Sudbury River - River Rd. to Pelham Island Rd. & Back

 Today's trash patrol was a return trip to the old railroad trestle just upstream of Route 20 in Wayland.  Nobscot Hill appears prominently in the western horizon and is pictured at left.  The beaver lodge close to this spot had a guest lounging on the front porch.  I wonder how the beaver family would regard this visiting water snake...

 Further downriver these sandpipers were out and about.  Not sure if they are lesser yellowlegs or greater yellowlegs and the third, smaller sandpiper may be a different type...

Other wildlife seen were turtles, blue herons, red-winged blackbirds, and a few ducks.
Most of today's trash was recovered from the pile-up behind the old Boston & Maine railroad trestle.  This is how it looked after today's work...

 This is the same spot back on May 4th...

 These tires and block of styrofoam flotation were floated down to the boat launch area at Route 20 and placed alongside the roadway leading to the launch...

 I notified the Wayland Dept. of Public Works and hope they will be able to properly dispose of them.  The remainder of the day's catch returned to River Road with me and posed for this photo...

Total for the day was 55 pieces of trash.  Breakdown: 28 recyclable (2 redeemable) and 27  miscellaneous rubbish such as the tires, flotation, a basketball, nip bottles, plastic bags, etc.  YTD total stands at 2298.

Essex River Race

Conditions looked good yesterday morning as our group of paddlers in the sea kayak class began following the Essex River's serpentine route to the sea.  The pesky breeze gave only a hint of what we would encounter after passing Conomo Point.
Upon entering Essex Bay and heading towards the northwest, we encountered the mighty power of Aeolus, keeper of the winds, and he was favoring only those heading in the opposite direction.  One of the gusts that whipped by us was later clocked in Boston at 37 miles per hour. 
My daughter was paddling in her very first race and doing a good job of defying the mighty Aeolus's power.  At one point he ripped her paddle right out her hands, but she recovered, lowered her head, and paddled onward. 
The post-race chowder tasted sweet for all the paddlers and rowers that completed the 5.5 nautical mile course.  Race organizers, the Cape Ann Rowing Club, noted that a record 150 boats were entered in the event; everything from paddle boards to 6-man seine boats. 
The only trash served up was one buoyant tennis ball that may have escaped from the cow-hide bag a crew member on Odysseus's boat was seen untying.

Assabet River - Cox St. Hudson to Orchard Hill in Stow

Conditions late this morning were just about perfect for trash paddling the Assabet River in Hudson and Stow.  It was my first visit to this stretch of river this year and also my first since the big floods of March. While there was ample trash it wasn't as bad as I had expected.  There was, however, a considerable number of plastic bags stuck to tree limbs, stumps, bushes. etc.
The usual gang of critters were present: red-winged blackbirds, a blue heron, eastern kingbirds, a few ducks, some small sandpipers, a musquash, and tons of turtles.
Just downstream of where the river hangs a sharp left to go around Orchard Hill, I came across this fireman's hat.  Most likely just a toy.  At any rate, there was no sign of Engine 7...

The obstacles across the river in this area sometimes require portaging.  Today, however, I was able to easily paddle around them and would have had clear sailing all the way to Gleasondale, I suspect.
I turned around near this beaver lodge and began the trip back upriver...

Back at Cox Street, the day's catch was unloaded from dry bags and my ship's aft hold...

The group in the forward hold escaped being in the photo by being very quiet. They were ultimately discovered while loading the boat onto my car's rooftop. The trash count for the day was 139 pieces. The breakdown: 52 recyclable containers (5 redeemable) and 87 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish (27 plastic bags, 21 nip bottles, a boat fender, an elaborate wine jug, and assorted pieces of styrofoam).

My YTD total stands at 2243

Sudbury River - Lincoln Canoe Launch to S. Bridge & Return

Sure was a nice day to be out on the river!  After launching at the Lincoln Canoe Launch near Rt.117, I trash patrolled downriver to Concord's South Bridge and then retraced my paddle dips.  The photo at left was taken on the return trip as I approached Fairhaven Hill.
A little further upriver, this Great Blue Heron appeared both graceful and majestic in flight...

Other wildlife seen today were red-winged blackbirds, tree swallows, musquashes, turtles, mallards, and Canada geese.  Also saw several good sized fish rise above the water's surface for insects.
Today's trash haul was a modest 24 pieces that included large chunks of flotation (styrofoam), plastic bags, aluminum and plastic containers, and a Carson Irrigation Control box cover.  The box cover may have come from Nashawtuc Country Club which is just a little further upriver.  I'll hold on to it for a while in case someone wants it.
The breakdown: 6 recyclables (2 redeemable) and 18 miscellaneous rubbish.  YTD total stands at 2104.

Single-Use Container of Bottled Water - Friend or Foe?

 The subject of bottled water was debated by many this past week and opinions ran the gamut. The opening salvo occurred, appropriately enough, in the historic town of Concord, Massachusetts where town meeting voters authorized a new by-law that will outlaw the sale of single-use bottles of water.


My understanding is that the bill’s proponents grew frustrated with the state legislature’s failure to act on modifying the state’s very much outdated Bottle Bill. Now, in case you’re not from Massachusetts, you should know that our state legislators could never be confused with our famed Minutemen. In fact these state reps would have waited hours, or perhaps days, for favorable poll numbers before taking any risky action in April 1775. It is also significant to note that the three speakers of the Massachusetts house prior to the present one have all been federally indicted. The words lobbyist and malfeasance pop up over and over. When I see the esteemed group in session, all I can think of is the song “Send in the Clowns”. But I digress.

