PeterB

This is an update on the Downeast Retreat, which is now 4 weeks away (!) : at this time 22 people are RSVP'd and listed as attending, and all are part of a group PM where we are sharing pre-trip information. If you are planning to attend, it's important that you RSVP (" I'm going') in the calendar posting (Sept. 6th) asap. You will then be part of our group PM thread and be able to update your information (when arriving, when departing etc) on a google spreadsheet that we are all sharing. With over 20 people we may have 2-4 trips each day, each day's paddles will be planned at fairly short notice so that we may have the best marine weather information on which to plan our paddles, so the more information we all share, especially our contact information, the better. Thanks! Peter

A small handful of us were at Walden last night and had a good time. The small boaters/ handicapped parking was mostly occupied with an adaptive paddlesports program , which made the whole arrive/park/depart operation worse than it already is. That program will continue on Tuesday evenings for the next 4 weeks, so we talked about Wednesday as a possible day for Walden sessions. Wednesdays would work for everyone present last night. Any feedback?

okay: seems that if they close the lot it oght to reopen around 5 with day users starting to depart. Very unpredictable: 2 of us were there on Wednesday , the place was hotter than the antechamber of Hell but the kayak parking lot was almost empty and the pond was pretty quiet.

I'll be going to Walden Pond after work today for a splash and some beat- the- heat- upside down time, if anyone would like to join me. I'm going to try to be there 4:30 to 5 PM , driving from Boston (Charlestown) so arrival will depend on how bad traffic is. Peter

Both are great boats. The Romany surf cockpit is for a bigger paddler , more akin to the Explorer HV cockpit (has knee bumps and a higher deck) than the Explorer cockpit. On paper the Romany surf is for paddlers 180 lbs and over, but I think 200 lbs and over might be a bit more accurate if paddled unloaded . It's a great kayak and if you're doing mostly workout paddles with no speed or mileage requirements it wouldn't matter between the two since you'd get your workout in the Romany surf to keep it at speed, , just that the Romany surf will move slower than the Explorer. . Maybe cockpit size and fit should be your biggest consideration : if you need a roomier cockpit, the Surf. If a less roomy cockpit, with the added feature of more speed , go with the Explorer. Both handle extremely well in wind and conditions and track superbly: they need minimal to no skeg.

I'm feeling in need of some afternoon splash, so I'll be heading to Walden this afternoon, if anyone else is interested. I'll probably arrive around 5PM. Peter

There is much to be said for cartopping a kayak upside down. Right side up definitely presents a higher profile to the wind , ; I know because I often turn my boat upside down because only then does it fit under the narrow roof of the parking garage I must use now and then . It would stand to reason that that lower profile means less wind resistance, and can't be a bad thing. Otherwise, I suspect that there may be some difference in aerodynamics and air flow between backward and forward but it is probably nitpicky, not hugely significant. Its a kayak strapped to a car, and we'll all get there if it's well strapped r secured to the car. I'm inclined to think that, all told, superstition and custom (like passing to the right at the dinner table , it's just done that way ) are the biggest reasons kayaks are carried bow forward.

Jeff, A good approach would be to come with your boat to a lake practice session. The easiest would be Chebacco Lake on Thursdays. There's also Walden Pond on Tuesdays There you can mess around in your boat with other paddlers who have the kind of experience that you are seeking , talk through things , try out other peoples boats, etc. And have some fun while you're at it. I paddled a Perception Carolina a few years ago; on a trip I switched boats with someone who had a Carolina and paddled for about an hour; it seemed seaworthy; you'd be fine on the ocean in it, probably at first on a trip that would be in the L2 range. If you find ocean paddling to your liking, in time (could be sooner, could be later) you might naturally begin to want more out of your boat (speed, performance, lighter weight, whatever ) than the Carolina provides. A natural progression among the paddlers I know is to change to another kayak after some experience on the ocean gives them a better sense of what a kayak is all about and what they would then be looking for in the kayak they would take to sea ..

Great to have local knowledge on this or any trip!

