Like this:

First the final day, then the final mile…and finally, the final paddle stroke .  Whew!

It was great to see so many people at the dock. Their support and the support of so many others  for all that my effort represented has made it all worthwhile. My deepest thanks to all of you.

My kayak has gone into hibernation but it’s just the opposite for me, for now I can focus my energy on helping those who are  making
CBW (Citizens for a Better Wareham) become a vital,positive force that will, over time, bring about the changes we need .

To return to the actual paddlethon for just a minute….I think all most you will get a kick out the statistical breakdown that Peter Baum has fashioned out of the information collected by that tiny  GPS that was always tucked under the cover of my rear hatch.  My vision of how the 1,000 mile goal could be reached in a ten week period  turned out to be almost “right on the mark”. My feeling was that in the 70 day period I’d allotted that I should be able to get 50 days of decent paddling weather, and that it was going to be up to me to make every effort to shoot for at least 20 miles every time .. as it turned out, I reached the goal after 46 paddling days.

My only fear was that it was going to be boring. Not so.

My eyes have seen just about every foot of Wareham’s shoreline, and I’ve had the added pleasure of watching tht trees along that shore change from green to bright red,orange, and yellow , then to muted versions of those same colors,and finally to the grey-browns of winter.   I watched as people all along that shore went into a change themselves: every day the boat population went down, dock floats were hauled out, until finally I was just about the only craft plying the water.

And then there was the fun of seeing my bird friends from the North show up in the same places at the same time they have for thousands of years. First the pairs and the small family groups, and now they’re all here and settled in for the Winter.

How could I have feared it was going to be boring? Being “on the water” is never boring. Not only are two days never the same…no two hours are ever the same.  I think it’s uplifting spiritually to be sublimated to the wind and the tide, and the sun, and to be dependent on your own body for your propulsion. That’s about as elemental as boating can get, and I’ve had the gift of 1,000 miles of it.

I  regret that I didn’t have a proper camera until these past three weeks. They’ll be showing up on this site soon, and perhaps we can figure out a way to give you more visuals at a winter gathering at The Wareham Free Library.

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