Mark Avenmarg

Rob said: "The New To Sea Kayaking Workshop is currently being planned for early springtime. . ." Mark says: Sounds good. I'll look for it. Ed said: "By definition a boat is a justifiable expense. . ." Mark says: Couldn't agree more. Of course, I also want a sailboat. . . Andy said: "With a longer boat you'll be able to spend more time with your wife after you get home earlier. . ." Mark says: exACTly! Also, thanks for the gear-related links. Lots of research to do before making a decision.

Bob, I have a decent skirt for my current boat, and some reasonably protective clothing. I've started collecting low-temp gear, and I'm sure I'll be getting more. Don't have a full drysuit; not sure I need one just yet. I'm already thinking about a more seaworthy boat; still in the earliest phase of that project (convincing Fiona that it's a justifiable expense).

Oops; I meant Leon.

Thanks, Leo; you're right, of course. I DID stay close to shore, and the water was still reasonably warm. But no more solo ocean trips before Spring. Meantime I'm working on my collection of seasonal gear.

djlewis, thanks very much for the info! That sounds worth a try, although I like using Pavilion Beach since it's closer to my house. (And there's no fee for parking.) I may be over-optimistic, but my seat-of-the-pants estimations suggest that--unlike the Castle Neck circuit--the PI circuit can be done mostly with the current, maybe entirely. I guess it depends where the floods meet on the inside. I'm game to try your approach, but I'd also like to try my original plan (leave Pavilion two hours before high, and go up the inside). This may have to wait until Spring, however--unless I get some better cold-weather gear and find someone willing to go with me. I promised my wife I won't go out alone until the weather warms up again.

I've been out of town for a bit, and busy with holiday preparations (and nonsense avoidance). Warren: I could definitely get interested in an Alaska trip. Probably not ready for it just yet. My big-dream trip at the moment is the Manicouagan Reservoir. Know anything about that? Andy: I've started collecting cold-weather gear. I'll be in touch via email. Pool sessions in Ipswich (at the Y) start on January 5. I've signed up for the first one, and will probably do more. They're every two weeks--through March, I believe. Bob: Huh, whaddayaknow? I love a good small-world moment. Well-remembered about the aerobies (I still think they may be the best toy ever invented). Fiona and I have been together since December of '96. We "made it official" in 2003, but we celebrate the earlier date. I remember Chris being into kayaking, but didn't know (or remember) that he was one of the NSPN founders. That's a nice coincidence. I hope life is treating you well. Are you a winter boater at all?

Thanks, Katherine. Yes, the Huth workshop looks really good. See you there, then?

Hi- I'm a new NSPN member, and a first-year paddler. Pungo 120--for now. I've logged just under 150 miles since July, mostly on the Castle Neck circuit (8 trips). Also one Plum Island circuit. I plan to get to know the Plum Island Circuit well--partly as a training run for the Blackburn Challenge, but mostly because it's a beautiful paddle. When I did Plum Island, I launched at Pavilion Beach at two hours before high tide. My plan was to go up the inside and down the outside. When I set out, I decided to go the other way around, to get the ocean leg out of the way while I was freshest. It probably didn't matter much in that regard, since it was unusually calm for nearly the whole trip. Still, it worked out reasonably well; I reached the mouth of the Merrimack almost exactly at slack water. The downside is that I was soon paddling against a waxing ebb. That lasted for about an hour and a half. Good workout, anyway. I think my tide timing would have been good if I had stayed with my original plan to go up the inside. I was eager to find out where the floods met in the sound, but I missed that. Based on the amount of uphill paddling I did, I'm guessing that--at least on that day--the floods met much farther south than I anticipated. But maybe the ebb acts differently from the flood. I have a lot to learn about tides and currents. And that's my primary set of questions for now. When the tide's coming in from two directions and meeting somewhere in the middle (as with Plum Island Sound and Fox Creek), where exactly do the two floods meet? Always the same spot? (I'm guessing not.) Does one flow always dominate? (I'm guessing not.) After the tide crests, do the ebbs part from the same spot where the floods met? (I'm guessing not.) On one of my Castle Neck loops, I got to the Argilla bridge before there was enough water. I bumped the bottom about ten yards from the bridge (I was coming from the Castle Neck River side). In ten minutes' time, there was enough to sneak through with only a bit of scraping. The floods actually met under the bridge, as I recall. This was somewhere in the neighborhood of three hours before high tide. That's my one data point so far. I'd love to hear from anyone who has more knowledge of the local tides than I do (I imagine that's most of you, if not all of you). I'm also looking to connect with people to do these two circuits. My ideal paddling buddy is someone who sometimes likes to hammer it out at race pace, who sometimes likes to sit and drift with the tide for six hours, and who equally enjoys all types of paddles in between. Just for fun, here's a photo of my last trip around Castle Neck. The high was 11.0. Cheers, Mark

Thanks, Rob. I've read the netiquette thing; no surprises there. Thanks for the info. I'm looking for any and all opportunities to keep paddling through the winter, weather permitting. I'll need to get more gear, but for now I'm getting by on newbie enthusiasm (and being careful!). If you're considering any outings, or if you know people who are winter paddlers, I'd love to hear about it.

