Thursday, July 24, 2025

Narrow River - Pollack Avenue - July 24, 2025

Boats and docks along the Narrows
I was back on the Narrow River today to paddle the Narrows from Middlebridge Road to Bridgetown Road and the Lower and Upper Ponds.

The Narrow River, also known at the Pettaquamscutt River, is the tidal extension of the Mattatuxet River. It begins below the Carr Pond Dam at the Gilbert Stuart Birthplace and flows south for 6-miles forming the border between South Kingstown and Narragansett before entering Pettaquamscutt Cove and then flowing out into Narragansett Bay.

View up Lower Pond
There are five distinct sections of the Narrow River – the Upper Pond, the Lower Pond, the “Narrows” from Bridgetown Road to Middlebridge Road, the “Flats” at Pettaquamscutt Cove, and the “Narrows” where the river flows into Narragansett Bay at Cormorant Point.

I paddle the Flats and Narrows at Cormorant Point yesterday, so today I put in at the Narrow River Fishing Area off Pollock Avenue and paddled upstream into the “Narrows” between Bridgetown Road and Middlebridge Road. This section of the river is lined with boat docks and summer houses.

Above Bridgetown Road, I paddled through the Lower Pond, and into the Upper Pond. I saw racing shells on the Lower Pond and a family of river otters in the Upper Pond. The trip back was a bit of a slog – into the current and the wind, but it was still a nice trip.


Back down the Narrows
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Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Narrow River - Sprague Bridge - July 23, 2025

Rocks at Cormorant Point
I headed over to the Narrow River today to paddle around Pettaquamscutt Cove and down to the Narrows at Cormorant Point

I put in at the Sprague Bridge on Boston Neck Road at the John H Chafee National Wildlife Refuge. Established in 1973, the refuge includes over 300-acres of saltmarsh around Pettaquamscutt Cove that provides habitat for shore birds like egrets, herons, cormorants and osprey. Then I headed down to the beach at the Narrows. It was high tide, so it was easy to get out into the rocks at Cormorant Point.

View down to the Narrows
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Paddle Map - Lower Narrow River

Potter Pond - July 23, 2025

Lighthouse at Snug Harbor
It was a bright sunny morning so I decided to stay local and paddle over to Potter Pond.

Potter Pond is connected to Point Judith Pond by a tidal inlet that flows through Snug Harbor and the 182-acre Succotash Marsh. The barrier beach that forms East Matunuck State Beach creates the southern shore of the pond. The northern end is a wooded kettle pond. With the exception of the houses along Succotash Road to the east and Matunuck to the west, much of the land around Potter Pond is undeveloped.

Beach in Matunuck
I paddled down the west side of Great Island before crossing over to Snug Harbor and entering the inlet into Succotash Marsh. The morning was clear and I got a great view over to East Matunuck State Beach. After paddling under the bridge at Succotash Road, I played in the current in the channel where the inlet enters the pond.

Once in Potter Pond I headed west to the Ocean Avenue Waterfront Access in Matunuck. The paths were overgrown, but I made it up to the beach. When I returned to the inlet was able to paddle up with no difficulty – the current was gone. I paddled up the east side of Great Island through Bluff Hill Cove and Welcome Cove on the way back to the cottage.


Egret in Potter Pond
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Monday, July 21, 2025

Upper Point Judith Pond - July 21, 2025

Marina Park Boat Ramp
I slept late this morning, so I stayed close to the cottage and paddled around Upper Point Judith Pond. I will be leading a RICKA trip on Point Judith Pond on Saturday, so I wanted to check out the put-in at Marina Park. 

Unlike Rhode Island’s other large salt ponds (Ninigret, Green Hill, Quonochontaug and Winnapaug) that are coastal lagoons, Point Judith Pond is an estuary where the Saugatucket River empties to the sea. I paddled up past Ram Island and Harbor Island, through the Narrows into the Upper Pond, and into the Saugatucket River at Silver Spring Cove. Then I paddled back round the top of Point Judith Pond before crossing at Gardner, Beach and Jonathan Islands.

Selfie near Ram Island
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Sunday, July 20, 2025

Around Great Island - July 20, 2025

Horseshoe Point
We have been renting a vacation house at Horseshoe Point on Point Judith Pond for the last 13-years. I always start off my paddling adventures with a trip around Great Island. This year it was a little cloudy and a little windy, but not too bad.  

