Joseph Berkovitz
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Posts posted by Joseph Berkovitz
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I would like to join. Thanks, Jim!
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Here's an update on this paddle series, now that my 2024 calendar has solidified:
- I have removed the single repeating event from before, and replaced it with individually scheduled events on the dates that I am available. So if you look now you will see Sunday Morning North Shore Paddles for June 9, 16, 23, 30, July 7, 28, August 18 and 25.
- I'll be posting individually to the Trips forum the Monday before each paddle, at which time I will open up the RSVP list.
- These paddles do not follow the Common Adventure Model. Unless otherwise posted I will be leading or co-leading these trips with an experienced paddler.
- Note to other trip organizers: please don't be concerned about conflicts with this paddle series. Go ahead and organize other things on any given Sunday when there is a Sunday Morning NS Paddle! Choices are good!
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Hopefully - will see closer to date!
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If you have any Canadians in your group they could call in an emergency. The VHF would still be usable on the water for group comms although technically not legal.
it also seems to me in case of a true emergency some radio licensing fines would be low on one’s list of worries.
All that said I think a Garmin inReach mini is an excellent investment. They have global coverage and work in areas with poor VHF lines of sight.
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Sue,
Thank you so much Sue, and a big thank you to all the participants who lent their time and energy to this event! It was a great pleasure for me. If there are future iterations of this course, I know they will benefit from everything that I learned from you all this time around.
Joe
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This was a fun and relatively action-packed species of Wednesday Lunch Paddle. The cast consisted of myself, Deborah ( Deb) Walsh, Ricardo Caivano, Barbara Ryan and William Doucet.
Environment: LW 1:35pm, air and dewpoint both 45-50 F, water temp 40 F, swell 2-3 feet @ 8 seconds, wind light/variable becoming E 6 kt, haze followed by dense fog.
Stats: Launched 10:30 am; 4.5 hours; 8.2 nm distance.
(map courtesy Deb)The trip plan (created by Barb and Deb) had us exiting the right side of the harbor and turning south around Marblehead Neck towards Tinkers Island for lunch, with the expectation of a modest SE tailwind developing in the afternoon. At this time we could see well out into Salem Sound in light haze and the sun was shining. However the forecast was clearly showing dewpoints and temps almost identical, with a strong expectation of fog at some point.
Going around the lighthouse and turning east we reassessed conditions, but the picture was still the same. However as we rounded Eastern Point and turned south, it was clearly more foggy. Bob, Bill and Ricardo were hugging the rocks and progressing more slowly while I accompanied Barb and Deb with occasional detours. Visual contact between these two sub pods was still easy at this point.
The trip changed character when I decided to paddle towards the rock-play pod, maybe 500 feet north of Castle Rock. I went towards a submerged ledge, hoping to get a nice push over it. Instead I got a pretty substantial breaking wave that rose up behind me before I could react by backpaddling, throwing my Volan into a near vertical orientation. My bow smashed hard into exposed ledge, the boat flipped and then I was underwater. I had a difficult time getting my paddle to the surface for some reason and my two roll attempts failed, so I wet exited. I know this area well and I felt the ledge would probably protect me from more immediate breakers, but I didn't like being in that location and I could feel some rocks with my feet.
Ricardo was nearby and I grabbed his stern with one hand and my bow with the other, keeping as much of my body out of the water as I could, as he pulled me and my kayak out away from the rocky shore. Then I stayed with Barb while Ricardo continued to short-tow my boat further away from shore so he could empty it. I got on Barb's back deck so she could give me a ride out to Ricardo. I was back in my boat shortly; despite the low ocean temp I wasn't at all cold from my swim. At no point was there rough water, nor was there wind forcing us towards hazards. I thought the communication and incident management worked well. My main worry was that my front hull was probably leaking from impact damage. Ricardo looked inside and didn't see anything.
In the meantime Bob and Bill had proceeded ahead slightly, then stopped behind a rock to wait for us. When we didn't show up, they came back. Bill went and generously located my paddle pants which had come off my boat. Bob took a second look inside my hull and this time, did see some water inside. I had a float bag in there (un-inflated as yet) but the water amount didn't seem to require any action at this point, so the hatch went back on and I was ready to continue.
As we proceeded towards Tinkers, Deb noticed occasional larger waves rearing up on the shoals inshore of Tom Moores Rock. While the rest of the group hugged the shore, I led Barb and Deb through the deepest part of the shoals to avoid these near-breakers. The fog was rapidly becoming more dense. As we crossed the shoals, Barb pointed to Tom Moores Rock (a 25-foot-long ledge with a 2-foot-high iron pipe sticking out of it) and asked, "What is that island with the lighthouse?" I mention this only to illustrate the extreme distortions of scale that can occur in very poor visibility when there are no reference points! It really did look like a distant island with a tower, not a tiny ledge.
