A Kayak & Beach Outing

My wife and I were both available for some fun on Sunday and she really wanted to go to the beach. Kommiecticut beaches SUCK because they are in Long Island Sound which is the sewer outlet for every Kommiecticut city along the shore, and especially NYC. I only go to ocean side beaches of RI or MA. RI is closer so that is where we usually go. Normally we would go the Charlestown, RI and put our kayaks in at Lake Quonochontaug at the boat launch by the breachway. A 1 1/2 mile paddle to an area where you can go ashore and then a quick hike over the dunes puts you on beautiful West Beach. Because that area is reached only by boat, there are very few beachgoers there. Last year we discovered the the state of RI eliminated more then half of the parking there, making a weekend trip out of the question, but we decided to go anyway and see how bad it was. We got there at 08:30 and it was worse than imagined. People were dumping their vehicles wherever they felt like, blocking access to the one small parking lot and blocking in other vehicles. A perfect setup for a road rage incident. We left the area and pulled into the parking lot of the bakery on the corner of US RT. 1 to lookup some place else to go. While there were several, only one nearby put us at an ocean side beach... Ninigret Landing Marina on Ninigret Lake. It was a short drive further north on RT. 1 to the marina access road. It is a small marina with a decent parking lot and a concrete boat launch. $10 just to park and $20 to park and launch a boat. I went inside the office and found a gorgeous young brunette with a laptop sipping her coffee running the place. She took my $20 and said we were all set for the day. She said friends of hers take their boat across the lake to the dunes to get to the beach, but she did not know where they land. I told her since it was our first time there we would be exploring the right shoreline to look at all the big beautiful homes, and circle around to the dunes to find beach access.

We left the truck parked about 40 feet from the boat launch and carried our kayaks to the ramp. We set the kayaks side-by-side, load and stow everything in the boats, and then she grabs both front carrying handles and I grab the rears and we walk the boats to the waters edge. She gets in first so I can shove her off, then I get in. At my age, my knees don't work like they used to. I cannot enter the cockpit without the kayak floating in knee deep water so I can step up and in. With that we were under way. The sky was overcast with a slight sea breeze, and temps were not quite 80.

Our excursion plotted on Google Earth manually by me

We stopped at the East Beach Landing twice. The first time was to check it out and we spoke to the young man that was the park ranger. We then walked out to look at the beach and it was more crowded than we were used to, but nothing like the mad house crowd at Misquamicut State Beach to the west. We decided to explore the shoreline along the dunes to the east, and come back if nothing panned out. As you can see on the plot above that is what we did. We stopped to check out a couple more landing spots, but the path dead-ended into woods, or on the road with no visible way to get to the ocean. It was only when I viewed this satellite image on Google Earth did I see where we should have gone which we will know for next time. We paddled back to the East Beach Landing.

I learned from someone else's bad experience to tie up your kayak in tidal areas, not to simply beach them. You will find your kayak far from shore after the tide takes it away. I carry a length of 1/4" nylon rope and an auger style anchor like you'd use to tie up a dog. The anchor gets screwed deep into the sand and the kayaks are securely tied up. We haven't lost them yet. We take EVERYTHING of value with us, and stow anything else out of sight in the trunks. I insist on taking our nice carbon fiber Aqua-Bound Sting Ray Hybrid light weight paddles for two reasons. First, leaving the paddle is like leaving the car keys in the ignition. It lessens the temptation and ability to "borrow" our kayaks. Second, it prevents some asshole from getting a free paddle upgrade and leaving us junky heavy paddles. We have never had a problem.... yet.

We walked through the parking lot and over the dunes to find a nice spot on the beach. It was now lunch time so that was the first order of business after setting up the beach blanket. Then it was time to succumb to the food coma and nap. With the sea breeze stronger on the ocean side of the dunes, my wife was all covered up with another blanket at towels because she was cold. I thought it felt refreshing and zonked off uncovered. We slept about 45 minutes and then got up to use the bathroom and go for a walk. While the water temperature was nice, with the breeze and no sun neither of us went for a swim, but I did go in up to my knees. There were not many other people in the water either. We hung out for another hour and then decided to pack up and paddle back, going in a straight line across the lake to the marina. Upon arrival, my wife went to change clothes while I got loaded up. We headed out and actually beat all the beach traffic headed for Kommiecticut. Getting caught in the mass exodus on the bypass road RT. 78 is a nightmare we are familiar with from years ago. We stopped for ice cream closer to home. At home, I got everything unloaded and rinsed our kayaks off in the yard. I only do this if we go somewhere muddy or swampy, or in salt water. Because the sun was out at home, the kayaks dried off and I was able to hang them up in the garage where I store them.

