AMC Paddle - Spink Neck Beach to Prudence Island

When a paddling activity is posted to someplace I haven't been before, I generally jump at the chance to go.  Such was the case with this trip.  When I arrived, I expected to see many of the usual paddlers, but today it was just the leader, co-leader, and me. 

Once again in the Narragansett Bay, our plan was to swing by Hope Island and then head over to Prudence Island.  Weather conditions, of course, would dictate the actual route.  The weather today was bright and sunny with a bit of a breeze.  Unlike the last several excursions, this trip started north of Quonset Naval Air Station.  But to get there, I still passed by the expansive car unloading facility where one could view acres and acres of new automobiles freshly arrived from overseas. 

We departed on time, just after 10am.

This is our whole group today.  This paddle would take us over large expanses of open water.

Hope Island is covered primarily in poison ivy.  Nearby are a couple of tidal rock islands like this one frequented by sea gulls and cormorants.

Making it to our lunch stop on Prudence Island, we find serpentine inlets and salt marshes.  The landscape was very similar to bay side on Cape Cod.

There is a year round population on Prudence Island, but the only way on or off the island is by boat.  A ferry runs from the other side of the island to Bristol, RI.

There was no place to sit for lunch, but the beach was easy for us to land and launch from.

The skies were still bright but wind picked up after lunch.  I wanted to take a picture of the 12"-18" waves we were going through, but honestly, I didn't want to take my hands off my paddle as I needed to stay focused.

We finished up around 2:30pm after paddling 10.7 miles.  I found that with the crosswind and following waves, I had to drop my skeg for most of the crossing back across the bay just to keep going straight. A little challenging, but a great adventure nonetheless.