Monday, August 5, 2013

Chappaquiddick Escape

Chappaquiddick. Beautiful Chappy. So quiet and peaceful. Where else on the Cape can you find deserted beaches on a hot Summer weekend day? Only in your dreams. I think the second ferry usually keeps the Rif Raf, like us, out.



We snuck onto the island for 4 days. Thurs night-Monday night. The kids were with us for 2 1/2 days.



What we did- Kitesurfed 2 full days, windsurfed, boated, SUP'd, snorkeled, biked, fished, puzzled.

What we didn't do- Unicycled. Not enough time to do everything.

Katama Bay- We boated out to Norton Point Beach, launched kites and I pretended I knew how to teach this sport. The big shallow flats at that end of the bay made a good bodydrag/waterstart/crashing ground. Our inflatable was the chase boat. 2 full days spent kiting here, nice.

Cape Poge/The Gut- We drove to the end of North Neck Rd, walked the narrow path to the Gut, (the mouth of Cape Poge). We could have paddled across with kiting gear on SUP but wind was light at the time. We SUP'd, snorkeled, fished. Later I came back and windsurfed. The 4x4 driving pass to Cape Poge costs $180. No day passes, (like Norton Beach $30/day), are available for Chappy. It would be worth the $180, if we were here for  a week, so we could drive out easily and kite. Cape Poge looks like it has the best kiting slicks on the island, supposed to have better wind too.

Wasque Reservation- Solo session at the mouth of Katama Bay. Nice spot in SE wind! Sandbars, slicks and waves. Mean current though.

Learners report
Josh- A quick learner, had his first fully powered sessions, got his first long rides, first slide transitions, good upwind bodydrags, easily kited upwind on outgoing and incoming tides. It must be nice to be 22.

Ben- The wind lulled every time he looked at a kite. He only had 1 session due to wind dropping on first day. Did many water starts on 2nd day but never really had enough power to get riding. I should have given him a bigger kite. It was an exercise in frustration tolerance, not Ben's favorite kind of exercise.

Paige- Trainer kite session during a gusty spell. She remained in 1 piece, a major success.

Barbara- First time flying the trainer. She didn't crash it once! Maybe this is where the kids get their kiting genes.

2 comments:

Dunoyer said...

Sweet! Where did you stay? It is an amazing area, I go every chance I get. From my experience, Katama is better than Poge.

scooper said...

We stayed with a client of Barbara's, has a house on Katama Bay, lucky chance.

Nice to hear your opinion on Katama vs Poge. I thought we were missing the best kiting. The grass is always greener on the other bay.