Norwalk Islands

All posts tagged Norwalk Islands

Chaos and…crickets

Posted by 2geeks3knots on November 6, 2016

Posted in: Adventures, Around the Sound, Kayaking, Weekly Photo Challenge. Tagged: crickets and temperature, kayak camping, Norwalk Islands, Shea Island. 16 Comments

Home, chaotic home. 10.15.16 Kayak-camping on Shea Island (just us geeks) after paddling from home, slightly-more-organized home, 20NM away. A late start and high winds made the slogging tough—and our sleeping bags that much cozier.

There’s order in the universe. Did you know that you can tell the air temperature just by listening? All you need are crickets! They slow down in autumn (like the rest of us), but their chirps are spot on. Here’s how we knew the nighttime temperature outside our tent was 45°F:
To convert cricket chirps to degrees Fahrenheit Count number of chirps in 14 seconds then add 40 to get temperature. (Example: 30 chirps + 40 = 70° F)

To convert cricket chirps to degrees Celsius Count number of chirps in 25 seconds, divide by 3, then add 4 to get temperature. (Example: 48 chirps ÷ 3 + 4 = 20° C)

Alex makes tracks for the loo

Deer made tracks last night!

See more interpretations of this week’s photo challenge 🙂 🙂

Weekly Photo Challenge: From Every Angle

Posted by 2geeks3knots on September 4, 2015

Posted in: Around the Sound, Kayaking, Weekly Photo Challenge. Tagged: Cockenoe Island, kayak rolling, Norwalk Islands, Sea Kayak Connecticut, sea kayaking. 5 Comments

Late summer fun and homage to Kayak Hipster’s “Flipped-Over Fridays”… David tests his new Rockpool Isel (it’s marvelous from every angle) while Felix entertains the crowd at Cockenoe Island near Westport, CT. (Click for video)

More photos from the 8/8 Sea Kayak Connecticut tour (click for slideshow) 🙂

TBD Thursday: Voila

Posted by 2geeks3knots on May 7, 2015

Posted in: Beyond Words, Kayaking. Tagged: kayak camping, Norwalk Islands, sea kayaking. Leave a comment

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The next time we find ourselves on a kayak camping trip at dinnertime with no corkscrew (cough Norwalk Islands last weekend) we’re going to try this (click for video):

This week’s TBD, “To Be Done!”

Weekly Photo Challenge: Twinkle

Posted by 2geeks3knots on December 14, 2014

Posted in: Kayaking, Weekly Photo Challenge. Tagged: kayaking, Norwalk Islands, Shea Island. 8 Comments

Just in time for the holidays! This week’s photo challenge features twinkles. These pics are from November, long before anybody thought about Hanukkah candles or Xmas trees. On that kayak-camping trip, the water around Shea Island made its own festival of lights.

You probably can’t see it from here, but our eyes are crinkling up with glee. From left to right: Luke, Felix, Jean, Alex, and Jorge (who took all of these twinkling photos). Happy holidays! J&A 🙂

A Red Letter Night

Posted by 2geeks3knots on November 18, 2014

Posted in: Kayaking, Nature, Weekly Photo Challenge. Tagged: Long Island Sound, Norwalk Islands, sunset. 9 Comments

Most races reward you with a medal or trophy. But on Sunday 11/9, we actually lost our race to get home from the Norwalk Islands before nightfall (a headwind stretched our six-hour paddle to eight). But boy, did we win the Grand Prize! Come and enjoy the sunset with us.

Two more hours to go. The wind died, the water calmed, and the sky became a big blue marble.

New York City was pretty in pink.

We turned on our deck lights, although no other boats were out. Paddling through lavender calm, we skimmed over schools of bunker being silently massacred by bluefish. (At least, that’s what we hope they were.)

Ever paddled through lava? We did!

We never planned to see the Sunset of the Year. But then, sometimes our greatest achievements are the ones we didn’t aim for at all.

