Orleans is right next to the Goose Hummock kayak store.
We had to be careful in spots as we were short of high tide and there were still some significant shallows.
This distance was an impressive 4.29 miles in 2:09.

The whole family got in on the fun.  Catherine stood almost the entire trip

After that, we made it back to the condo to view the partial solar eclipse through our cereal boxes.

Tuesday

We opted for a different type of adventure Tuesday.  A trip to Martha's Vineyard.

We get up close and personal with animals at the Island Alpaca farm.

Later, Catherine and Grandad go round and round on the
Flying Horses Carousel.

 

 

 Wednesday

What would a trip to the Cape be without a bike ride?

Starting at Brewster Bike, we headed down to Chatham along the Cape Cod Rail Trail.
The ride was 17.11 miles for me (4 miles less for everyone else) in 2:06.

Cassandra was able to "draft" Alex hauling the trailer and both kids.
For Alex, it was only an extra 100 lbs.

Thursday

Once again, back on the water, we sailed a Hobie Cat far out into Pleasant Bay.

There wasn't a lot of wind, but with an expert at the helm (our youngest), we were still able to cover a lot of distance.
We sailed 6.83 miles in 2:07.

Easier than paddling!

Friday

Just Betsy and me biking to our last day, so just a short ride.

Leaving again from Brewster Bike, we headed east on the CCRT.
Out and back, this ride was 8.77 miles in 1:14.

Here's a view of the marsh from the bike trail bridge.
Remember back on Monday we paddled within about 50 yards of this position.

So many adventures, so little time.  While we missed our annual visit to The Sands of Time at the National Seashore, there's always next year!