Saturday, June 28, 2014

The Water at Hand

My only goal this morning was to get out on the water.  After all, the Blackburn Challenge is only 3 weeks away and closing fast.
After considering several local sites I selected the Lincoln Canoe Launch. From there I headed down the Sudbury River arriving at Fairhaven Bay (photo at left) a little after 7 am.  Ripples emanated from where a good-sized carp had just leapt out of the water. The morning was a beauty, sunny and cool.

At Martha's Point a lone water lily blossom caught my eye...

A little downstream of Sudbury Road a blue heron had an itch he could scratch while still maintaining both his dignity and balance...
(If I were to attempt this move, more than likely I'd lose both).

Saw some purple color for the first time this season...

Trash would have been on the light side if a particular family hadn't spent a day fishing at the Calf Pasture...
Piled up against an old tree were the remnants of a day by the river: 13 beer cans, 3 bait tubs, Styrofoam food trays, 3 plastic bags, aluminum foil, baby formula, and an empty bag of charcoal briquettes.  In fact, they even left their grill.

At Egg Rock, the inscription/gauge is indicating low water levels (despite Thursday's gullywasher)...

Upon my return to Fairhaven Bay a welcome breeze would greet me once past Brooke Island...

 The day's trash haul...
There were 33 recyclable containers (26 redeemable) and 53 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish.
YTD = 3131

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

A Taste of the Taunton's Tea

With an afternoon job to the south on my schedule I decided to head in that direction early and visit a new confluence (photo at left) before work.  I launched at the appropriately named Summer Street in Bridgewater and paddled the tea-colored water of the Taunton River downstream.  Some 40 miles of the Taunton River are classified as Wild and Scenic.
After passing under a railroad bridge and some high tension power lines I reached the area of the confluence.  An osprey enjoyed a commanding view of the whole area from its nest atop a high tension tower...

As I entered the river that flows into the Taunton here, I was fairly sure of the river's name.  However, at the first bend I saw the bottom of a glass bottle emerging from the muddy bank.  Pulling it out of the mud and rinsing it off provided confirmation that I was, indeed, in the Nemasket River...
What's weird is that the red color and arrow image completely disappeared by the time I got home.  The remaining white lettering states "Bottled only at the spring by the Nemasket Spring Water Co.  Middleboro, Mass."  The spring was located several miles upriver.  Glad I took the photo when I did.

The Nemasket flows clear and shallow and this little river is said to have the largest alewife run on the eastern seaboard (according to Wikipedia).

After seeing just a bit of the Nemasket, I returned to the Taunton and headed upriver to about a mile above Summer Street.  It was just me and a few old turtles...

There wasn't too much trash to be found in the river.  In fact, about half of this trash haul came from the launch area at Summer Street...
There were 21 recyclable containers (5 redeemable) and 21 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish.
YTD = 3045

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Boston By Water

I've long wanted to experience Boston's Inner Harbor and the gateway it provides to the Charles River.  Early on this splendid first Sunday of summer I was joined by Adirondack Pirate paddlers Capt'n Dangerous and his wife Ellen in unlocking the mystery of bridges, locks, and lagoons.  We launched into the Mystic River behind the Schrafft's Center in Charlestown one hour before high tide and soon found ourselves looking up at the Mystic River Bridge...

Then looking down into the water realized we had company of the gelatinous type...

Once in the Inner Harbor things were still on the quiet side so we paddled along Boston's waterfront in a southeasterly direction almost to Castle Island.  Along the way we passed the New England Aquarium, the Custom House, and the Boston Fish Market...

Near Castle Island at about 9 am we turned about and found the harbor awakening all around us.  The crew of the tug "Justice" stopped fishing from their boat's stern and, after a horn blast, went off to accompany a barge...

Ferry boats, whale watch boats, and water taxis were beginning to flit about in seemingly every direction.

Even some of the big ships were on the move...

Meanwhile, it was strange to think of vehicles passing beneath us in the Ted Williams and Sumner/Callahan tunnels.  Additionally, planes were constantly landing and taking off from Logan International Airport.


Despite all the activity, the Boston Harbor Hotel archway on Rowes Wharf looked welcoming...

After passing US Coast Guard Station Boston...
...we looked across at the USS Constitution, Bunker Hill Monument, and a Super Duck Tour boat.

Then it was time to enter one of the locks at the Charles River Dam...

Upon exiting out the fresh water side of the lock, the Zakim Bridge loomed overhead...

Of course things didn't quiet down too much on the other side as trains were entering and leaving Boston's North Station, and a string of Duck Boats were encountered such as this bright orange one...


Once past the Museum of Science, the Esplanade's lagoons provided peace and tranquility...
 

We made way for these ducklings...
...before continuing up the Charles to Herter Park where our aqueous journey ended.

Having grown up less than 10 miles to the west of Boston, I'd never seen the city up close from the water and was pleasantly surprised with how much more beautiful it appeared from this perspective.


The trash we removed along the way...
  Same old same old.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Do We Pass Through?

When I arrived at the portal (pictured at left) on Lake Cochituate this morning, I didn't hesitate before deciding to pass on through. I'd been through it before and had a pretty good idea of what lies on the other side. However, as I proceeded through I couldn't help but think of the uncertain fate of our Massachusetts Bottle Bill and wondered if it, too, will finally pass on through, so to speak.  Our present Bottle Bill enacted in 1983 applies a 5-cent deposit to carbonated beverages.  Efforts are currently underway to expand the program to include a 5-cent deposit on non-carbonated beverages such as bottled water, sports drinks, and iced teas.  Signatures collected for a citizens petition are in the process of being certified.  If they are certified and the Massachusetts Legislature fails to pass similar legislation before July 2, the issue will be decided by voters as a referendum question on November 4th.  Those who oppose expanding the Bottle Bill argue that it is unnecessary, and some go still further stating that due to today's recycling programs the idea of our present Bottle Bill is outdated.

