thank goodness for relax days. thank goodness!!!

Weve been going hard ever since we left Dartmouth. This may be a long post folks, so hold on tight.

After a week off, we started our paddle again in Padanaram, Mass. We made it to horseneck beach campground, and the next day to Saconett Point, R.I. After a night sneak camping on the point, which I NEVER enjoy, we got up at 4:30 am to make the crossing to Narragansett, RI. I was pretty nervous about this paddle. It was a long way and pretty exposed. Look at a map of Rhode Island. We crossed all that big water that day. yeah. it was calm most of the way thank God… literally. we made it to Narragansett by 10:45 am.

In Narragansett we met Tricia and Roger. They took us in and fed us well. can we say steak? the next day we paddled again, around Point Judith. It was a gnarly day for paddling actually. we had to deal with a lot of rebounding waves and pretty big swell too. as we rounded the point, giving it a WIDE berth, we could see a LOT of surfers enjoying the waves. that tells you something. roger came a picked us up in Galilee so we could have another night at their house. It was very convenient. We got to paddle unloaded boats which was a big treat. We slept well that night and we back on the water the next day early again.

The paddle from Galilee was strange. We were paddling againt something… be it wind or waves or current the entire time. Our speed was down to 1.5 mph and it was hard to keep our spirits up. We didnt exaclty know where we were going to sleep that night and we just couldnt keep positive attitudes. It was also the 5th day in a row we had paddled without a break. When we finally landed in Charlestown, RI, we were done for the day. Dan landed first and the lifeguard on the beach, clearly not a cool gal, made his re-launch his boat through the surf to land 100 ft to the east because “there are no boats allowed on this part of the beach.” un-awesome. 100ft later we landed and tried noto scream with aggrivation. A man, who looked a little like Hulk Hogan, kindly offered to let us leave our boats on his portion of the beach, that he actually owned. nice. we left our boats there. Carrying 3 heavy bags we stared the walk to the address that we had for the motel. we got lost. the address was wrong. 2 hours later, tired and sore, i quit. i sat by the side of the road and refused to move on. childish… but i dont know how different anyone else would have done in the circumstances. dan called a cab, ordered a pizza for pickup, and we were rescued.

two days later, after a much needed rest and a lot of HGTV, we were ready to go. the cab company could only come to pick us up at 430 in the morning so thats when we left the motel. We were on the water paddling by 545 am. It was actually perfect because the current was with us and there was little to no wind. We made it to the CT border and were finally bidding farewell to RI, of which im not that big of a fan. We paddled easily to Noank and the Mystic River Boathouse, where Dana was letting us keep our boats and had even offered to let us camp. We actually had another contact in the town who was letting us stay in her house, in a bed, so we opted for that option. Shannon came to pick us up and we enjoyed an evening with her and her family. It was very restful.

The next day, yesterday, we left the boathouse around 1030 am, due to lack of motivation and a facination with the boathouse dogs that i needed to play with and pet, more than pack my boat. The paddled turned into a really boring experience. Dan and I had nothing to talk about, and the weather was dreary. Does New England not realize that it is JUNE!!??!! come on. the current was threatening to switch on us and we had to paddle for a long time with no motivation. its funny how the lack of sun can make someone so unhappy. we finally make it to Three Belles Marina around 4pm. a late arrival for us. thank goodness Rick and Nancy came to pick us up and treated us to thier home. We are here now… enjoying the relaxation that comes with them. God Bless them.

How long until NYC again?