Six-pack Dan
New member
Howdy Folks,
On Saturday 7-7-07, Carmel and I did a kayak trip from Second Beach (aka Sachuset Beach) in Middletown, RI to Sakonnet Point in Little Compton, RI. We awoke at 3:00 a.m. (Argh!)
in order to drive our kayaks to the launching site by 6:00 a.m. We wanted ideal early morning conditions (light wind, no heavy surf) since we were planning to paddle across a rather tricky area of deep water where the Sakonnet River flows into Rhode Island Sound. After spotting one car near our destination spot at a public boat ramp in Sakonnet Harbor, we drove another car with our two boats down Route 77, across the Sakonnet Bridge and down Route 138 to Middletown.
We arrived at our launch site at 5:45, just as the sun was coming up. On one side of the beach, a group of surfers was already out catching some waves. On the other side, some hikers were scrambling up a steep cliff overhanging Sachuset Bay. They were probably going to check out Purgatory Chasm, a geological formation on top of the nearby rock ledge. It's a deep fissure 10 feet wide, 120 feet long, and almost 50 feet deep. (See AMC's "Discover Rhode Island" guidebook for more info.) Behind the beach road, we could see the Gothic belltower of St. George's School. I was busy taking in all of these sights, when I realized that Carmel had already launched her yak and was already out in the Bay. I hastily launched my own boat, lost my balance, and fell sideways out of the cockpit into the water, in full view of all the surfers. By the time I had righted my boat and paddled out to where Carmel was waiting, I must have looked rather unhappy. "What's wrong? You look completely demoralized!" she said.
Luckily I soon regained my confidence as we paddled across the Bay and around Sachuset Point. The conditions were quite pleasant. Although the sky was slightly overcast, we had a light West wind at our backs and no scary surf. We encountered a few large swells, but they were slow moving and fairly easy to handle. In less than an hour we approached West Island and the Sakonnet Point Lighthouse.
Built in 1844 about a third of mile southward of Sakonnet Point, the light is a four-story cast-iron tower topped by a cylindrical watchroom and and a 10-sided cast-iron lantern. The lighthouse was manned up through 1944. The two man crew lived inside the tower with the first floor serving as a kitchen and living room area. The second and third floors were bedrooms, and the fourth level was a storage area. The light keepers lived a bleak and isolated existence during the winter months. One former keeper is quoted as saying: "You could drop dead in winter and no one would find you until the spring. The only heat came from a stove in the kitchen. They'd give you a cord of wood to last the whole winter, and when it ran out, that was it!' The lighthouse is no longer inhabited, but it is still in service, with a red light on top that blinks every six seconds and can be seen for seven nautical miles.
After passing by the light, Carmel and I approached some rocky islands, with the ruins of an old granite building still standing on one them. There were no humans in sight; just huge flocks of seagulls and massive waves crashing against the rocks. We soon headed back toward the coast. Now we passed by the shore of Little Compton with many summer homes and small private beaches. One beach area had a rock island with an observation platform built on it. I would have liked to have gotten out and taken a look around but there were waves crashing all around it and no safe place to tie up the yaks. In another 20 minutes, we made our way past the breakwater that wraps around one side of Sakonnet Harbor. We reached our destination by 10:30 a.m. There was still plenty of Saturday left to enjoy. I award a gold star to Carmel for planning this trip and convincing me to get up early!
.http://good-times.webshots.com/album/559812149boPkzD
On Saturday 7-7-07, Carmel and I did a kayak trip from Second Beach (aka Sachuset Beach) in Middletown, RI to Sakonnet Point in Little Compton, RI. We awoke at 3:00 a.m. (Argh!)
in order to drive our kayaks to the launching site by 6:00 a.m. We wanted ideal early morning conditions (light wind, no heavy surf) since we were planning to paddle across a rather tricky area of deep water where the Sakonnet River flows into Rhode Island Sound. After spotting one car near our destination spot at a public boat ramp in Sakonnet Harbor, we drove another car with our two boats down Route 77, across the Sakonnet Bridge and down Route 138 to Middletown.We arrived at our launch site at 5:45, just as the sun was coming up. On one side of the beach, a group of surfers was already out catching some waves. On the other side, some hikers were scrambling up a steep cliff overhanging Sachuset Bay. They were probably going to check out Purgatory Chasm, a geological formation on top of the nearby rock ledge. It's a deep fissure 10 feet wide, 120 feet long, and almost 50 feet deep. (See AMC's "Discover Rhode Island" guidebook for more info.) Behind the beach road, we could see the Gothic belltower of St. George's School. I was busy taking in all of these sights, when I realized that Carmel had already launched her yak and was already out in the Bay. I hastily launched my own boat, lost my balance, and fell sideways out of the cockpit into the water, in full view of all the surfers. By the time I had righted my boat and paddled out to where Carmel was waiting, I must have looked rather unhappy.
"What's wrong? You look completely demoralized!" she said. Luckily I soon regained my confidence as we paddled across the Bay and around Sachuset Point. The conditions were quite pleasant. Although the sky was slightly overcast, we had a light West wind at our backs and no scary surf. We encountered a few large swells, but they were slow moving and fairly easy to handle. In less than an hour we approached West Island and the Sakonnet Point Lighthouse.
Built in 1844 about a third of mile southward of Sakonnet Point, the light is a four-story cast-iron tower topped by a cylindrical watchroom and and a 10-sided cast-iron lantern. The lighthouse was manned up through 1944. The two man crew lived inside the tower with the first floor serving as a kitchen and living room area. The second and third floors were bedrooms, and the fourth level was a storage area. The light keepers lived a bleak and isolated existence during the winter months. One former keeper is quoted as saying: "You could drop dead in winter and no one would find you until the spring. The only heat came from a stove in the kitchen. They'd give you a cord of wood to last the whole winter, and when it ran out, that was it!' The lighthouse is no longer inhabited, but it is still in service, with a red light on top that blinks every six seconds and can be seen for seven nautical miles.
After passing by the light, Carmel and I approached some rocky islands, with the ruins of an old granite building still standing on one them. There were no humans in sight; just huge flocks of seagulls and massive waves crashing against the rocks. We soon headed back toward the coast. Now we passed by the shore of Little Compton with many summer homes and small private beaches. One beach area had a rock island with an observation platform built on it. I would have liked to have gotten out and taken a look around but there were waves crashing all around it and no safe place to tie up the yaks. In another 20 minutes, we made our way past the breakwater that wraps around one side of Sakonnet Harbor. We reached our destination by 10:30 a.m. There was still plenty of Saturday left to enjoy. I award a gold star to Carmel for planning this trip and convincing me to get up early!
.http://good-times.webshots.com/album/559812149boPkzD
