Ocean Blue Views: Stand up Paddling at Great Island (Old Lyme, CT)

Saturday afternoon I had the opportunity to go stand up paddling at Great Island in Old Lyme, CT. It's a really neat spot about 10 miles up I-95 from my house. This area was one of the first places I learned how to kayak when I first moved up to Connecticut in 2006. Come to think of it, it is also one of the last places I kayaked, considering that my Necky Elaho kayak was eventually stolen (different story for another time!).

I arrived at the boat launch around 4 PM, and there were not many people around. A couple of people were parked in a car, just looking out into the water, the marshlands, and the Long Island Sound. The tide was coming in as I started to paddle out, but the water conditions were perfect for a calm, peaceful session. I passed and waved to a gentleman working on his sailboat (the one pictured above) as I made my way towards the various waterways in and around the marshland. A group of ten or so high school-age kids were in kayaks and canoes heading back to the boat launch. I received a few customary "What is that?" looks from some of them, but one woman stopped and asked me about stand up paddling. Her exact words were "That is awesome!".

I spent about an hour paddling in and out of the coves, passing the usual wildlife: herring gulls, snowy egrets, cormorants, jumping bait fish, etc. I also paddled past several osprey nests but did not see a lot of activity there. I also passed a flock of swallows, which I didn't pay much attention to, but have since found out that these are popular birds among the locals. Two different sets of people stopped me in the parking area when I was leaving to ask if I had seen the "swallows". I told them that I had passed by a huge flock of these miniature birds, all flying, turning and landing in unison. Now I will know what I'm looking at the next time I go out paddling in that area.