What they don't mention is that several of our neighboring states, Connecticut, Maine, and New York, have already gone ahead and expanded their bottle bills to include non-carbonated beverages.  To the best of my knowledge, bottled water, sports drinks, and iced teas are still available in those states and there has not been any wide-spread panic.

I believe that Maine has the best program because it promotes the creation of independent redemption centers allowing grocery stores to opt out of accepting deposit containers provided there is a redemption center located nearby.

One "what if?" scenario I wonder about is this:  In communities that have "Pay as you throw" programs (fee for trash/no fee for recyclables) which result in the highest recycling rates, would it be possible for those grocery stores to sell non-refrigerated (carbonated/non-carbonated) beverages without a deposit, and refrigerated (carbonated/non-carbonated) beverages with a deposit?   The assumption being that non-refrigerated beverages would most likely be brought back home and recycled, whereas the refrigerated beverages would more than likely be consumed away from the home and therefore less likely to be recycled.  Might there be an app for this someday down the road?

Another suggestion I would offer is that plastic containers have their redemption value stamped directly on the container rather than on a flimsy label.  The glue holding the labels doesn't stand up well to contact with water.

At any rate Cochituate's three ponds were looking nice this morning...

The greenheads were out...
 
...and this cormorant had the best seat in the house...
  
My trash haul, once again, demonstrated why our Bottle Bill needs expanding...
There were 22 recyclable containers (6 redeemable) and 13 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish such as plastic bags, and Styrofoam.  YTD = 2964

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Hingham Harbor to Spectacle Island



Had a real hankerin' for some salt water boating today, and a visit to the Boston Harbor Islands provided just what the doctor ordered.  I drove to Hingham in the pre-dawn, under a nearly full moon.  The roads were eerily deserted, almost dreamlike.  I launched into Hingham Harbor in time to watch the sunrise over World's End...
Then after rounding Crow Point I began paddling to the NW against a building breeze from that same direction.  After a brief respite behind Peddock's Island I got my first good look at the Boston skyline (opening photo). 
Another respite was taken behind Long Island and while approaching the bridge connecting Moon and Long Islands, the Dorchester Gas Tank rainbow was seen from a different perspective...

Once under the bridge, my destination came into view and soon I was pulling up to the dock there...
Spectacle Island is one of Boston Harbor's best success stories.  It has gone from being, quite literally, a dump to being a beautiful and scenic island with boat slips, a visitor center, and well maintained hiking trails.   By virtue of my early arrival there were only two Dept. of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) staff members on the island and therefore I had things pretty much to myself for a good hour until the first ferry arrived.

Looking to the NE from the island's South Drumlin are the so called "Dinosaur Eggs" on nearby Deer Island...
They're actually sludge digesters at the Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant which is the facility most responsible for today's much cleaner Boston Harbor waters.

Looking to the NE is the city of Boston...

 This interesting structure provides overnight housing for DCR personnel...

Before Spectacle Island was used as a smallpox quarantine, location for gambling hotels, a horse rendering factory, a trash incinerator, and finally a landfill, it was used for hundreds of years by Native Americans for fishing and clamming.  One exhibit in the Visitor Center displayed spear and arrow points...

Another display explained how the island got its current name...

At 9:30 the first ferry arrived...
...which dramatically increased the island's population.  Shortly thereafter it was time for me to begin my journey back to Hingham...

Along the way I admired the cliffs at Prince Head...
...and further on landed at Grape Island's NE shore to stretch my legs a bit.  This American oystercatcher was doing the same...
 
 
Most of today's trash haul consisted of flotsam found near where I landed on Grape...
 
 
 
Plastic bottles, plastic bags, some Styrofoam, and a Mylar balloon.  YTD = 2929



Thursday, June 12, 2014

Quiet Morning on the Assabet

Got an early start on the Assabet River at Magazu's Landing in Stow this morning.  No sooner had I started paddling upriver than a white-tailed deer jumped up from where it was bedded down just up from the launch.  Could have had a nice photo had if I'd been quicker on the draw.

The current has lessened quite a bit and the river is getting  shallow.  Passing through the spot where the river is funneled below Gleasondale (at left) was about as easy as it ever gets.

On the way up this musquash was seen hugging the riverbank...

This pair of mute swans were performing nest maintenance...

A singing and dancing dinosaur came onboard...
 
 
...and this old whiskey flask was found on the bottom where it may have spent the last hundred plus years...

It's a side-strap flask with air bubbles in the glass.  Blown glass with no chips or cracks.  Only marking is the embossed "Full Pint" in script...


On the return trip downriver a short detour was taken into Fort Meadow Brook.  After reaching Sudbury Road I continued downriver to Crow Island where a Mylar balloon drew me to the Gardner Hill side of the river.  Turning about from that locale provided this glimpse of the "Crow Island Caboose"...
I wonder which railroad it worked on before being placed out to pasture.

Today's trash haul...
There were 18 recyclable containers (9 redeemable) and 34 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish such as plastic bags, bait tubs, another plastic milk crate, and nip bottles.  YTD = 2894