After many weeks of not rowing during November and most of December due to strong and cold winds, a window of opportunity opened up on December 30th. The forecast predicted SSW winds at 8-10 knots, 1 ft wind waves with sunny skies and air temperatures in the high thirties. Perfect conditions to give it a try and do our first December row. There was only one reason that could possibly have kept us from getting out – 18 inches of snow covering the grounds between the road, Little Harbor Boathouse and the beach.
Stephanie scouted the area earlier in the morning and made sure we could access both, the boat house and the beach. Equipped with appropriate winter clothing and boots allowing for a dry beach launch we excitedly headed into Marblehead Harbor. Rowing past the hundreds of buoys we rowed along the Marblehead side to River Head beach before returning on the Marblehead Neck side. The scenery was amazing. A snow covered Crocker Park and white roof tops greeted us on both sides of the harbor. Some of the buoys were still covered with snow and reminded us of the blizzard that had dumped 18 inches of snow three days earlier. When we returned to Little Harbor the sun was at the highest point of the day creating long shadows in the snow and bright reflections on the water. The atmosphere was very different from what we usually see during the summer and fall rowing season. A bright and sparkling Children's Island appeared in the distance magically covered with snow in between the sky and deep blue ocean.
In total we rowed for a good hour and covered 4.5 miles. Rowing in December in relatively calm waters definitely offers a fine alternative to other snow bound activities. Hopefully, there will be more opportunities to return to the Marblehead waters before the rowing season kicks off next spring.
