Looking Astern at 2024

In looking back at 2024 there's no doubt that my most memorable paddling moment occurred in May when I kayaked out to a relatively small island (less than 10 acres) in the middle of the lower St. Croix River...

Over the previous winter I'd read Voyages of Samuel De Champlain Vols 1-3 (translated by Charles Pomeroy Otis and edited by Edmund Slafter) and found Champlain's first-hand account concerning the island. In 1604 a party of 79 Frenchmen built a small settlement there and the island was given the name St. Croix. The Native Americans (Passamaquoddy) are said to have called the island "Mehtonuwekoss" meaning "food storage place".  As I approached the island (photo above) skies were cloudy and the tide was near slack.  I cannot adequately describe the level of anticipation I felt and how that anticipation built with each paddle stroke which brought me closer to my destination.  After landing my boat on the uninhabited island and getting my bearings I climbed the wooden stairway to the island's plateau-like surface...

...and crossed a field of grass and wildflowers to this boulder bearing a bronze plaque attesting to the island's significance...
  

While there are plenty of places in and around New England that Samuel De Champlain visited, it was here on this small island that he actually spent an entire winter.  

A  representation of what the village looked like is on display at the St. Croix Island International Historic Site located on the mainland in Calais, ME within view of the island...

The winter of 1604-05 was longer and more severe than anything these men might have expected.  Fresh water and wood for fuel were in short supply.  An outbreak of scurvy took the lives of 35 settlers and sickened another 20.  Those who died are said to be buried beneath the grass.  As a result of their miserable winter on the island, the expedition's leader, Sieur De Monts, had most of the buildings disassembled and transported to Port Royal in Nova Scotia where they were re-assembled; a more favorable location where the colony survived.  One positive outcome from their experience on St. Croix Island was Champlain's creation in 1606 of the Order of Good Cheer at the Port Royal location..."We spent this winter very pleasantly, and fared generously by the Ordre De Bon Temps, which I introduced.  This all found useful for their health, and more advantageous than all the medicines that could have been used."  Individual members of the order competed in seeing who could bag the best game for weekly feasts during the winters.  The feasts also included entertainment.  As a confirmed "winter hater" I, for one, can certainly appreciate the need for an Order of Good Cheer!

Back on the mainland at the International Historic Site I got a chance to stand next to the larger-than-life bronze figure of Sieur De Monts (Champlain's boss) ...

  

2024 was a good year for first-time visits to other historically significant places:

Deer Island (another island of misery) in Boston Harbor which I paddled out to from Winthrop, MA...

Moswetuset Hummock in Quincy, MA also paddled to from Houghs Neck...

...the Myles Standish Cairn at Squantum's northern tip in Quincy, MA commemorating his and Tisquanto's having landed there (visited by foot)...

...Annawan Rock in Dighton, MA (visited by foot)...

...the Miery Swamp in Bristol, RI where Metocomet's life ended (also by foot)...

...the Reuben Colburn Homestead where the 200 batteaux for the 1775 Arnold Expedition were hastily built alongside the Kennebec River (by foot on perhaps 2024's hottest day)...

 

Over the course of the year I paddled away from boat launches in all six New England states as well as one in Passamaquoddy Bay in New Brunswick, Canada. 

In Maine I scouted a circumnavigation of Verona Island from the viewing platform atop the Penobscot Narrows Bridge, and camped at both Chewonki Campground in Wiscasset and the KOA Bucksport/Ft. Knox.  Also drank in views of a few more Maine lighthouses: 

On the Kennebec River were Squirrel Point Light...

...the Range Lights further upriver at Fiddler's Reach (paddled past)...

...and the Doubling Point lighthouse (paddled past)...

Fort Pownall Light in the Penobscot River (paddled to from Sears Island)...

Experienced these ponds for the first time: Asnacomet in Hubbardston, MA, Coachlace, Mossy, and S. Meadow complex in Clinton, MA.

Enjoyed some fine paddling with fellow paddlers Oz and Roger on the Sudbury River, Denise and company through the lock at Cromwell's Falls on the Merrimack River, and my grandson John on Concord's Walden Pond...

  

Wildlife encounters that will keep me wondering what or who is around the next bend in the river included:

This eagle at Lee Island (Puddlestone Island) in the Kennebec River...

...this buck along the Assabet River...

...and this newly-hatched diamondback terrapin? turtle in the tidal portion of the Connecticut River...

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention an unexpected capsize that occurred early in 2024.  I made two mistakes...first, paddling on a day when solid ice lined both shores, and secondly, allowing my boat to become perpendicular to a strong current.  Fortunately I was dressed for immersion and had brought along a pair of warm and dry gloves. Without such gear things could have gone south real fast.  I was also very lucky not to become separated from my boat. Lessons learned. 

