Merrimack River Kayaking Trip - Mouth of the Merrimack Seal Paddle

View Mouth of the Merrimack in a larger map

I have been wanting to get out into the mouth of the Merrimack for a while now but have been a bit hesitant to get out there without someone with some experience.    This area is a large tidal expanse that can get a bit dangerous when the tides are coming in or going out.  I recently found that Plumb Island Kayak offers guided tours of the area and one of the tours even makes a trip out to see some seals.  So I gave the guys at Plumb Island Kayak a call and they told me they had some availability in a tour going out Sunday afternoon.

Pu in / Take out

The put-in for this trip was a private ramp right behind Plumb Island Kayak.  This trip is usually planned just before low tide so as to ride the tide out to the seals and the tide the incoming tide back.  I would be paddling with a group of about 15 college students and there were 4 guides on the trip.  Weather today was a little cool - mid 50s  but there was no wind, pretty much perfect conditions.

First Seal Sighting

Our destination was Badgers Rocks where the seals tend to congregate at this time of the year.  We headed out across the river to the Salisbury side and hugged the shore for about three miles as we headed toward badgers Rocks.  As we approached the rocks we could see at least a dozen seals on the the rocks.  We approached slowly but as we got closer the seals ungracefully made their way off the rocks and into the water.  As we just drifted past we would see numerous little heads popping up to check us out.  We drifted around in the area for about a half hour and just watched the seals popping up and down.   Every once in a while one of the would slap its tail at us warning us that we were too close.   

Close up of a big guy

Soon the sun was going down and it was getting cold so the group headed back.  Total distance of this trip was just over 6 miles and we were out on the water for about 2 and a half hours.  This was a great late season trip, definitely will be paddling this section of the river again. 

View of the Mouth looking toward the ocean