And the Sky Full of Stars IV

With finally having a rack for my car to take my kayak, decided a while back that I must get out on the Charles again for the Fourth fireworks. Susie was up for it too and we were initially going to rent a boat for her from Charles River Canoe & Kayak but then thought to ask Bill and Catherine to borrow one of theirs (and paddle and vest) which they were very kind to let us do. This made the logistics a bit more complex as my rack will only hold one boat but I have a foam rack set I bought years ago and never used so we decided to take both cars and use that for the second boat on her car. We decided to put in at Allston/Brighton on Soldier's Field Road for easier parking and live with the longer 3-4 mile paddle down to the barge. I knew I could handle this length but Susie hadn't been in a kayak for a long while but was game for trying it. We picked up the boat at Bill's at around 7:45, took a while to load it on Susie's car and headed to the put in where there was ample parking luckily. Probably got on the water around 8:30.

Paddle down was long but very nice and Susie wisely brought her portable radio to listen to the Pops concert during the paddle. Got nervous when the barge launched a few things at 9:50 and we were between the BU and Harvard bridges but this was just a special thing for one song I guess. Got in place in front of the MIT sailing pavilion around 10:10 where we had a snack of chocolate chip cookies. Had to paddle a bit to keep reasonably in place which was tricky with two boats together and got us both a bit wet but managed it reasonably well. Fireworks started just after 10:30 as scheduled and were just amazing. The 360 degree view from out on the water is just incredible and there were no boats, small or large, at all near us. During the fireworks we drifted close enough to the barge that I am pretty sure we were the two closest non-official boats on the river to the barge and got lightly warned to move back just as the finale started but we just back paddled a bit and didn't miss anything. Just a wonderful show and time for both of us!!! A few photos and a two minute video are on Facebook but wasn't worrying too much about those - just wanted to enjoy the moment.

Paddle back was long but very safe and uneventful (and Susie was a great sport about the long paddle) and great weather for it so even though tiring I found it really fun. We got back, loaded up the kayaks again, dropped Susie's off at Bill's on the way back, and got to bed just before 2.