Hey Rob, Hey Warren- Thanks for the responses. I'm new to kayaking, obviously, but I'm also new to the forum/topic/blog community. So if this isn't the appropriate venue for responding, I apologize. Any tips regarding NSPN protocols would be appreciated. I didn't see a FAQ anywhere on the site about this, so I'm just doing my thing and hoping I don't look like a jerk. I didn't make it to last night's potluck until after 8:30. I chatted for a while with a couple of people (Blaine is the only name I remember, sorry). Warren, maybe you were one of them? I remember someone mentioning a potential trip to Alaska. I also enjoyed a wee sip of Lagavulin from a generous (and tasteful!) member. Thanks to whoever that was. I wish I had arrived earlier; it seems like a friendly and knowledgeable group. I'm very much looking forward to learning and honing my skills. After looking over the site and the skill specs, I wouldn't say I necessarily need to qualify for L4 paddling, but definitely for L3. Can't wait to get into a pool session and learn from the experts! I will DEFINITELY watch the message board for potential winter trips, and especially for training events. Thanks for the friendly welcome! I look forward to meeting you and paddling with you. Mark

HI everyone, welcome to my first posting. I joined NSPN about 15 minutes ago. It felt pretty good. Brief introduction: My wife Fiona and I got our first boats in July (sad to see Fernald's closing, but we got 20% off boats and 50% off peripherals). Pungo 120s (I couldn't convince Fiona that I needed a sea boat right away). I won't deny being a newbie, but I think I might rate a Level 3 trip at this point (definitely L2, unless I'm completely off the mark). I've paddled close to 150 miles since July, including eight Castle Neck Loops (quickest trip 2h 15min but I'm not always concerned with speed) and one Plum Island Loop (5h). My wife is very much a beginner, so I need to meet some more experienced (dare I say fanatical?) paddlers. I'm hoping to do both the Essex River Race and the Blackburn Challenge next summer. Enough of that; this post is about the Castle Neck Loop that I did on Thursday Dec 5. My tide app (Tide Graph Pro, which seems pretty good) predicted 11.1 feet at 12:51. Midday high water near a new moon near a solstice? What's not to like? I put in at Pavilion Beach at just about noon. A little bit of uphill until I got into the Ipswich River, which was still flooding at at least a knot (I'm not a good judge of current speed yet). I stopped for a few minutes to adjust my gear when it started raining (skirt and hat on, zip up the parka), and drifted upstream at least 50 yards. Pretty much dead calm, mercury in the high 40s, a bit of fog and mist, riding the last of what had obviously been a very strong flood. Pretty nice overall. Oh, yeah, and high water. I was able to sneak within 12 feet of the bank going around the corner into Fox Creek, and after the first bend, i cut a pretty much straight line all the way to the Argilla Road bridge. No kidding; it was Fox Bay at that point, and aside from grassy tips, it was open water all the way. I could read the channel somewhat from the currents (still a bit inexperienced there as well), but it didn't really matter, I just skated over everything. Amazing. Tide still rising at this point. I made it from Pavilion Beach to Argilla in 25 minutes! I hit slack water somewhere between the turnoff into the hay canal and the bridge, and by the time I got to the bridge, I was going uphill again into about a knot and a half. I had to flatten my stroke to get under the bridge without scraping my paddle. Once through, the current pretty much disappeared, because it was big flat open water again. I was able to hug the shoreline and paddle WAY outside the canal. I stayed close to shore and was able to paddle over the docks leading down to the river from the houses on Argilla. The docks were under at least eight inches of water. I figure this was just about at the crest of the tide, although it was so open that I couldn't see much of a current in either direction. Other landmarks: if the floor of the big duck blind was dry, it wasn't dry by much; the top foot and a half of the cairn on the mid-channel island was all that was visible. That was the easy part of the trip. Once I got past the landing on Choate Island, the wind started up, and within ten minutes it was blowing over ten knots (my unseasoned estimate), right in my face. Might have been closer to 15 knots; it certainly felt like it. It went from glassy calm to 6-inch splashers within 20 minutes. Pretty hard slogging until I cleared the river. Once outside, it was surprisingly calm, since the wind was from the southeast, and hadn't been blowing long. Would have been nice to have a sail. I had a gentle following swell of maybe 12-18 inches, enough for a little bit of surfing. By the time I pulled even with Steep Hill, the ebb was coming on strong. I estimate at least 2.5 knots coming out of the Ipswich River and down Plum Island Sound ( but I don't know for sure). More hard slogging, with really interesting eddies and currents making for some standing waves and more surfing. Despite the astoundingly quick stretch from Pavilion to Argilla, it was still almost a two-and-a-half-hour paddle, due to headwind and paddling upstream for a couple of miles. It was an excellent workout, and a rare day for high-water enjoyment. I'm looking for paddling buddies! I have decent cold-weather gear (and will certainly be upgrading), and I'm hoping to extend the season for quite a while yet. Definitely time to stop going out alone, however--until it's warm again. Cheers to all; I look forward to meeting fellow members. Maybe I'll see you at the potluck tonight. Mark