As the sun dipped below the west shore of Enders Island last Saturday, our group of nine sea kayakers clicked on lights strapped to the decks of our vessels and began paddling north on the Mystic River.

A flock of great egrets sailed across the darkening sky, where a lone planet twinkled to the east.

“I think that’s Jupiter,” Joan Love, paddling nearby, observed. I could imagine that ancient mariners armed with sextants and astronomical charts would have relied on its position to help navigate.

We didn’t need such celestial guidance, though. Today’s cellphones and smart watches equipped with global positioning systems, unfortunately, have rendered such old-school skills a lost art.

Besides, most, if not all of us on this voyage that culminated in a fireworks show had paddled here often, so we’d be hard-pressed to stray while working our way a couple miles upriver toward downtown Mystic.

However, there was one difference: This time, it would be dark.

Nighttime kayaking, hiking or bicycling can be a serenely enchanting adventure or a terrifying tribulation. Often, the difference between a joyous experience and a harrowing ordeal depends on whether an after-hours adventure had been carefully planned, or the result of bad weather, bad planning, bad luck, or a combination of misfortunes.

Having survived several escapades of the latter variety, I can say that it’s much more rewarding to have prepared to be out after dark than to be caught unawares.

I still have nightmares about a giant shark, bigger than our 8-foot wooden pram, menacing a friend and me while we rowed from midnight till dawn across Long Island Sound; spending a stormy night in New Hampshire’s White Mountains without a tent after we lost the trail and one of the hikers in our group sprained his ankle; and trying to paddle back in the dark across Buzzards Bay to the Rhode Island shore from Cuttyhunk Island after a sudden squall forced a friend and me to hole up for several hours on Penikese Island.

Anyway, last Saturday’s expedition, organized by my friends Robin Francis and Curt Andersen, turned out to be nothing but fun from start to finish.

“Hey, what a glorious evening! Isn’t it great being out on a drama-free paddle!” I called over to Robin, kayaking a few yards off my port bow. She, friends and I have weathered a few turbulent trips in the past.

“I agree!” she replied.

Robin and Curt planned a perfect itinerary of about six miles that would take us down the Mystic River to Enders Island, then back upriver past Mystic Seaport for the fireworks, part of festivities celebrating the 100th anniversary of the downtown bridge.

Light winds and clear skies greeted us when our group launched from Williams Beach at the Mystic YMCA at 5 p.m., a glorious time to be on the water in early fall. After paddling south beneath the Masons Island Road bridge, we cut between Andrews Island and Latimer Point, steered southwest past Andrews, rounded Enders Island, and then took a short picnic break at Enders after passing under the Yacht Club Road causeway. Robin passed around homemade banana bread.

Just after sunset, we re-entered our boats, turned on deck lights, and headed back upriver.

With the water to ourselves here, we spread out; some paddled close to the east shore of Masons Island, while others ventured closer to the west shore of Andrews. But after pushing against an ebbing tide back under the Masons Island Road bridge, crossing Mystic Harbor and approaching the railroad bridge just south of downtown, we were joined by several powerboats motoring slowly upriver. It was time to paddle single file and hug the Stonington shore, away from the busy channel.

The thump-thump-thump of a rock band at Mystic River Park reverberated through the still air, and crowds lined the boardwalk next to Cottrell Street.

“Hey! Look at the kayakers!” several shouted. We waved and raised our paddles.

Half a dozen powerboats lingered on the south side of the bridge, waiting for it to go up, but we passed beneath with plenty of clearance. Curt then led us across the river to the Groton side to avoid the main channel.

I soon realized that most kayak lights are designed to make small vessels visible to other boaters, not to illuminate the route, and a few times came within inches of bumping buoys and mooring floats. Next time I’ll also wear a headlamp.

We originally planned to cross the river again just south of the I-95 bridge and pull ashore at Elm Grove Cemetery to watch the fireworks, but not far from an osprey nest off River Road, Robin called out, “Hey, there’s a sandbar here!”

It was the perfect place to land at low tide, and after squeezing out of our cockpits we stood silently together in the sand, waiting for the show to start.

A few minutes later, a rocket whooshed skyward and exploded in cascading sparkles, followed by a dazzling, 20-minute pyrotechnic display that had everyone whooping and cheering.

“I’ve never had a better view of fireworks!” Andy Lynn exclaimed.

After the show, I held back a few yards and watched the line of lights of my companions’ kayaks snake silently downriver. I enjoyed this mesmerizing sight all the way back to the Mystic Y parking lot.

Avalonia Land Conservancy reaccredited

The Avalonia Land Conservancy has renewed its national accreditation, a process that fortifies its commitment to preserving open space in southeastern Connecticut.

“Our strength means special places – such as the Hoffman Preserve in Stonington or the TriTown Preserve in North Stonington, Preston and Griswold, will be protected forever, making our communities in southeastern Connecticut an even greater places to live for us and our children," Avalonia’s president, Dennis Main, said in a prepared statement.

Founded in 1968, Avalonia, the region’s largest land trust, has protected from development some 4,750 acres of forests, meadows, wetlands, and shoreline. It is among 450 accredited land trusts across the country that serve as stewards to almost 20 million acres – the size of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island combined.

The Land Trust Accreditation Commission says such awards are bestowed on organizations with “sound finances, ethical conduct, responsible governance, and lasting stewardship."

More information about the process and a list of other accredited land trusts is available at www.landtrustaccreditation.org.

More information about Avalonia, and a list of properties with public hiking trails, is available at avalonia.org