Duxbury to Dennis: One Boat, One Man, Two Oars, 42 miles

Article by Ron Woolley

Just as the sun was about to rise, my wife dropped me and my rowboat, the Bent Skeg, at Howland’s Landing in our town of Duxbury, Massachusetts. A decent wind was blowing out of the northwest. What I had read indicated that a northwest wind in Cape Cod Bay wasn’t great for boaters, but in my simple mind, since I wanted to go to the southeast, a northwest wind would be beneficial. Besides, the boat was packed for the trip and this was one of the few days in the summer that I had totally free. I pushed the Bent Skeg into Duxbury Bay, and with the wind blowing in my face, I made really good time rowing out past Clark’s Island and Saquish Head, then south of Bug Light. I had unscientifically estimated that if I rowed all day I would get to my Mother-in-law’s cottage in Dennis on Cape Cod by 6 or 7 that evening having completed 42 miles of solo rowing in a homemade boat. In the process I would certainly be testing my endurance; I anticipated that rowing this long would hurt, but I figured that the likelihood of any actual harm was pretty low, and if I was fortunate I’d experience something sublime.

Howland’s Landing start