Check out many other bloggers’ interpretations of this week’s Photo Challenge here. Good night! 🙂

Weekly Photo Challenge: Achievement

Posted by 2geeks3knots on November 17, 2014

Posted in: Adventures, Kayaking, Weekly Photo Challenge. Tagged: kayak camping, Norwalk Islands, Shea Island. 4 Comments

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!

Lighthouse to Lighthouse 2014

Posted by 2geeks3knots on September 11, 2014

Posted in: Around the Sound, Kayaking. Tagged: Achilles International, East Coast Surfski Championships, Lighthouse to Lighthouse 2014, Lighthouse to Lighthouse race, Norwalk Islands, Pecks Ledge Lighthouse. 8 Comments

Saturday, September 6. At last, the moment we’ve all been training for: the Lighthouse to Lighthouse Race! Or more specifically, “Seven or 14 miles of open water racing for any seaworthy, human-powered craft along the scenic Norwalk Islands on the Connecticut shore.” (Not that anyone’s taking time to enjoy the scenery.)

To get an idea of what it’s like, watch this professional video of last year’s race, below. It’s heavy on the surfskis—therefore, exciting. Keep an eye open for the occasional startled-looking sea kayaker. (Andrew, isn’t that you at 8:19??!)

Fun, huh? This year, sea kayaker Alex embarked on the 14-mile Lighthouse to Lighthouse course, as did David and Felix (in tandems, as part of Achilles International teams). Jean and pals Bea, Luke, Erin, Jorge, Elly, and Nick chose the Lighthouse to Big Orange Buoy Floating Just Off Copps Rock Race (the sane 7-mile course). We all did the part not mentioned but assumed: “And Back Again.”

7:30 a.m. Calf Pasture Beach Unloading our yaks, we got an education in “seaworthy human-powered craft.” What IS that thing?!

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Once again this year, the L2L hosted the East Coast Surfski Championships. The floating “balance beams” were everywhere!

To be honest, the weather forecast wasn’t looking so great… A good chance of thunderstorms kept everyone looking skyward. Eventually, a window opened—”god rays” and all! We settled for 90 degrees F, winds 10-15 knots WSW.

At 8:30 sharp, the mandatory captain’s meeting. This is where they tell you to wear your pfd (knew that) and which way to paddle around the course (um, right at Pecks Ledge lighthouse but, wait, what?).

Nothing left to do now but eat our paleo Hammer bars (or raisins, if you’re Alex), guzzle water, and hope that the number you’re duct-taping onto your boat is a lucky magical one.

And… they’re off! We don’t have photos of the actual race, naturally. But here, Jean tries to describe it: Paddle, paddle, paddle, dip baseball cap in water and slap it back on your boiling hot head; swell, swell, swell, WHOOOAA! BIG swell, near-collision with SUP whoopsidaisy! sorry, guy!, paddle fast, paddle faster, paddle faster, DRINK, what are the signs of hyperthermia again?, paddle, Serena-Williams-oof-oof, beer right, shower left, beer right, shower left, cooolld beeeeer!!!

Photos upon our return: Welcoming Committee (aka, scorekeepers); a contender, totally plotzed; Alex returns from his 14-mile trip; a very welcome massage (thanks, volunteer masseuses!); and hurray, cold beer!

The outcomes? Drumroll, please… hardware galore!

Left to right: Nick, Jean, David, Elly and Jorge. Jean won gold in the Sea Kayak Single/Women’s 7-Mile; Bea took silver in the same, and Elly earned bronze. Nick won silver in Men’s Single Sea Kayak 7-Mile, while Jorge won bronze; David and teammate Dennis earned gold in the Achilles Team 14-mile race; and Felix and teammate Cesar won silver. Luke, Erin and Alex won admiration for placing very respectably on this unexpectedly hot, humid, sun-scorching morning. And we all won a place at the tables—picnic and massage. (Yes, the L2L has the best beach party!) Can’t wait til next year.

