Rocks and Rescue Session at Fort Wetherill – July 28, 2024

Heading out of West Cove

I’ve spent a lot of time practicing strokes in my sea kayak on flatwater, but haven’t had a chance to do many trips. When we did the RICKA “Meeting on the Water” out of Fort Wetherill, I was feeling a little uncomfortable in the ocean swells. I knew what I needed to do – relax, and spend more time in those conditions. When I saw that the RICKA Sea Kayak group would be doing a rock play and rescue session at Fort Wetherill, I decided to sign up.

Ask Rhode Island sea kayakers what their favorite paddling spot is, and many will say Fort Wetherill. It provides access to a beautiful section of rocky shore that is much like the coast of Maine. From here you can head north to the Dumplings and Jamestown Harbor for great views of the Newport Bridge, or east to Newport and around Brenton Point for rock gardening and coastal touring, or west to Beavertail to enjoy rock gardening along the southern shore of Conanicut Island.

Paddling in the rocks

For this trip we would be heading west along the southern shore of Conanicut Island. We met at 10:00 at the scuba diving lot to unload our boats and gear. Fort Wetherill is a popular spot for scuba diving and fishing, and the divers and fisherman were out early as well. Eventually the rest of the crew arrived – nine boats. Conditions were easy with waves of 1- 2 feet, light winds from the south, and high tide at 2:30 - that was fine with me. After introductions and the safety talk, we headed out to look for “rock gardening” opportunities.

“Rock gardening” or “rock play” involves catching a ride on ocean swells as they weave their way through the rocky shore. There are two factors to consider when paddling between and over rocks. First, is there enough water and is it deep enough for the time needed to complete the run. Second, what is the route and can I run it in my boat.

Staying close to the cliffs

Entering the feature at the proper time is key. Enter a feature in front of a wave (early) and it can send you skidding into the rocks. Enter a feature after the wave (late) and you might run out of water and get stuck on the feature and then hammered by the next wave. You want to enter the feature with the crest of the wave about at your hip.

After a quick warmup on the water we headed out from Fort Wetherill’s West Cove. We paddled close to the cliffs looking for rock play opportunities. We started off easy and moved to more difficult features. By lunch time we were at Horsehead. Tony Moore and I paddled this section in his tandem kayak back to 2018. We paddled into Horsehead late and got trashed by the waves - see 0.49 here. My timing was better this time.

Run through Horsehead

We paddled across Mackerel Cove for lunch (I need to work on my surf landings and launches), and then continued west toward Beavertail. While the cliffs east of Mackerel Cove are quite vertical with little risk of getting pushed into the rocks, the cliffs west of Mackerel Cove are more sloped. My timing on one feature was bad, and I got pushed up onto the rocks. I had to brace through several waves before I had enough water to work myself off the rocks and paddle through the feature.

We paddled around Shore Point before turning around in Hull Cove. On the way back I stayed out a little further from the rocks taking pictures and getting comfortable paddling in the waves. Once back at Fort Wetherill we did rescue practice. I was the rescuer and the rescuee, and did fine on both. Three tips to remember from this trip - keep your hands wide on the paddle, look where you want to go, and lean forward into a sweeping turn,  Mission accomplished on this trip. 

Heading Back to Fort Wetherill

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