This will be a repeat of two successful autumn trips to Lake George in 2016 and 2017. The goal will be to paddle and explore the islands in the middle of the lake amidst peak autumn foliage, camp at one of the many island campsites (uninhabited at this time of year), and hike to some peaks and ledges overlooking the lake, in the area of the Lake George Narrows, the Mother Bunch Islands , or on the shores of Tongue Mountain. Lake George is 32 miles long and @ 2 mies wide, and the middle third of the lake is mostly uninhabited and within Adirondack Park. Launch midday Friday October 18: return to the put-in midday Sunday October 20. The put-in will be from a small village and marina on the remote Eastern side of the Lake. From here there is great access to the lake’s best spots to explore: The Mother Bunch and Narrows Island groups, Paradise and Red Rock Bay , and hiking trail heads to Tongue Mountain and Shelving Rock. This put-in is a three hour drive from Concord NH area. Camping options are innumerable, as the islands have many campsites , uninhabited after Columbus Day so we'll have the choice of dozens of islands to ourselves. The campsites are well developed with picnic tables, firepits, and privy’s. This will be about an L3 paddling trip: Mileage per day is flexible, probably 12 miles or fewer. Paddling will be moderate, ambling and relaxed, focused on exploration and stops to explore and walk on foot We will likely tour the Narrows Islands and stop to hike to an overlook, either on Tongue Mountain or Shelving Rock. The main requirement for this trip is to be equipped for autumn camping: being able to stay warm and dry in cold wet weather. (suitable tent, sleeping bag, shelter, and cold/wet weather clothing and outerwear, dry set of clothes while not paddling) Weather might just be Indian summer, but also might be wet, raw and cold. Drysuits are highly recommended , as staying warm and dry while off the water will be required. We can get off the water at any time quickly, no tides or currents, but wind waves can be significant, especially at the middle of the day. Water temperatures will be in the 50's, air temps anywhere from mid-40's to 60's or even higher. If you are interested , please RSVP (I’m going) in the October 18 calendar listing for this event. Contact PeterB by PM on the message board if you have questions. We will plan trip details by group PM .

Anyone going to Walden Pond this evening? I plan to go. Peter

I had wanted to explore the extreme northeastern bit of Casco Bay, between the Bailey-Orr’s peninsula and Cape Small , so I posted a trip at fairly short notice and , happily, got some enthusiastic takers, so; after a few additions and cancellations and a bit of communication on the PM forum, we ended up a group of three and fixed on a trip that would focus on Ragged Island (one of the areas largest islands that sits at the head of the bay) and then a roughly counterclockwise tour of the bay tailored to conditions and time constraints. Conditions looked perfect for such a venture: seas 2-3 feet (as they played out, I would say 1.5-2.5 foot seas ) S. winds to 10 knots, mostly sunny ,with air temperatures around 70 degrees F. Our trio ended up paddling in: one drysuit, one Gore Tex bib with drytop, and one wetsuit with splash top, and all of us were fairly comfy for the day, never too cold and never too hot although close to it at times. So, at around 9:45, three of us did a low tide launch from the gravel beach next to H20 outfitters and the Salt Cod Café where we had converged ($5 launch and parking fee for this favorite spot ) and headed out of Wills Gut underneath the Bailey Island Bridge, or Cribstone Bridge, admiring and discussing its uniqueness, its beauty, and its historic structure as we paddled. "The Cribstone bridge was built in 1927-28 to connect Orrs and Bailey Islands, “using granite slabs as cribstones, acquired from local quarries in nearby Yarmouth, Maine. The slabs were laid horizontally, first lengthwise, and then crosswise, in several layers. No mortar or cement was used. Granite slabs were considered sufficiently heavy to withstand wind and wave, while the open cribbing allowed the tide to ebb and flow freely without increasing tidal current to any great degree. The Bailey Island Bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Placesand is reported to be the only granite cribstone bridge in the world.” Emerging from Wills Gut , we could see all the way to Cape Small on this lovely clear day, and passed the first chain of ledges, punctuated by Pond Island, then set our sights for Ragged Island, about a nautical mile away. On our crossing we passed by the Middle Ground Ledges where waves were crashing in a number of directions over nearly exposed rocks ,so we did a tight skirt around their north side, then reached Ragged Island , where we did a full circumnav. of the island , in and out of a number of hump -like ledges on its seaward facing side, looking for a landing spot, and admiring the island's beauty the entire way , but with one eye on the incoming crash of waves. There were no idyllic landing spots on Ragged Island at this the lower half of the tide, but we found a cove suitable for a lunch stop, made up mostly of with volleyball- sized rocks , where our parked kayaks served as hourglasses, of sorts: We timed our lunch stop by returning to our boats just when the rising tide began to tickle their sterns. We decided to continue our planned counterclockwise route for the rest of the day, starting with a crossing of a little over 2 NM to Flag Island ,close to the Cape Small side of the bay , passing by the Sisters ledges on the way. Stopping briefly in a cove at the end of Flag, we set on a return plan, hopping from island to island . ledge to ledge in an arc that would return us to the Cribstone bride. As we paddled, the wind and tide began to turn our outing into a bit of slog , and by the time we reached Ram Island, the last of our ledges efore returning , we were paddling in a bit of bump, and a wind of maybe 11-12 knots, a wind speed Joe had confirmed on his weather app. during a brief stop at the Sisters ledges. Funneling back into Wills Gut, we had a happy high -tide take out at our H20 gravel beach this tim e with a kayak carry of something like 5 feet, considerably less than for our put in. We had a fast debrief chat , looked over Joe's GPS track of our journey (13.7 NM, 15.3 statute miles.) , which showed that our crossings were generally straight but on that last crossing to Ram Island we had not used any ranges or vectors , and we were pushed north a bit by the wind and tide, so the the GPS track showed a little hump at that end of our return route, a classic "pursuit curve”. In all , It was a fun to spend a day on the ocean with duo of redoubtable paddling buddies. I would return to that area in a heartbeat, and would not be surprised to find myself back there in the not- too -distant future. I'm thin king that a version of this trip , catching Ragged Island but perhaps even including a Sebascodegan Island circumnav., would be just grand.

