Join NSPN at a chalk talk 11/22 (Sunday) at a location TBA from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm as we discuss how to plan for and execute a roughwater trip, including rescues. We'll be drawing heavily on the lessons NSPN paddlers have learned from the past two on-water roughwater worksops.


The class will be fast-paced, varied, and informative, and will include group work, decision-making exercises, and the sharing of the knowledge and experiences of paddlers who have hit the rough water hard recently and been hit equally hard by it in return.




Topics to be covered include:




1. The differing challenges posed by wind-driven wave and offshore swell, and why one type of rough water can be more challenging to deal with than the other.




2. The most effective rescues to use and which to avoid in roughwater and higher winds (believe me, we have many ideas on this now, given what went down after two capsizes last weekend that put SIX paddlers on the rocks in less than ten minutes).




3. The importance of setting clear and specific rescue protocols with your group before leaving the put-in.




4. How to assure the safety of a group while a rescue is in process




5. How to execute two-rescuer rescues (i.e., victim, primary rescuer, and secondary rescuer using an upwind rope); how to execute three-rescuer rescues (i.e., victim, primary rescuer, secondary rescuer, and third rescuer, or "bulldog")




6. How to read coastlines "live", and charts beforehand, to anticipate where roughwater will occur relative to the current marine forecast.




7. How to make put-in and paddling direction decisions




8. How to keep warm while in the boat and while on breaks.




9. Radio shorthand to use to make rough water communications faster and clearer.




We'll also hear from several paddlers who capsized hard these past two weekends...

Event details

Thanks to the generosity of Richard Najarian, we have enough heated, lighted warehouse space in Waltham to accommodate around a dozen boats on the weekend of 11/22 & 23. Since Adam is running his "Rough water chalk talk" on 11/22, we'll do the outfitting workshop on 11/23. Interested parties should respond here.


I'm in the process of obtaining black deck line and bungee cord in bulk. If you want other colors or reflective lines, you'll need to bring the materials to the workshop. Also, please bring scissors and a cigarette lighter or small torch for cutting and melting the ends of the rigging.




I've been able to obtain SOME wood beads for deck rigging, but if you're interested in installing beads on your deck lines, you should probably hit your local craft shop (Michaels, AC Moore). The beads I use are from Lara's Crafts and the part numbers are 10006 (3/4"/19mm) and 10007 (1"/25mm). They run $2.99 for bags of 27 and 18, respectively. I'll bring a drill press and bits for drilling out the beads to fit the deck line material.




I will bring minicel foam in 1/2", 1", 2" and 3" thicknesses. This will give us materials for hip/thigh/knee padding, seats, backrests, bulkheads/bulkhead pads, masiks, bilge pump holders and anything else that we can dream up.




ALL participcants are strongly encouraged to bring safety glasses (or eyeglasses if you wear them) and an organic vapor respirator for protection from glue fumes. These items are MANDATORY for those doing foam work. We'll do our best to keep the fumes to a minimum, but they're unavoidable when working in the vicinity of contact cement and cleaning solvents.




People interested doing "foam art" will also need to bring contact cement (Weldwood Gel is recommended), a Stanley 21-115 Surform tool (the small red one), a pint or more of lacquer thinner (for cleaning surfaces) and a roll of paper towels. All of these items are available inexpensively at your local home center and have uses beyond working on kayaks, so their worth owning anyway (a respirator makes cleaning the shower much more pleasant). If you wish to share tools, by all means arrange to do so. I'll bring some knives, saws, 80 and 150 grit sandpaper, pencils, pens, markers, some pattern stock (cardboard) and assorted tools, but feel free to bring anything that you think will be useful. If you have questions, please ask.




BTW, DO NOT be tempted to buy water-based contact cement. While it may be more environmentally friendly, it doesn't work for our purposes.




If possible, I'll bring a band saw for cutting thick foam, but that may depend on the weather, as I don't want to trailer it around in the rain.




We can also do things like installing back bands, pad eyes for deck rigging and so forth. If there's something specific you want to do that I haven't mentioned, feel free to ask.




If anyone has problems sourcing any of the supplies they need, let me know and I'll do my best to find them for you. All materials will be available at whatever they cost me. If you need specific pricing, just ask for a quote.




I find that sawhorses or other stands make working on boats much more enjoyable. I have a few that I can bring, but nowhere near enough to go around, so if you got 'em, bring 'em. Carpet scraps for resting a boat on the floor are another alternative.




The emphasis of this workshop is on outfitting rather than repairs. If you have a minor repair that needs to be done, by all means ask about it. Ultimately, I'd like to do a workshop on boat repair (fiberglass & gelcoat) and latex seal repair, but those will have to wait for another day. Both of these activities generate truly nasty fumes and I don't want to combine them with the fumes from the contact cement or with each other.




I think that's everything. See you there!

Event details