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Photographer Art Illman, who recently celebrated his 40th anniversary for the various companies that have published the Daily News over the years, recently approached this reporter with an idea – let’s go to Lake Cochituate and see how those People spend a typical summer day on the water.
Who am I to argue with an offer like this, especially since Art delivered the kayaks as well as bottled water and snacks to keep us hydrated and our bellies full.
Wednesday morning we expanded Art’s original plan – we first encountered Hopkinton Reservoir in Hopkinton State Park, and then we – mostly Art – dragged the kayaks back onto his car for the trip to Lake Cochituate in Natick and Framingham.
Here’s what we discovered in both locations while kayaking up to meet the people on the water, telling them what we were doing and scribbling their answers in our notebooks:
“Always wanted to come here”
The first sight of activity on Hopkinton Reservoir was a canoe paddled by Hopkinton’s Hank Yoon, 58, and son Andrew, 20.
“I’ve always wanted to come here,” said Hank Yoon from his seat in the stern. Yoon then revealed another reason for the trip: he wants to spend more time with Andrew before his son returns to the University of Illinois this fall.
Trio at the reservoir
Three kayaks appeared within minutes.
Anna Giracca, 16, from Upton was in one and her friend Jacob Homan, 16, from Grafton was in the other. The third was occupied by Shaughna Giracca, Anna’s mother, who served as the couple’s unofficial chaperone.
“We’re going to talk about life and other fun things we’re going to do this summer,” said Homan of the topics of conversation he and his girlfriend wanted to plan while they were kayaking around the reservoir.
“At 16 you couldn’t ask for much better,” thought her trusted chaperone.
War canoes sighted
Suddenly two big canoes full of boys and girls aged 9-12 sped by. They sang as they dug their paddles into the water together.
Yvonne Miller, 18, of Hopkinton, stopped in her kayak to explain that the children were in “war canoes” – longer than a standard canoe. They were about to capture the flag using two small islands in the reservoir. All of this is part of Boating’s Boating is Fun summer camp in Boston.
Miller is one of the camp supervisors and explained how she manages to keep an eye on 20 teenagers on the water.
“It’s a lot easier to keep track of things in two boats,” says Miller with a smile.
Pedalo newbies
Jeffrey Briggs, 41, came to the reservoir from his home in Sterling to rent a pedal boat. On board were his three children – Austin (11) and nine-year-old twin brothers Trevor and Kayla.
It was the first time the quartet had ever been on a pedal boat.
“It’s a lot harder than riding a bike,” said Jeffrey Briggs.
Austin sat on the shotgun while his father steered, pumping the paddles as hard as he could, and realizing the boat was not picking up speed.
“Except when you’re going backwards,” Kayla said to let her brother know that paddling backwards increases the speed.
Father daughter outing
Before I knew it, Art photographed Matt Sandock, 49, of Natick carefully trying not to fall off a paddleboard. It was Sandock’s first time on one.
“I can do kayaks, but that’s not good for tall people,” said Sandock, standing upright on the board looking like he might fall into the reservoir anytime.
It didn’t help that his 12-year-old daughter Katie – who had obviously stood on paddleboards before as she easily kept her balance – used her paddle to gently nudge her father to make him jump.
It turned out that it was Katie who lost her balance and she plunged into the cool water.
“That’s what you get when you mess with the old man,” Sandock said playfully as Katie climbed back onto her board.
Bucolic Lake Cochituate
Lake Cochituate looks like a piece of idyllic New Hampshire or Maine, only that it is divided into sections by two main streets – Rte. 30 and the Mass Pike – which cuts across the lake.
Tunnels under both lanes provide access for boats, canoes and kayaks to the northern, central and southern parts of the lake. When Illman and I paddled through one of the tunnels to the middle part between Rte. 30 and the Mass Pike we have spotted a blue heron. Art’s instincts kicked in and he paddled quietly to within a few feet of the bird and clicked on his camera.
Then it went through another tunnel to another section of the middle part of the lake, where another heron was sighted on the bank.
Our visit came hours before the town of Natick issued a warning about visual evidence provided by the State Department of Conservation and Recreation suggesting a bloom of cynobacteria – blue-green algae – in the middle pond of Lake Cochituate.
The warning didn’t include swimming, and if people and pets come in contact with the water, it’s important to rinse it off.
Then we finally saw human activity – a pedal boat manned by Annely Paz of Boston and accompanied by three of her friends.
“We come here often,” said Paz. “It’s peaceful and we take time for ourselves.”
Fishing for the big ones
Ray Barnicle, 71, of Natick, was out on the lake in his 13-foot tracker motorboat fishing with grandchildren Ellie Pinkham, 12 and Quinn Pinkham, 16.
“We have been coming here for years. That’s where they learned to fish, ”said Barnicle of his grandchildren who cast their lines in hopes of landing a large fish.
Ping Zhou from Framingham was nearby but had no interest in fishing. Zhou drove around in her Old Town kayak listening to classical music.
“Mozart,” said Zhou to reveal the composer.
Back on land, Art tied the kayaks to the roof of his car. He had another photo assignment.
For this reporter it was an experience that I will remember for a long time.
Henry Schwan is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. Follow Henry on Twitter @henrymetrowest. He can be reached at hschwan@wickedlocal.com or 508-626-3964.
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