Yes there are helmets on the market designed specifically for sea and whitewater kayaking. I assume the big difference between a kayak helmet and ,eg a biking or ski helmet is the water -friendly or water -proof nature and.or design of the padding materials used. Helmets are very personal, some just fit your specific head more comfortably than others, so its best to try on before buying. Some popular popular brands are NRS, Pro -Tec, Sweet Protection and Gath. Sweet Protection Strutter and Gath Gedi are a bit pricier, but many of the sea kayakers I know have helmets of these two brands. Newbury Kayak and Canoe has Gath, Zoar Outdoors has Sweet Protection. Sweet Protection has no drain holes, Gath does, and they both work well, and I'd be happy with either brand so I wouldn't think drainage holes are a big consideration in selecting a helmet.

I hav a friend who mildly 303'd his gaskets every time he used his drysuit , and they lasted over 7 years without needing replacement. 303 is invaluable! I have a lot of experience at work with latex , and in my experience , latex is a natural product which is inconsistent in its performance. Stored or used under the same conditions, some latex molds , gloves, and products will come to tear easily or deteriorate (into a gooey or crumbly substance,) and some last intact for many years. I wouldn't be surprised if there were two identical drysuits, built at the same time , bought at the same time and used with the same care, and one set of gaskets were to fail way before the other. Generally speaking, latex is sensitive to the environment (air quality, sunlight, extreme heat or cold etc) , so storage in a cool dry dark space (like a closet)is highly advised, and left in the sun overmuch is not a good thing. I bought My first drysuit at the Kittery Trading Post: I was gearing up to buy one around Christmas, but saw a suit at KTP October with a sale price I could not resist: Its gaskets failed almost immediately, and my theory is that it had been hanging out on the sales floor (in the sunlight) for a long time, which is why it was on sale.

Orrrs Island-Ragged Island and upper Casco Bay We have changed the date of this trip from Saturday June 9th to Sunday June 8th. New launch time will be discussed. I'd like to amble and explore the area of ledges and small islands in the part of NE Casco Bay between the Orrs/Bailey Island Peninsula and the Cape Small Headland. This seems to be a rarely visited area, an open bay at the extreme northern end of Casco Bay , a patchwork of ledges and small islands with Ragged Island as the focus. (I began to study this area as Ragged Island was the summer home of Edna Saint Vincent Millay until @ 1950) Launch from H20/ Orrs Island at 10:45. and hop from island to island , ledge to ledge with Ragged Island the anchor of the trip, probably a counter clockwise tour with a return along the northern coastline. High Tide is 4PM , so there will be a rising tde for much of the trip. The trip will involve a series of mini- crossings from 1/2 nm to 1 nm , and the ideal sea state for this trip would be on the mild side: if seas are greater than 2-3 feet and winds greater than 10 kt , the route the can seek the more protected waters of Quahog Bay and the inlets and ledges to the north hugging Sebascodegan Island. Trip will be canceled if there is a small craft advisory. Drysuits are required to highly recommended, as the water temps (still not over 50 degrees ) seem to be a bit on the cold side for this time of year. If you are interested in joining me, rsvp ("I'm going" ) on the calendar posting or PM me (PeterB) and we can communicate by PM in advance of the trip .