7 Days of X Jail

 Earned by this simple little post:

Which has been deleted in order to start the clock to have my account unfucked. But it will live on forever here thanks to me screenshotting it before deletion. It will end up back on X as a photo in a post when I am back on.

Can you imagine... being suspended for simply advocating what was once U.S. Military doctrine and the stated position of the United States? Even though I was in the Army Reserves assigned to a rear echelon medical HQ unit, everything I was taught or did was based on the destruction of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact and the killing of Commies. Had the Soviet armor rolled west through the Fulda Gap towards western Europe, we were to be deployed to England to coordinate front line field hospitals and all other medical facilities in our A.O. Across the globe on the Korean Peninsula, my brothers in arms were keeping Kim Il Sung in check at the 38th parallel, but still on alert and ready for killing Asian Commies.

Oh well, fellow blogger Matthew W. at the Bacon Time !!!!!! blog will be glad I'm gone for the 7 days so he doesn't have to endure my pro-Miracle Whip postings. 😂  I have another post in progress that will be up in the next day or so about a kayak outing with My Honey.

Three P.G.R. Funeral Flag Lines

Yesterday I reported for Patriot Guard duty at the CT Veterans Cemetery in Middletown for two funerals back to back. Staging time for the first one was 12:00 and the second one was set for 13:00. I arrived on "The Beast" early as usual, with my first stop at the admin building to use the restroom. I spotted the area in the cemetery where the others were gathered and moved over there to park. There were three freshly dug and readied graves for cremains right in a row nearby. While we were just hanging out the funeral director shows up and informs the Ride Captain that there is a funeral prior to the two we are there for, and the family is asking if we would stand a flag line for their loved one as well. Now the P.G.R. will never just show up, or come on hearsay, we must be officially invited by immediate family of the deceased. Since we were already there and the mission kinda met the criteria, we assembled our flags and got in place just as the procession was arriving. There were only 12 mourners but about 20 P.G.R. members, and the family was extremely happy with what we did. It was a little unusual because the urn was a his & hers side by side holding two sets of cremains. Therefore, because the husband was the veteran but the wife wasn't, no military honors were performed. It was a simple burial.

The next two burials proceeded as usual, with an honor guard rifle team firing 3 volleys, a bugler playing taps, and two Army soldiers doing the flag. When there is a casket, the casket is draped with a flag right to the grave. That flag is 5' x 9' and specially made for draping a casket. It is never meant to be flown on a flagpole. It is lifted from the casket and folded 13 times into a triangle for presentation to the family. When there are cremains, the flag arrives already folded and placed with the urn. The military honor guard then picks up the flag, unfolds it, smartly snaps it open horizontally, pauses, then refolds it into the triangle for presentation. I have heard it so many times I know it by heart:

"On behalf of the President of The United States, The United States Army/Navy/Air Force, and a grateful nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one's honorable and faithful service."

The Marines (fucking crayon eaters 😆) have their own version that goes like this:

On behalf of the President of The United States, The Commandant of The Marine Corps, and a grateful nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one's honorable and faithful service.

After military honors are rendered, religious burial services are then held. It seems all the ones I've ever been to were Christian or none. Raised a Catholic, I know that one really well and usually includes "The Lord's Prayer" and the 23rd Psalm.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. (Catholic prayer ends here) 

For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. (Other Christian denominations)

Amen.

 

The Lord Is My Shepherd

A Psalm of David.

23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
²     He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
³     He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
    for his name's sake.

⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
    I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

 

One of the final prayers is called the "Eternal Rest Prayer" and goes like this:

Eternal rest grant unto him/her, O Lord,
and let Your perpetual light shine upon him/her.
May his/her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed
rest in peace.

Amen.

While it is entirely recited by the priest, the second line is said by all in attendance.

 

Over the past six years of Patriot Guard duty, I have learned more about funerals than I ever thought possible. For someone that deals with death on the job regularly, attending all these funerals seems to provide a sort of closure. Most of the people I deal with that die are strangers anyway, just like the funerals I go to. It kind of evens out.

