Summer Solstice Canoe Trip

by Jack Brady
KayakJack@attbi.com

On Friday, June 20, nine people in five canoes, met at Boston Road at 8 PM for our annual Summer Solstice Sunset Canoe trip. Although the afternoon was hot and humid, the threatened thunderstorms never materialized. In previous years, thunderstorms had limited the number of participants to as few as two.

Most people prepared for the trip by generously spraying themselves with mosquito repellent. The slapping motions could easily identify those that didn't use a repellent. Once the trip started and we were on the river, the mosquitoes ceased to be a bother. I have never been able to understand this and wish someone would explain it to me.

The first part of our trip took 45 minutes to go up the river, against the current. The return trip was an easy 30 minute paddle because of the current.

I have been inviting 2 of my neighbors, Gordon Woods and George Kelly, for years to join us and, independent of each other, they both said “yes” for the same trip.

There is a very winding section, with numerous left and right turns. Neither Gordon or George had been canoeing in a number of years but they quickly picked up the techniques for making turns as efficiently as possible.

Near the end of the trip someone on shore lit off a few skyrockets. I guess this is not an uncommon occurrence during the summer in Billerica. I may have lead Gordon and George to believe that these were salutes fired in their honor.