Maybe we’ll make T-shirts: WE PADDLED TO THE NORWALK ISLANDS IN CHOPPY NOVEMBER SEAS AND NOBODY CAPSIZED (Or, considering this was an overnight kayak-camping trip in our summer-weight sleeping bags, I’M WITH STUPID>>)
Kidding! (kind of…!?) On 11/8-9, we joined Luke, Jorge, and Felix, for a longish paddle to and from Shea Island in Norwalk, CT. Camping out was great fun, even in gusty November winds. But the real sense of achievement came from getting there with dry hair, despite the exceptional splishy-splash around Stamford Harbor. Why the turbulence there? Jean wondered. Well, peek at the chart. And enjoy the narration, courtesy of David McPherson of Sea Kayak Connecticut:
DMcPh: The breakwater is actually built on a shallow bottom, with a much deeper bottom located anywhere from 10 feet to several hundred feet south of the breakwater.
DMcPh: The volume and pressure in a given measure of water 100 feet wide, 100 feet long and 25 feet deep wants to spread out when the depth is reduced to approximately 5 feet deep. No big deal…until you put up two huge stone breakwaters several hundred feet in length, right in front of that singular intention.
DMcPh: The tidal ebb and flow is interrupted (or better said, constricted) at the breakwater. The lateral spreading forces are exerted on the breakwater and reconciled as reflected energy both upward and outward. “Stacking” also continues as water does not compress very well, so the water trying to flow in or along the sea wall runs into a water queue of sorts, and has nowhere to go but up or out.
DMcPh: “Up” is often the path of least resistance, and hence, the turbulence experienced all along the surface adjacent to the breakwater.
Luke and Jean on Shea Island: A toast to dry hair!
More to come on this trip. Na zdravlje!
2 Geeks @ 3 Knots 
Looks like an awesome time! I’d love to join you sometime and earn a t-shirt! We’ve camped out there but not in November (yet).
It WAS awesome! Felix, Jorge and Luke are so camera-ed up, (Go-Pros and SLRs), I thought I was on a National Geographic expedition for a sec. But that’s great—there’s a video in the making, and THEY are doing it, hurray 🙂 Stay tuned for that and more photos — I’m sure it’ll look quite familiar to you! Jean
Some achievement – you are our brave heroes! 🙂
Pingback: Finding Nemo in paper mache | Non perfect writing