Naumkeag Waters to the Sound

 

Dipped my paddle blades into some salty waters for a change on Wednesday morning.  Launched before 7am from the George F. McCabe Marina and Recreation Area in Salem, MA and headed out of the Danvers River towards Salem Sound (photo above).  The morning was warm with temperatures predicted to reach the mid 80s F. and the tide was rising.  Winds were calm until about 8am when a westerly breeze kicked in.  On the way to Winter Island I passed under both the Essex Bridge carrying Route 1A (up high) and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) commuter rail bridge adjacent to it (down low)...

After passing Salem Willows and rounding Salem Neck I headed for Winter Island Light at the entrance to Salem Harbor...

...and a brief landfall at Waikiki Beach.

Then it was back to the Danvers River passing this sign showing current fuel costs for boaters...

Arrived at the railroad bridge just in time to see this MBTA train heading north to either Rockport or Newburyport...

...with one car in its consist decked out for our country's 250th anniversary...

With it now being high tide I paddled into and up the Bass River...

Once past ongoing construction work on the Hall Whitaker Bridge I reached a pond-like tidal basin...

According to historians the Bass River and the area around it was called Naumkeag by Native Americans. Mary Ellen Lepionka on the website HistoricIpswich.net provided this translation for the word Naumkeag: "Where there are eels" (referring to the Bass River in Beverly).

According to a 2015 article at WickedLocal.com (Herald Citizen) by John Goff, Looking Anew at Salem's and Beverly's Bass River, somewhere in this area a colonist named John Friendly built a Tide Mill for milling Indian corn back in the 1640s.  Tidal flow was harnessed for turning millstones.

The area is also noted for a gray seal nicknamed Shoebert who swam through a culvert into Shoe Pond where his antics entertained folks for several days back in 2022.  Saw no sign of him.  Did however see a loon, still in its winter colors...

...and several eider ducks...

A Google map showing the area where I spent my morning gunkholing the area...

This trip could be done from either the McCabe launch (as I did), or from the hand launch at Winter Island Park.  Bass River is best ascended at high tide (IMHO).

Trash recovered was found mostly on the shore where it'd been left by previous (higher) tides...

A Few Miles Down the Concord

 

Headed down the Concord River a little after daybreak yesterday morning.  Launched from the Bedford (MA) Boat Launch.  The river soon brought me past Two Brothers Rocks...

...where Governor John Winthrop and Deputy Governor Thomas Dudley came to by boat in 1638. Winthrop's journal entry for April 24, 1638: 

"The governor (Winthrop) and deputy went to Concord to view some land for farms, and, going down the river about 4 miles, they made choice of a place for one thousand acres for each of them....So, at the place where the deputy's land was to begin, there were two great stones, which they called the Two Brothers, in remembrance that they were brothers by their children's marriage, and did so brotherly agree, and for that a little creek near those stones was to part their lands."

In 1894 both rocks were inscribed  by the Bedford Historical Society to commemorate the 1638 visit...

Just after passing Jug Island on the river's east shore is Bartlett's Landing.  I've paddled by this spot many times never realizing it was a boat launch.  Landed here to check it out...

As boat launches go it's a good one,  though with limited parking (perhaps 4 or 5 cars).  There's a kiosk, a trash barrel, a bench, and a nice sandy beach to launch from (no muck).  Can think of only a couple of things that might make it (as well as the launch upriver in Bedford) even better...such as the addition of a Porta-John!  The kiosk provides visitors with geographical and historical information...

 

Once I'd got back out on the river, and with it being such a quiet morning, my thoughts drifted to imagining what my ideal boat launch would look like. So, if I may, here's a description of my dream launch: 

First of all it would start with good signage on the main road such as this example from the State of Maine which is uniformly used throughout that state...

Next, upon reaching the parking area there would be additional signage designating spots for trailered vehicles, roof-top vehicles, and vehicles with handicapped stickers.  Between the parking area and the waterbody would be a Porta-John, and a trash barrel.  Approaching the launch there would be a kiosk with  a map noting hazards, and any specific-to-the-area boating and fishing regulations.  One item I think would be very helpful would be the posting of state regulations pertaining to wearable life jackets, specifically the times of the year when kayakers and canoeists are required by law to wear them while out on the water.  Finally, where the actual launching takes place, a gently sloping (if possible) dirt or concrete ramp.  Ideally, if the launch serves trailered boats, there'd be a dirt or gravel slope nearby for canoes and kayaks to use simultaneously.  There it is...my dream launch.  While I've seen some that come close, I've yet to find one that checks all of those boxes.  

Continuing downriver I reached the modern and seemingly always busy Route 3 highway overpass...

Just beyond are the sleepy remains of where Route 3's predecessor the Middlesex Turnpike long ago (1800s) bridged the river...

Turned around here and started the trip upriver with a little help from a northeasterly breeze.

Who's afraid of the big, bad, wolf?  Not this Canada geese family...

....despite the beast's ferocious demeanor...

Near the Route 4 bridge I came across this discarded beer can depicting a northern pike...

...about to take the hook. Several fishermen back in Bedford told me that northern pike was the very fish they were hoping to catch.

Trash found along the way...

 

A Quiet & Toasty Congamond

 

Paid a visit to the Pioneer Valley's southernmost point in Massachusetts on Tuesday.  The area about 8 miles west of the Connecticut River is known as the "Southwick Jog" because of the way the east/west running state line between Massachusetts and Connecticut upon reaching Lake Congamond suddenly takes a hard left.  The border then follows the lake's eastern shoreline for 2.5 miles, then a hard right for another 2.5 miles, and another hard right for 2.5 miles before finally taking a hard left back to the original east/west course.  This modified Google map shows the "Southwick Jog" and Lake Congamond within it...