Point Judith Pond, or the Great Salt Pond, is the second largest of Rhode Island’s South County salt ponds. Separated in the south behind sand dunes and barrier beaches, Point Judith Pond is connected to the ocean through the Breachway at Galilee.

View to Snug Harbor from Galilee
Great Island is one of three large islands on the pond - the other two are Harbor Island and Ram Island. Great Island is about 2-miles long and 1/2-mile wide, and full of summer cottages. I paddled down to Frank’s Neck before heading into Bluff Hill Cove and paddling under the bridge into Galilee.

The fishing village of Galilee was developed in 1935 when the State of Rhode Island dredged out a harbor suitable for commercial fishing vessels. I paddled down into the harbor to snap a few pictures of boats going through the Beachway 

The Breachway into the Harbor of Refuge
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Friday, July 18, 2025

Cold Spring Park - July 17, 2025

Boat launch at Cold Spring Park
It has been a long time since I paddled this section of the Blackstone. The last time I did this trip was January 2020, and that trip included some canoe sledding. Before that was a BVPC trip in August 2012, and a video in August 2011. I don’t know if I would have gone otherwise, but Paul’s text with an offer to paddle tandem got me out.

To be honest, this section of the river had became less and less attractive over the years. There was a large homeless camp and lots of trash at the put in, the water quality wasn’t that good, and the scenery was nothing to write home about. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised at the improvement on this trip.

Heading upstream
The Blackstone River Watershed Council/Friends of the Blackstone was leading this paddle for the "I 💜 Woonsocket" group that is connected to the Economic Development Division of the City of Woonsocket. They provided rental boats and asked RICKA to provide a few leaders to "shepherd" the group.

We put in at the Cold Spring Park boat launch and paddled up to the St. Paul Street Bridge. This section of the river runs along the newest section of the Blackstone River Bikeway at the RI/MA border. After that we paddled down to the Woonsocket Falls Dam and back. Trip was about 3.5 miles, and we ended right at sunset.

Sunset at the end of the trip
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Monday, July 14, 2025

Pawcatuck River Overnight/Bastille Day Campout - July 12-13, 2025

The Mohawk is loaded up
Saturday started with a RICKA Flatwater training at Stump Pond, and ended with our annual Bastille Day Campout at the Burlingame Canoe Campsites on the on the Pawcatuck River. It was a good weekend.

Back in the old days, RICKA held an annual summer camping trip – the Bastille Day Campout. Bastille Day is a national holiday in France that celebrates the Storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789. Why Bastille Day was chosen as a theme for a RICKA camping trip has been lost to history. The connection to summer is obvious, and maybe it was a simple as that.

Setting up camp
The event was originally held on Dutch Island. When the DEM prohibited camping on Dutch Island in 1991, it moved to the Burlingame Canoe Campsites on the Pawcatuck. It was celebrated with an assortment of French and French-Canadian delicacies – mostly wine and beer. A Molson toast around the fire was always the highlight of an evening filled with good food and good friends.

Reviving this RICKA tradition seemed like a worthy challenge, so for the past few years we have been organizing a summer overnight trip at the Burlingame Canoe Campsites. This year, we met at the Bradford Landing at 2:30 to load up our boats. The group included JD, Chuck, Danny, Dan, Bill, Tim, Reuben and me.

Steak Frites on the fire
The weather was beautiful as we headed out – party cloud and in the 80’s with a light wind. It would drop into the 60’s in the evening, but no rain. We arrived and found the field campsite empty, so we hauled our gear up and set up camp. We started the dinner fire, then cooled off taking turns on the rope swing as the fire burned down to coals for cooking.

Once again, the food was plentiful - salsa and chips, charcuterie and cheese, cedar-planked brie with crusty baguettes, Italian sausage with spicy zucchini, Steak Frites (steak and fries), watermelon, carrot cake. After dinner, we settled in around the campfire for a night of tall-tales and war-stories. I finally turned in at around 10:00.

Breakfast in the Big Daddy skillet
Before I knew it, morning light was streaming through my tent. I got up around 6:00, started the fire and got the coffee perking. Dan was up shortly after, so we started on breakfast. I fired up my Dutch oven to make a batch of cinnamon rolls, and Dan fired up his 20” Big Daddy skillet to cook everything else - bacon, sausage, home fries and eggs. No one ever goes hungry on these trips.

After breakfast we packed for the trip back to Bradford. I was on the road by 10:00, and I was home by 11:00. We will definitely put the Bastille Day Campout on the RICKA calendar again next year.


The annual Molson toast
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