A Nice Send Off

I became a member of The Patriot Guard Riders immediately upon purchasing "The Beast" in June 2018. CT and MA P.G.R. did an awesome two state mission for my father's service earlier that year, and I swore that when I got my bike I would join them. Because of where I live, I belong to and do missions in CT, MA, and RI. Below is a map of the area I usually stick to circled in orange. Its a guideline, not a hard and fast line I won't cross. I only do Cape Cod about once a year because it is over a hundred miles one way and it depends on the start time, but it is a nice ride to Cape Cod Harley Davidson, and the National Cemetery in Bourne is quite beautiful. I did this mission on July 1st that had a staging time of 10:15. I was able to leave my house at 07:30, stop for breakfast and gas in RI, and get to Bourne about 09:45. The state veterans cemetery in Exeter, RI is a beautiful place too.

Click it to big it

I am going to pause for a moment to shamelessly promote The Patriot Guard Riders and try to convince you to join us. Do you ride a motorcycle? Great! For me it gives me great purpose (as if I need one) to ride. You don't ride? Guess what, you don't need to. Cars and trucks are in escort processions as well, or you can ride with someone else to the flag line area. Are you a veteran? Then you know what this shit means to have a flag line of volunteers standing silently at the services of a comrade, fellow veteran, or family member. Oh, you never served? No problem, you are welcomed in our ranks and will stand shoulder to shoulder with combat veterans that are happy to see you. Other members will show you what to do and what the different commands are. Not a Conservative Republican? No one cares about your politics, only that you respect the flag and the traditions, but most of all utmost respect to the families. The P.G.R. is supposed to be "A-Political" and the subject of politics rarely comes up among members. If someone were to say something disagreeable, just walk away, don't start an argument. You are disabled and can't stand up for long periods of time or are in a wheelchair? No problem. Do what you can and fall out of line if you need to. Park that wheelchair in line with the rest of us and hold your flag proudly. Members will be more than happy to assist you in getting around if needed. No time for membership meetings? No problem because there are none. Can't afford the dues? There aren't any of those either. Time is at a premium in your life? You sign up via email, and when a mission comes up in your area and you are available, you get an email alert and just show up at the staging area. No one, and I mean NO ONE will ever say, "Where were you last week?" or "Who the fuck are you?" I know, "funerals are grim, sad affairs" true... but they can also be looked at as a celebration of a hero's life and I always feel honored to be a part of it. Also, there are lots of other missions that are not funerals. Military send-offs and welcome home ceremonies, Honor Flight departures and arrivals, and other events dealing with honoring those that serve or have served. This event was to stand a flag line at a veterans luncheon at the Westbrook Elks Club back in June. I have been before (I took my veteran father-in-law last summer and we both enjoyed it) and was bummed I had to work that day this year. At any event, we will do whatever is asked by organizers or families. I have been pall bearer, assisted with dignified transfer of remains, helped set up tents, and as an EMT always keep a watchful eye on elderly or handicapped participants for any signs of medical stress or emergency. Most of the folks that regularly show up are retired and can make almost every mission and are happy to have something else to do. I now work 24 on and 48 off with the FD, so it has recently gotten easier for me to attend missions. On good days I take The Beast, on iffy or crummy days or in the winter I will take my truck. Some of the missions are multiple parts over a few days. In the evening during calling hours at the funeral home, we might be asked to stand a flag line to greet the arriving mourners. That's easy to do after work. Therefore, there is really no reason not to join us.

 

 

I do a lot of funeral flag lines at the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Agawam, MA. I have a lot of family buried there so after the service I visit every grave and leave a shiny penny on top to signify a visit. Again, another beautiful piece of hallowed ground. This post is about the service from yesterday, for a veteran and long time member of the MA P.G.R. Chief Petty Officer (retired) Edward J. Boutin. He was part of my Dad's service at Agawam and remembered it well when I first asked him about it. 

Ed (circled) standing a flag line outside the Agawam chapel

 

Ed was one of those members that didn't ride a a motorcycle. Instead he always showed up in his red Mustang with P.G.R. door magnets and amber lightbar. He would pull out first and block traffic on RT. 159 so all the riders could exit the parking lot together then bring up the rear of the motorcade.