  

The explanation for the deviation is a long and convoluted story dating back to 1642 when two men, Nathaniel Woodward and Solomon Saffery, were tasked by Massachusetts Bay officials with establishing the Bay Colony's southern boundary and running a borderline westward.  Apparently, an error was made which led to many decades of borderline disputes between Massachusetts and Connecticut.  The issue was finally resolved in 1804 when as part of the solution the Southwick Jog was created.  

I launched into the lake's South Pond at 8 am just over the line in Suffield, CT.  The boat launch there is for hand-launched boats only (no ramp).  Before heading northward I enjoyed this view of Manitick Mtn. to the south in Connecticut...

Then I entered the Middle Pond after passing under Congamond Road and paddled northward (opening photo).  The lake was quiet and a light breeze was stirring.

About 2 miles up I passed under Point Grove Road...

...and entered the North Pond, the smallest of the three ponds...

The trip back southward included a bald eagle sighting on the western shore...

Before entering the South Pond I stopped at a boat launch near Great Brook where a kiosk explained the large ice industry that operated on the lake in the early 1900s...

This structure appears to control water entering Great Brook...

...which flows to the Westfield River and ultimately to the Connecticut River.

By this time the day had warmed considerably (90 F.+) and upon passing under Congamond Road I entered South Pond where a refreshing breeze welcomed me...

Reaching the pond's southwest corner I entered what was once part of an 86-mile long canal running from New Haven, CT to Northampton, MA...

This section of the canal was referred to as the Farmington Canal.

After about a quarter mile down the canal I came to this structure...

...at a very peaceful spot.  Saw a bicyclist or two in the distance riding along the rail trail.

Turned about here and found myself looking at these recently bloomed lady slippers...

Then I followed the serene canal back to the lake and my takeout spot...

So what was the surveying error that Woodward and Saffery made back in 1642? 

According to the Royal Charter of Massachusetts Bay 1629 (pre-spellcheck): "All that Parte of Newe England in America aforesaid, which lyes and extendes betweene a greate River comonlie called Monomack alias Merriemack and a certen other River there, called Charles River, being in the Bottome of a certayne Bay there, comonlie called Massachusetts, alias Mattachusetts, alias Massachusetts Bay, and also all and singular those Landes and Hereditaments whatsoever, lyeing within the space of three English Myles on the South Parte of the said Charles River, or of any or everie Parte thereof...".

From the drawing they made it looks to me like they decided that Lake Pearl, which discharges into a tributary of the Charles River, was the southernmost point.  Three miles south from Lake Pearl is fairly close to the present-day Massachusetts/Rhode Island border at Rhode Island's northeast corner.  It was when they subsequently ran a line from there westward to the Connecticut River and beyond that the error was made.  The surveying instruments in 1642 were probably a lot less accurate than those that became available later.  Most historical accounts which I came across claim that after marking the three mile south point in Wrentham, Woodward and Saffery sailed around Cape Cod, along New England's south coast, and then up the Connecticut River to a location they incorrectly believed was at the same latitude, and headed westward from there. 

One website  , however, defends Woodward and Saffery contending that "The criticism of Woodward and Saffery that they avoided Indian territory by sailing around Cape Cod and up the Connecticut River appears to be unfounded."  This site also displays copies of the 1642 survey.  I guess it's one of those issues that will never be resolved with certainty.

At any rate, I found Lake Congamond to be a beautiful body of water and was glad to visit it on such a quiet weekday morning.  In many ways Congamond reminded me of Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, MA with both lake's Native American names sounding similar as well.   

Trash was light and found mostly on the ground where I launched from in Suffield...

 

Nashua River in Devens

 

Found plenty of sunshine, warmth, and water on the Nashua River yesterday in Devens, MA.  Launched from the Bill Ashe Boat Launch at Hospital Road.  Some sightings between Jackson Road and Ice House Dam:

The old hearth...

 A blue heron with excellent posture...

Reaching Ice House Dam at my turnaround point...

...the sound of the falling water enticed me to land at the portage site and walk part of the portage route to see the dam area...

Water going over the falls...

The good flow can probably be attributed to last Thursday's heavy rains in the Worcester area.  While I was near the dam a passing bicyclist mentioned reports of a bald eagle with netting around its head.  He said it was seen along Catacoonamug Brook, a nearby tributary to the Nashua River.  Hope it can extricate itself from the netting. 

Trash gathered up included 57 "nip" bottles...

 

Rain Stayed at Bay

 

The weather forecast yesterday was a little ambiguous with a rainy day being predicted overall, but with the caveat that heavy and steadier rain might hold off until midday or later.  Hmm, sounded like a gamble worth taking.  Launched around 9 am from the Lincoln (MA) Canoe Launch and noted an ominous-looking sky above the Sudbury River...

Got breezy in places yet it was easy to find calm spots such as Lee's Bridge (opening photo)...

 

Had a brief encounter with a coyote early on but wasn't fast enough to get a photo.

Later this adult eagle was seen in its nest...

The same eagle or perhaps its mate was seen a short while later retrieving food on the ground...

...which was subsequently flown to the nest.  This has me guessing there's an eaglet or two in the nest.  If so, this completes an eagle trifecta of sorts as, so far this spring, I've seen eagles tending nests in three local rivers, the Nashua, Assabet, and Sudbury.

The other adult eagle was perched in a tree within sight of the nest...

Eastern kingbirds have recently arrived...

Did I awaken this sleeping donkey?...

Fairhaven Bay looked a little less fair...

...but thankfully the rain held off.  I'd later find the areas to the west such as Worcester received more than an inch of rain.

The trash also stayed on the light side...