I wanted to paddle rocky shoreline instead of the sand beaches at Ipswich Bay. NOAA forecasted 0.7 foot swells — flat enough that it was safe to take Isaac out on the open coast. The best rocky beaches are farther north, or longer paddles. But the stretch from Rye Harbor south to Jenness Beach has some rocks and was short enough for a kid trip.
We spotted a seal before we’d even left Rye Harbor. Once out of the harbor, we stayed well away from shore, even though the waves were small. We saw another seal along the first section of rocky coast. Then there’s a small pebble beach that often has nasty, dumping surf. Around there, Isaac wanted a snack, and the wind started picking up.
After snack, Isaac couldn’t make progress into the now 10 knot headwind. Tyson wanted out of his boat pronto because his sciatica had started hurting. So I clipped a tow rope onto Isaac’s bow and paddled at full adult speed.
I towed past the second rocky coastline, then turned right into the Jenness Beach bay. Maybe 100 yards offshore, I untied from Isaac. Tyson paddled in first to get out of his boat, and to help Isaac land. Tyson surfed a one foot wave most of the way in to shore.
I didn’t see Isaac paddle in. I was fighting with kinks in the tow rope. But Tyson said Isaac caught one good ride, then paddled out and rode in a second one. He flipped at the end of the second and decided to go body surfing instead.
Meanwhile, Tyson discovered his sciatica had cleared up from paddling hard to catch the wave, so he launched to surf more. Once I stowed the tow rope, I came to join the fun. Then we ate lunch on the beach.
In the summer, Jenness is quite popular. On this blue fall day, amblers and dog walkers passed us every few minutes. It wasn’t crowded, but there were too many people for me to take a pit stop in my dry suit.
Speaking of dry suits, Isaac, amazingly, still fits his dry suit from last year. I had to stretch the wrist and neck gaskets again. We couldn’t fit as many layers underneath it, so, when Isaac decided he was cold from swimming, we added one fleece shirt under the dry suit, and one neoprene shirt over the dry suit. It wasn’t cold,, both the water and the air were in the mid 50F’s, but the breeze blew away any heat from wet skin.
After lunch the waves weren’t as good. The extra foot of tide had changed the beach shape so it no longer fit one foot waves. We spotted another seal watching us as we left Jenness Beach. With the wind now behind him, Isaac paddled the whole way back to the harbor.
Isaac and Tyson both stared east to the Isles of Shoals. We’ve paddled the 7 miles out to them before. It would have been a good day for a group of fit adult kayakers to make the crossing, but not for Isaac’s current skill level. Instead we loaded the boats on the car and went for dinner. Isaac picked lobster.
Trip Planning Details
Ocean water temperatures from northeast buoy data.
Rye Harbor
Don’t launch at the commercial marina. Instead drive to the north side of the harbor. About midway out is a breakwater. The hand carry launch is there. There’s parking space for 6 cars if everyone squishes. I’ve never had problems finding a space, but it could be an issue. No facilities.
Jenness Beach
You can park at Jenness, but parking for non-residents is limited, and the one time we parked there, I think we walked back half the distance from Rye Harbor any way. Facilities, open in the summer, are at the southern end.
Magic Seaweed makes surf predictions for Jenness. The quality of the waves changes significantly over the tide range.
All Photos
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- Hand carry boat ramp at Rye Harbor -- Comments (0)
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- Isaac the sea otter -- Comments (0)
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- Tyson preparing to launch -- Comments (0)
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- Isaac paddling out Rye Harbor -- Comments (0)
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- A boat being towed back to harbor -- Comments (0)
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- Emilie and Isaac with the Isles of Shoals in the distance -- Comments (0)
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- Isles of Shoals 7 miles behind Isaac -- Comments (0)
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- Paddling past the first rocky bit of coastline -- Comments (0)
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- Isaac padling in to Jenness. Emilie coiling rope in the background -- Comments (0)
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- Isaac at the end of his surf -- Comments (0)
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- Isaac and the wave -- Comments (0)
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- Isaac’s second ride -- Comments (0)
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- Body surf time -- Comments (0)
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- Emilie surfing in to Jenness -- Comments (0)
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- Tyson missed the wave set -- Comments (0)
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- Tyson catching a little ride -- Comments (0)
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- Isaac body surfing -- Comments (0)
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- Leaving Jenness Beach -- Comments (0)
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- Tyson with the harbor in view -- Comments (0)
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- Tyson and Isaac back in Rye harbor -- Comments (0)
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- Isaac playing at the put in -- Comments (0)
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- Isaac making off with an Anus Acuta -- Comments (0)
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- Isaac standing in the yellow Anas Acuta -- Comments (0)
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- Emilie loading the car -- Comments (0)
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- Lobster dinner -- Comments (0)
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I enjoyed the trip report! Curious about establishing a baseline swim skill level with young kids before taking them out in a kayak. Collin is 4 1/2 now, has had a few courses of swim lessons at the Y and SNHU, and just this summer became comfortable “swimming” with a life jacket on. But I worry that an unintended spill into the water would cause a panic.