Concord’s bold vote against single-use bottled water was only a few days old when a coupling ruptured on a Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) pipeline disrupting the supply of drinking water to 2- million people in the Greater Boston communities just to the east of Concord, and temperatures were in the 80’s. Affected residents had two choices for potable water; either boil tap water, or resort to the more convenient bottled water. Needless to say for the next several days bottled water in any kind of container became a most valuable commodity and Concord’s impending ban on what others were finding an essential item for survival looked unwise at the least. I wonder if the bottled water folks have stopped dancing yet! All the progress the "Take Back the Tap" movement had made was dealt a serious setback.

So is a single-use container of bottled water our friend or our foe? I believe the answer is both. There are clearly times when a single-use bottle of water is a good option. Those times are when the local tap-water is unavailable or not meeting the health requirements of regulating authorities. There are other times, however, when bottled water is selected only for its convenience, as opposed to bringing water from home.  After all, we’re basically lazy creatures. Walk by a soccer or baseball field after a game or practice and you will see how those single-use containers are handled once they’re empty. Those little plastic bottles don’t look so friendly anymore.

From my perspective the problem is obvious: the single-use plastic container has no value once it’s empty and therefore is about as close to ‘manufactured trash’ as possible. Bottled water’s cousins, sparkling water, soda water, and tonic water, all have a value when empty and the containers, as seen in this photo, are identical...

 How is it that our legislators can't see the inconsistency here?  Could it be the Mass Retailers Association and the Bottled Water Industry have their ears?  Or perhaps they just figure most folks are ignorant of the problem and happy to stay that way.   What's such a big deal about a few plastic bottles in the bushes, rivers, and streams?

Sudbury River - River Rd. to B & M Trestle and Back

 This morning was one those occasions where it was just too nice to pass up a quick trash patrol of the Sudbury River in Wayland.  I launched at River Rd. and paddled downstream to where the original course of the river passed under this old stone-arched bridge.  Finding only a few pieces of trash, I turned around and headed upriver and was pleasantly surprised to find very little trash between River Rd. and Route 20.  Skies were sunny and the air temperature was in the 70s.  Eastern Kingbirds and red-winged blackbirds were plentiful and I saw my first batch of mallard ducklings.
When I reached the trestle that carries the unused tracks of the Boston & Maine Railroad (Central Mass. Branch), I discovered where all the trash was being held captive...

 All but one of the passageways through the structure were blocked with a massive raft of driftwood and trash.  There were two tires, a propane tank, and a large amount of flotsam.  I concentrated my efforts on the flotsam and after about an hour's work, my boat was loaded.  Would have been a good place to employ the "Come Hither" but unfortunately it recently went yonder.  A replacement is in the works.
There were quite a few glass bottles today.  Considerably more hard liquor containers than beer or wine.
I arrived back at River Rd. just as the skies were clouding up.  The day's catch posed briefly for a portrait...

 The 111 pieces of trash brokedown as follows:  60 recyclable containers (4 redeemable) and 51 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish such as stryofoam, plastic bags, nip bottles, a cooler top, and fishing gear.  The fishing gear included clumps of monofilament line, bobbers, and a very realistic looking Slugo eel.  After including the 3 pieces from Sunday's paddle on the Essex River, my YTD total stands at 2080.

Essex River - Essex to Ipswich Bay and Back

Yesterday felt like mid-summer and the kind of day where being on salty water seemed somehow more appropriate.  That combined with my daughter having mentioned wanting to paddle the area behind Crane Beach resulted in two kayakers traveling to the little town of Essex. 
We launched at the Town Landing near the intersection of Routes 22 and 133 and began following the river's circuitous route to the open sea.  The tide would be incoming for most of our trip and the tidal current was most noticeable in the narrow passage between Cross Island and Conomo Point. 
As we crossed Essex Bay towards the southwest tip of Castle Neck, we began to feel the cooling effect of a southerly breeze coming across the water.  Having decided to paddle up to Crane Beach allowed us to pass by the green bell-buoy "1" pictured at left (Note: Picture can be enlarged twice by clicking on it).  It looked as though one of last winter's storms had thrown it onto the beach like a piece of driftwood.  Usually it is located about a half-mile out into Ipswich Bay and rides the waves in a vertical position.
This photo was taken in the same proximity and behind my daughter's boat, Cape Ann can be seen in the distance...

On the return trip across Essex Bay we took in this nice view of Hog Island... 

The facing slope of the island served as the outdoor set for the movie The Crucible.  A replica of a 17th century Puritan village was built for the film about a little witch-hunting between friends and neighbors!  Those Puritans sure were a bunch of "funseekers", eh?
Much of the route we paddled will be packed with small human-powered boats during the upcoming Essex River Race on May 15th.  Yesterday, however, boat traffic was fairly light.  As we approached the town, we were treated to paddling alongside the two-masted schooner, Maine.  With its red sails aloft it looked quite elegant in the narrow river's confines.  The Maine can be seen by visiting the web site of H. A. Burnham shipbuilding.
Trash was sparse and consisted of only one beer can, one styrofoam coffee cup, and one plastic bag...

Before leaving town, we enjoyed tasting some locally harvested seafood. 

Didn't listen to music on this trip, but Tom Rush's Rockport Sunday would have worked just fine for me!