Nomad Life - Day 9

For the first time during my Nomad Life, I didn't sleep well - this was likely because of the margarita I drank last night (it was later than I normally have drinks).  After waking up once during the night and needing some time to fall back to sleep, I found myself still in bed at about 0700.  Once I was fully awake, I did some reading and games/puzzles for another hour and even started tackling some blogging.  At about 0830, I got a text from my brother-in-law that he wanted to go paddling near Hull and hoped we could leave by 1000.  This got me into normal "go-go-go" mode - for the next hour, I raced around getting ready, eating breakfast (John made pancakes), chatting with Aria (she'd brought Gigi over), trying to get laundry going (Katie told me she'd help with that after we left) and visiting a bit with Johnny.  While waiting, I also got to play a good bit with Gigi - she seemed to enjoy that and Katie took some funny videos for me to share with my daughters.  In the end, John wasn't ready to go at the time he'd mentioned and we used about 30 extra minutes to load up his car for the trip.  Still, we got on our way to Hull early enough for me.  The weather was wonderful (70s, breeze, sunny) again!  John drove us (via back roads) out to Hull, which is located on a long peninsula that is surrounded by beaches.  There is such a parking shortage on the (semi)island that non-local street parking is almost completely banned.  After we unloaded the kayaks at the boat launch next to Local 02045 (1100), John managed to locate a parking spot nearby (I didn't ask questions about it at the time because he grew up in Hull).  About 15 minutes later, we launched into the surf.  Unlike our paddling last weekend, this event was almost completely ocean kayaking - we were in Hingham Bay, the body of water to the west side of Hull that can probably be more accurately described as the southern end of Boston Harbor.  The wind, waves and tide were big factors, as was the shape of our river/pond kayaks.  Almost immediately, I felt unsteady and fought with waves that were crashing all around us, especially whenever a boat passed.  John distracted me as I made my way towards Bumpkin Island (west of our initial position) - he wanted to visit his brother's boat in the marina.  Following him over there, I soon found myself participating in a "photo ex", all the while trying to balance, avoid getting water in the kayak and take the pictures.  Eventually, John was satisfied and was able to get back into his kayak.  Just as I mentioned that I was impressed he'd avoided capsizing in the surf, he actually tipped over and his boat started filling with water!  Before long, he and all his personal items (including a plastic bag with wallet and keys) was floating away.  I managed to retrieve some items and he got the rest.  However, he put them on his brother's boat fender while he tried to figure out how to get the water out of his kayak.  The wind and waves started to blow us away from shore and some sense of control of this situation.  Fortunately, John listened to me when I suggested he start swimming to shore - I was able to tow him and his kayak (with all his gear on board) to a nearby jetty.  This took ALL of my energy and paddling skills, built up over several years, because the elements (and inertia of so much weight) was against me.  But we made it!  For the next 20 minutes, I tried to provide moral support while he attempted to fix the problem.  We were observed by several local people who didn't offer any help - one young lady even started sunbathing on a deck above us.  Somehow, John eventually got back in his boat and, with renewed energy, we began paddling towards Hingham Harbor and the sandbar that connected the land in that direction with Bumpkin Island.  During this time, we kept seeing a Coast Guard C-130 and several military helicopters circling the area - it went on so long that it seemed clear there were was some kind of nearby emergency (John later heard that a boat had capsized off the coast during the night and the aircraft were performing SAR duties).  Meanwhile, we kept paddling.  The going was slow but we eventually made it to landfall on the island (the crossing had probably taken us about an hour and about two miles of paddling).  We also encountered about five other kayakers who had already arrived.  I soon determined the place was part of the Boston Harbor Islands State Park.  Even more interesting, though, was that the island had been populated by nearly 2000 military servicemembers, 50+ Navy buildings and a hospital during the previous century.  John and I stowed our kayaks above the tide line (it had already started going out again) and walked across the crest of land in the middle of the island.  We had views of Hull, Boston and all the nearby Harbor Islands and Southeastern Massachusetts towns (Quincy, Weymouth, Hingham, etc.).  We found several historical markers (with information in them) and some comfortable benches.  At the latter spot, we ate a nice lunch (cold cut sandwiches, snack bars).  There were LOTS of birds on the island and I was able to add to my eBird life/year totals.  After about 30 minutes, we returned to the boats and started paddling for the mainland again.  The wind was worse than before and the waves were bigger - the backtrack required a lot of concentration and effort.  I was covered in salt spray along the way but eventually reached a place (behind a long dock) where I could rest.  We watched a huge number of birds (mostly cormorants and gulls) congregated nearby - they were interesting to see from so close and didn't appear to be concerned about us at all.  When we arrived at the boat launch again, we encountered John's brother (Brian), who was just launching his dingy for a trip to his boat.  We chatted briefly but then (after getting the boats out of the water) we headed to Local 02045 for a beer at their Bayview Bar.  The venue was nice and we enjoyed relaxing after our busy kayaking day (probably four miles over two hours total, with a long walk in between).  By 1445, we were finished and spent the next 20 minutes loading up the kayaks on top of John's car.  We backtracked to Katie's house by almost the same route as the morning and were unloading the car again by 1535.  I'd hinted that I wanted to go to Mass at 1600 and this was made possible by John and Johnny completing the unloading job.  Meanwhile, I took a lightning fast shower, changed clothes and then drove to the nearby Our Lady of the Angels Church (St. Mary's Parish) in time for the service.  I'd asked Katie to make an order at a local takeout place (so I could treat the family to a nice dinner) and she did that for me - at 1645, I headed to Machim House of Thai Food to pick up our order and was back at Katie's by 1700.  During the next half hour, I sat with my sister, John and Johnny on their nice deck and ate some delicious food from Thailand (preview for my upcoming trip?).  At 1745, Katie and John left for some musical gigs and I visited with Johnny for a little while.  By 1830, I was alone and spent just over an hour re-packing the car, folding laundry, organizing and reading.  Between 1945 and 2030, I went for a walk near my sister's house and got the rest of my 10K steps.  By 2045, I was relaxing in front of the TV (a rare thing for me to do) - I ended up watching the new movie "Happy Gilmore 2" until after 2200.  By then, Katie, John and Johnny had returned and we chatted for a little while about the next steps in my Noman Life journey.  Before I realized it, the time had gotten away from me - I didn't end up getting to bed until almost 2300.  It's been a great week but, tomorrow, the real adventure begins!