So yesterday, there were a lot of P.G.R. members from all over New England to see Ed off. I got off work at 6 AM and scrambled to take care of everything I needed to before hitting the road at almost 7. We staged as usual and then rode in a group to the cemetery. Another group of riders were in the actual funeral procession to the cemetery. MA limits processions to only six P.G.R. escort motorcycles (stupid). We got there first and assembled our flag line. The funeral procession arrived soon after. Ed's family brought his Mustang and the funeral director placed his cremains inside. Ed's daughter donned his leather vest and the Navy Honor Guard came out of the chapel to do the dignified transfer of Ed's cremains into the chapel. I chuckled to myself, thinking it was almost like ED did the P.G.R. mission for his own funeral 😆. The service and rendering of military honors was not long. The unfolding and refolding of the flag (only done when the deceased is cremated), the rifle salute, and then taps. Because members of The P.G.R. were also considered to be mourners; when it came time to pay last respects, we stacked our flags and lined up outside the main doors behind the rifle team. The doors opened and we all filed in to pay final respects with a salute and a snappy right face out the side door to get back in the flag line. The flag line stood as the remainder of mourners and family came out the side doors. We stood for several minutes until dismissed. Upon dismissal, we file off the flag line in a single file to the support vehicle carrying our flags. Only once we get to the support vehicle are the flags broken down and rolled up. That optic is pretty awesome.

I went to my bike and took a nice long drink of ice cold water from the insulated 2 QT mil-surp canteen I carry on warm days. I made the rounds to the family graves to leave the penny and headed for my aunt's house next town over for a visit. She wasn't home so that's where I headed. Good thing she wasn't home because I hit some drizzle about 15 miles from home, and it got heavier as I got closer. I just got a little damp and had put Rain-X on my windshield and helmet visor because of the morning fog I left in. Once I was in my garage though, the rain came down steady for quite a while.

There Must Have Been A Grant

Because these things are popping up everywhere in towns in my area, on both local and state roads. Solar powered electronic speed sensor signs that provide feedback to the driver.

Once upon a time, these were only seen in school zones or problem areas. They also used to show your actual speed no matter how fast you were going. It was once my favorite game, to announce loudly "My Favorite Game!" and romp the accelerator as soon as I spotted one, much to the dismay of my wife that would ask "Do you have to do that?" My personal best was in a 25 MPH school zone in MA on a Saturday afternoon with no one around reaching a smokin' 74 MPH. But no more. DPW and DOT tyrants have ruined my fun and obviously the fun of many like me.

Some of the signs now simply don't turn on or go blank at certain speeds. The one closest to my house does both at 50 MPH. Others say "SLOW DOWN" or "TOO FAST" and some have attention getting strobes. I have seen a couple of strobes set up with alternating red and blue, I guess to make you think its a cop? The signs are obviously user programmable, so my new favorite is this one:

Aw... unhappy face because I am ignoring the speed limit

These are more rare but fun to find... I made the sign unhappy. HA! HA! There was a rumor once upon a time that these things had a camera that took a photo of your license plate so you could get a ticket in the mail, but that was just bullshit.

Speaking of bullshit... on I-84 East in Tolland there is an overhead electronic sign that normally reads how long it will take you to go the 19 miles to the MA border. It also changes to give traffic and weather advisories. Speeds on that stretch of highway with a 65 MPH speed limit usually run 80+, yet the sign ALWAYS reads 19 miles in 18 minutes, never the true reading. The math for a true reading would be:

Distance x 60 / Actual speed = Time

So 19 x 60 = 1140 divided by the legal speed limit of 65 = 17.54 minutes rounded up to 18

where a true reading would be

19 x 60 / 80 = 14.25 minutes (rounded down to 14?)

The gubmint nannies have always told us that speeding doesn't make much difference in travel time, and it is so unsafe. Oh yeah? I would call 4 minutes over 19 miles a significant time savings and I usually crank along at a good clip. State police in Kommiecticut don't run radar traps anymore, even on this holiday weekend. They only bother with the really high speed and aggressive drivers. I was monitoring C.S.P. Troop C at the firehouse Friday, and they issued at least 4 BOLO alerts for high speed aggressive drivers IN THEIR AREA on I-84 from the MA border down to exit 64 in just a couple of hours. I don't have to worry about a speeding ticket. Even if I did get pulled over, my Kommiecticut fire department ID shows next to my license in my wallet and unless I did something really bad, acts as a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card.