Mid-May Paddle to Norwalk Islands

Posted by 2geeks3knots on June 6, 2014

Posted in: Adventures, Around the Sound, Destinations, Kayaking. Tagged: kayak camping, Norwalk Islands, Shea Island. 12 Comments

“You’re paddling to where??” Friends at HHYC couldn’t fathom our weekend plan: kayak-camping on Connecticut’s Norwalk Islands, 20NM away, then paddling back the next day. But they were utterly speechless when Vlad and Johna (the intrepid windagainstcurrent) swung by to pick us up—they’d paddled 20NM already, starting from Pier 40 in NYC (Houston St./Hudson River).

(Truth be told, in writing this post, we geeks contemplated just sending y’all to Vlad and Johna’s blog and titling ours “What They Said…” but that would be cheating. Please do visit, however, as their version of the story is doubly good, and Vlad’s photography transcends.)

Red arrows = our route

Destination: Shea Island

May 17: Waiting at HHYC for Johna and Vlad to paddle up from the City. Flag indicates wind will be in our favor.

Two specks on the horizon now look very familiar

Johna and Vlad take a quick break at HHYC

And we’re off—a kayaking foursome

Vlad approaches Scotch Caps; American Yacht Club and Milton Harbor in background

Johna and Alex pass Rye Playland, the country’s only Art Deco amusement park

2geeks raft up for a pic of Great Captain Island, near Greenwich, CT

Vlad and Alex pass Great Captain Island lighthouse

Little Captain Island in the distance

Last and least, Wee Captain Island

Vlad and Johna admire Wee Captain Island while avoiding wee rocks

Feels like summer, but we still have the Sound to ourselves

A quick pit stop on Tod’s Point in Greenwich

Back on the water, to Stamford

Surfing wind waves to Stamford Harbor

Johna reminisces about her old office near Stamford Harbor

Stamford Lighthouse

Hey, we know that tug!

Johna waits for traffic to clear

Land ho! Greens Ledge lighthouse on the horizon

Daylight starts to wane

Johna in pastels

Johna in her Tiderace Xplore S

Alex approaches Sheffield Island, one of the Norwalk Islands

Wind ruffles the water at Shea Island, our destination

Vlad snaps a tiny house near Shea

The welcoming committee

Snowy egret fishes at sunset

Alex and Johna land at Shea Island

Alex looks for camping spots; old lobster traps at right

Our new home has a stone fireplace and 360-degree views

Even on land, Alex is Mr. Visibility

View of Copps Island across the tide pools

Ugh, we’ll have to carry the yaks up past the high tide line

Copps Island in pastels

Four kayaks, one long day. Who’s got the wine?

Sunday morning, May 18. Time for some geeky facts! 45-acre Shea Island was originally called Ram Island. It was renamed for Daniel Shea, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient from Norwalk who died in the Vietnam War.

Sunrise on Sunday morning

The moon is still visible

Our hotel

High tide line

As for the Norwalk Islands themselves, they’re a chain of more than 25 islands amid partly submerged boulders, reefs and mudflats along a six-mile (10 km) stretch and mostly about a mile off the coast of Norwalk, Connecticut in Long Island Sound. Other islands include Betts, Chimon, Calf Pasture, Cockenoe, Grassy, Little Tavern, Tavern, Goose, Hoyt, Long, Peach, Sprite, Crow and Tree Hammock.

View from our tent

Alex wrestles the sleeping bags

Shea Island shells

Sunrise on the beach

Oyster and other shells

Marsh on Shea Island; town of Norwalk beyond

An osprey out for breakfast

Johna enjoys her coffee

Hurray, the boats are still here!

Another pretty day to paddle home

Oystercatchers fly over Stamford light

The dock at Great Captain Island. Soon to resume its summer exclusivity to Greenwich residents

Johna points to home (Manhattan) on the horizon

We 2geeks near home and a gathering storm

See the rest of Johna and Vlad’s adventure here. Want to plan your own kayak camping trip to the Norwalk Islands? Details available at the City of Norwalk site. Have fun 🙂

2 Geeks @ 3 Knots

Perspectives on kayaking and more from 40.917N, 73.747W