From Fort Gorges to East End beach was a sharp right hand turn so we were now with beam -to -rear quarter wind and waves, and little boat traffic that I can recall (again, I may have been preoccupied with thoughts of ramen ) : not a bad ride at all and I can see how Bug Lighters could have had a worse time of it from there with continued headwind, boat wakes, tide, and no prospects for ramen.

Confused water was perhaps worst at the head of Chandler Cove heading into Little Chebeague Island: a slice of ocean where waves with longer fetch were coming up Luckse Sound and reflecting off of Great Chebeague, also off of Hope and Long Islands. Deer Point at the bottom of Great Chebeague was a classic headland, acting like an anvil against which the hammer of the ocean was concentrated. Crossing from Long Island to the top of Diamond was windy and bumpy too , again the wind with longer fetch funneling up Hussey Sound, but with no significant reflection: just windy & bumpy for about 3/4 NM. The area around Fort Gorges didn't seem bad to me but it may have been psychological as we were in the very last home stretch to East End Beach and thinking mostly about ramen noodles for lunch awaiting us .

Here is the route two groups (Bug Light group and Portland East End group) took from Jewell Island back to Portland on Sunday, on local knowledge guru Kyle's advice: Trip goal: Get back to Portland , dodge the S wind where possible, with value added tour of the Little Chebeague/Long Island/Diamond Island area, new to many in the group. The route was @ 10 NM.

The weather was indeed pretty raw on this trip, which made the island itself seem a happy place to be. I enjoyed all of our paddles, starting with a Thursday night full moon safari from Portland East End to Jewell with Kyle, Pablo, Karen, and Yong , a Friday meetup at Vail Island with Kate, Sherry, Janice and Lisa on their way from Portland, then a Saturday trip around Jewell followed by a Cliff Island circumnav., and then our sinuous two-pod slog (mostly raw weather and 12- knot headwind much of the way) back to Portland on Sunday morning. Thanks, all, for being such good company! Peter

Beth et al, If you are definitely planning on camping at the Saddleback campsite, please rsvp on the calendar posting this trip, so that we'll be able to have a list of the total number of paddlers in the area for the weekend , and communicate in the weeks beforehand. The Saddleback campsite is also a Maine Coast Heritage trust site; there is a limit of 5 campers. (6 or more by permissoin only) There is no fee for the campsite. Campsite users will be autonomous, meaning : responsible for their own food and a water, and must pack out their waste. It is important that campers not use the island privy as the cabin limit was lowered to 6 persons largely because of privy use/overuse. Otherwise, we can paddle together , hang out together or intersect when it makes sense to do so. Camp At Established Campsites Only Limit Stay to 2 Nights Groups of 6 or More and Commercial Users by Permission Only. Please call 207-729-7366. Fires by Permit Only - Maine State Law. Contact Maine Forest Service at 207-827-1800 for Permit. Keep All fires Below High Tide Line Do Not Cut or Break Tree Limbs, Dead or Alive Leave No Fire Unattended Completely Extinguish All Fires Please Respect Privacy of People Using the Cabin Foot Traffic Only Carry Out All Trash

Tuesdays will be fine Peter

Yes , "The Basin" is a very cool spot: Four of us paddled into the Basin during a full moon and it was otherworldy, wandering around amidst big dome like rocks exposed near low tide. But seeing the high tide mark on the huge boulders all around , and realizing that pretty soon the incoming tide would be entering through a very small opening, and we'd be trapped in there for hours, I said "we'd better cut this tour short and get the hell out of here while we can: " There is no way there isn't some tidal action at the mouth of the Basin. asin.

An on the water workshop would be fun. I think it would be fun if it were just a posted trip (simple paddle at one of the more familiar NSPN put- ins like Pavilion Beach , Odiorne, Manchster/Beverly etc) ) with an on-the-go "use-our vhf radios" theme.