Our Life On the Pond: A Morning on Narragansett Bay with Dad

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

A Morning on Narragansett Bay with Dad

Yesterday morning Dad and I packed up and went to spend some time on the bay...we picked the secluded beach on the other side of Allen's Harbor adjacent to Calf Pasture Point in our hometown of North Kingstown. It was a glorious day, bright sun, clear skies and EXTREMELY HOT!!!!! We set up our chairs and basked in the sun. This beach has a great view of the east bay and when the tide is low it is low! You can walk out sooooo far and the water is just to your thighs and this is being generous. The water is crystal clear and you can see old discarded shells of clams, quahogs, razor clams, crabs (some alive and just looking to take a nip of your toe), barnacle covered rocks, and many varieties of plant life. The beach is scattered with many shells which makes collecting fun for kids and adults alike. The water was refreshingly cool and I took many dips to get a reprieve from the heat....

Sun bathing is one draw to this strip of land but the real crowd shows up at low tide for quahog and clam digging. People of all ages show up with a bathing suit on, water shoes tied tight, clam rack in hand and a container to hold their booty securely held in place by some sort of inflatable invention...most use an inner tube, but some had those noodles you see in pools for exercise, salvaged Styrofoam and I saw one elaborate system set up using water barbells...if it floats and can hold a basket, cooler or pail it is considered part of the paraphernalia used to dig for a salty, briny treat from the bottom of the bay. Enjoy the photos...

Off these guys go...rakes in hand, a floating cooler and a canvas bag over one shoulder.

These guys with heads down have spotted something but notice the sea gull to the right...it appears he spotted the same thing...maybe a crab?

She's up.........

She's down.......

This lady tied a mesh bushel bag to her waist to hold her bounty from the bottom and dug with her foot to loosen her harvest...she would bob up and down as she moved from spot to spot

This woman held a rake in one hand the traditional clam basket in the other...she dug for a while and half filled her basket while her husband walked their dog up and down the beach....with the sun sparkling on the water, it looks like this lady is wading amongst diamonds!!!!!!