River Rescue

Well, it wasn't quite the 'river rescue' you might picture in your mind...it was more of a 'rescue to allow us to GET on the river'.  Here's what happened.

It was a sweltering Sunday (July 31st) and three of us decided to head out to one of our favorite areas on the Charles River, called Peter's Point (see map below).  We arrived with our boats in the back of our trusty red truck.  As we were getting ready to take the boats out of the truck, one of us, I'll not name her (okay it was me), closed the truck door with keys, credit cards, wallets and gloves on the front seat.  Although we trust our fellow kayakers, we were uncomfortable at the thought of leaving for a 2 hour paddle with that in plain sight.  A call was made to bring the spare key so we could collect our things and begin.

Not to worry, Dave M. was on his way (after he finished his grocery shopping!).  Luckily, we had packed some cold beverages in the back of the truck.  We unloaded the boats - set them up at the edge of the river, then sat in the shade with a cool drink.

What happened next, made the inconvenience of locking ourselves out pass quickly.  Pulling up along the river bank was an orange-topped, 17 foot long, sleek-looking kayak.  It approached the shore with ease and it's owner hopped out.  What a different kayak from ours! The owner, a young man from the Netherlands, was more than happy to give us a tour of his kayak.  The water-tight hatches can fit a week's worth of camping gear. The rudder, which folded up for transporting, is operated by foot-peddles inside the cockpit.  He surprised us all by asking us if we wanted to try it out.  Dee, the outgoing, kayaker of the bunch, jumped right in a started paddling around the area.  What a treat!

Not too much later, David came to the 'rescue'. We opened the doors, got our gear and off we went for a lovely paddle.  Never a dull moment on the Charles!   

Next time you're looking for a great place to paddle, try Peter's Point out of Dover, MA


View Peter's Point, Dover, MA in a larger map