Trash, mostly of a plastic nature, was still there to be found especially behind fallen trees.  I did notice a decline in the number of "nip" bottles.  Recovered 1,644 of the pesky little bottles this year compared to 3,553  in 2023.  Hopefully the decline in numbers is a good sign and not just the result of 2024's lower water levels. 

The oddest and probably most valuable thing found afloat in 2024 was a Concrete Testing Kit in the Assabet River...

...which probably had been tossed into the river by thieves.  Thanks to the laminated calibration certificate found inside the case the kit was re-united with its rightful owner.

Other unusual finds were a plastic bait tub found in the Concord River...

...and a gallon of transmission fluid  also from the Concord River...

May 2025 bring Peace and Good Cheer to all!

Santa Afloat in the River

 

While paddling on the Assabet River this past Tuesday, a week before Christmas Eve, I came across this plastic Santa Claus and Reindeer near Assabet Ave in Concord, MA...

Santa's windswept beard made the piece a keeper.  A quick search later on Google suggested the ornament was most likely made by Rosbro Plastics Co. in Pawtucket RI in the 1950s or 60s.  This  Santa and his reindeer looked to have been in the river for a long time.

The day was a beauty for mid-December with temps in the upper 50s F and sunshine.

Two days later, on Thursday, I took advantage of temps in the 40s F. and a mostly ice-free Warner's Pond in Concord, MA...

Paddled over to the pond's west side where Nashoba Brook enters...

...and ventured upstream to the confluence of Nashoba and Fort Pond brooks...

With each paddle these days possibly being the year's last, I took advantage of the opportunity to paddle beneath Route 2 and the elevated Bruce Freeman Rail Trail before heading up Fort Pond Brook to the old abandoned bridge (near the Acton town line) that leads to nowhere...

The old road is shown on a 1943 map leading alongside Fort Pond Brook to a spot hard between the brook and a steep ridge.  Its purpose?

A fast-sinking sun and this beaver dam suggested it was time to turn back...

Then it was downstream with the low-angle sun at my back...

...possibly bringing my 2024 paddling season to an end.

Trash on Tuesday included the plastic Santa, a "Sip of Sunshine" beer can, and 11 "nips"...

 Thursday's trash was minimal...

If only for a fleeting moment, Santa got to decorate a Christmas Tree once again...

...or perhaps with a bit of paint restoration he could hang around!  Mrs. Trashpaddler will need to be convinced.  

Happy Holidays!

Are We There Yet?

 

Got out on the water twice this past week...the Sudbury River (Elm St. bridge above) 3 days before Wednesday's deluge and the Nashua River the day after it.

Last Sunday morning I ventured up the Sudbury River from Egg Rock in Concord, MA...

...to satisfy my curiosity as to whether or not Fairhaven Bay was iced over or open water. Made it as far as Martha's Point where the river was found to be iced over within sight of the bay and its Brooke Island...

So, instead of enjoying a cup of hot cocoa on the island, my cocoa break was taken at Martha's Point where I noticed a dead fish at water's edge...

My non-fisherman guess is that it's an alewife and, if so, does it indicate such fish being this far up the river or might it have been used as bait by a fisherman?   

These days red-tailed hawks are still to be seen...

On Thursday, after Wednesday's rain and wind storm, a visit was made to the Nashua River from the Oxbow N.W.R. in Harvard, MA.  The tributaries were generously contributing and the river had strong current...

The sun was trying its best to break through the clouds while the winds continued to gust out of the west...  

Trash was on the move with numerous empty plastic bottles floating along with the swifter current.  A natural trash trap downriver had corralled a good bit of plastic...

Post paddle I stopped at the Prospect Hill Road overlook, drank in this late afternoon view of  Wachusett Mt...

...and wondered if this may have been my final paddle of 2024.  Time and weather conditions will tell.
  

Trash from the Sudbury River on Sunday...

Trash from the Nashua River on Thursday included 71 "nip" bottles...

 

Winter Swoops In

 

Headed out on the lower Assabet River this past Sunday morning to greet Old Man Winter (meteorologically speaking).  Figured he'd most likely be swooping in from the northwest...perhaps near the above pictured Willow Island. Speaking of "swooping in" was this nearby sign of others (beavers, otters?) having recently swooped or slid in...

A section of the river sheltered from the westerly breeze...

Later went down the Concord River just a bit to where the Minuteman at the Old North Bridge had his back to both the wind and low-angle sun...

Temperatures on this day reached only the upper 30's F. and marked the first time since last winter where I needed to wear gloves inside of my pogies.  Being encased almost entirely in neoprene these days has me fondly recalling the warm days of our past summer where light clothes and sandals sufficed.    

Trash on this day included a blue bag that was left behind a tree at the Calf Pasture...

During the spell of cold days that followed winter's arrival I gathered my accumulation (over the years) of mostly "Duckie Race" escapees for a quick group shot...