Merrimack Tide Ride

Returning to my Monday morning starting point I couldn't help but to wonder why I'd never paddled this stretch of the Merrimack River before...especially availing myself of a tidal assist.  I'd driven across the pictured Rocks Village Bridge just a little after sunrise some 6 hours earlier and launched at the Ferry Park launch in West Newbury, MA.  The tide was making its way upriver with another 2.5 hours till the scheduled high tide for Haverhill.  My plan: ride the tide up to Haverhill, take a break during the slack water, and then ride the ebb tide back down...

So, off I headed paddling through the mist hanging above the water...

Birds were up to greet the sun such as this osprey...
...and this blue heron...


The deepest channel in the river is marked with navigational buoys (# 55 to #76)...
...and that's where the tidal boost was most effective.  Maintaining 5+ mph was easy with not a lot of effort.

The bridge connecting Haverhill and Groveland...


After the bridge the river swings to the northwest, and here I left the marked channel to paddle the east side of Porter Island...
The island is good sized and nearly a mile long.  Back in 1891 seven shallow wells were dug on the island by the Bradford Water Company.  The island later was used as a golf course until the 1936 hurricane.  Today, it looks wild.

Not long after returning to the main river, Haverhill's Basiliere Bridge comes into view...
 Similar to Boston's Longfellow Bridge, this bridge has its own salt and pepper shakers...

Now I was in more of a city river with concrete walls and even this concrete confluence with the Little River...
Went in a little ways looking for the light at the end of the tunnel...
...but saw not even a hint of it.

Haverhill welcomes boaters with a public dock...


A commuter train crosses the river...

The tide kept going so I went with it...
...to my turnaround point about a half mile below Stanley Island.  The tide had helped me travel almost 9 miles upriver.  While I enjoyed a snack break the tide was turning and, once turned, it provided a nice assist for my return to Rocks Village Bridge.

The view of downtown Haverhill from upriver...

Though I'd seen an immature eagle earlier, it wasn't until I was nearly back to Rocks Village that I  saw an adult...

Before landing I took a closer look at the movable section of the Rock Village Bridge...
...above photo shows the small idler gear that turns the carousel...when an on-call bridge tender turns the crank (by hand).

This section of the Merrimack has seen everything from steam driven side-wheelers running a Haverhill to Salisbury route, to birch-bark canoes paddled by the original Native American occupants of this region when it may have been called Pentucket.



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