When we all were past the shoals and regrouped again, I had a sense that the collective comfort with conditions was getting weaker, and we gathered to talk. This was truly the densest North Shore fog I have ever paddled in. Although we could easily have made it to Tinkers, this would have required us to get back to the rocky shore, make our way to a landmark, and then follow a bearing for the short crossing to the island, all in 100-foot visibility and in exposed ocean. Not everyone was up for this, so we made the entirely reasonable decision to turn around, go back across the harbor, and have lunch on Brown's Island. It was around 12:15 at this point.
The next goal was to return outside of Tom Moores Rock, to avoid the shoals entirely. This is the eastwards loop shown on Deb's track. Since we didn't know exactly how far south or north we were (we could hear waves breaking on the Neck, but could not see land), we proceeded north until I sensed the waves beginning to shoal, then doubled back slightly and turned east. At that point I could hear waves breaking on Tom Moores Rock which was reassuring. We kept well south of the rock as we headed out, saw the rock, and finally saw the "1B" can to its east. At this point a chart would have been really useful, but—shame on us—no one had a usable chart. A waterproofed phone was an available and perfectly valid option, but Bob rightly elected to walk us through the process of guessing a reasonable direction to head in, namely northwest. We reached the vicinity of the Neck right around Castle Rock, very recognizable even in the super dense fog.
Finally we headed across the mouth of the harbor to Browns Island with no letup in the poor visibility. A lobster boat motored into the harbor at a fair speed, but with no danger of collision with us. We reached Brown's and sat down to a lunch and a brief recap of events on the water. Even the slight respite in temperature this day was welcome, compared to recent weeks. My front hatch had several inches of water in it, so definitely not a seaworthy kayak any more—out of conservatism, and so I could say I had finally used it at least once, I inflated my float bag. The view from Brown's:
From here it was a 25 minute journey back to Riverhead Beach. Near the fort even I got momentarily disoriented, mistaking one headland for another. Without constant reference to a compass it was truly confusing even in an area of completely familiar features. In the fog, the familiar rocks near Fort Beach at low tide looked like a completely foreign archipelago of tiny islands that we had never seen before.
Thanks to everyone for a truly enjoyable (and for me, expensive) late winter paddle!
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Well, for this trip the main requirement is body and hand immersion protection - drysuit and gloves - plus some sort of winter headgear, but nothing terribly specific. On this paddle, if you were to swim, we would get you back in your boat or on someone's back deck before your head exposure became a problem.
Looking to future cold weather paddles, though, wool/polypro is not as effective an insulator as neoprene since the water soaks through the material. I'd strongly recommend a neoprene cap or hood. I have seen guides in Iceland paddling in very thick wool hats. These same guides, on the other hand, were happy to swim in 30-something degree water with just bathing suits. So I don't think they are your normal everyday humans.
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Amid the flurry of trips posted far in the future, how about something for... the day after tomorrow? It will likely crack 50 F with light/moderate wind, though cloudy and probably foggy or drizzling. LW around 1:30 PM. Waves around 2 ft @ 7 seconds. If you invested in some winter paddling gear and you're free, come and use it!
This trip will be launch at 10 am out of Riverhead Beach in Marblehead -- meet at 9:30 am. Parking is free since it's off season. The goal is just to get out on the water and enjoy the "not-as-cold-ness". No particular aims for mileage or specific activities.
If you want to come, please request to join* here:
https://forms.gle/nWpGE1BvFjTkDXQe9
(*Even with the warmer air it will be a very cold water environment (water < 40 F) requiring winter paddling skills and gear. For the sake of group safety, this is not a registration form, but a request to join the trip. I will get in touch to review or confirm your participation—thanks for understanding.)
Hope to see some people there!
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I’m so glad you posted this Jeff! I read about the badwater lake and was wishing some paddler would tell us what it was like.
j
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I bet @Stephen Lessard can shed some light on this since he lives there—but the note seems pretty clear that they want to continue the present services, so I don't see a problem offhand. I have seen sailboat people at the shipyard in the past and they need much the same thing as we do: parking, shower/bath, reasonable prices.
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Fruit pie, flavor TBD based on availability.
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Today's storm in Marblehead was more intense than the previous one. A late morning SE wind wave spike at 11' (Boston Buoy) coincided with a high tide plus storm surge of about 12.5'. Winds SE about 20 knots. The causeway to the Neck was overtopped along its whole length by breaking waves sweeping across it and spilling over the harbor side. The road was closed off, with a strong police presence preventing even pedestrians from accessing it (something I haven't seen before).
Waves breaking right through the Devereux pavilion:
Nature's gift: a huge stump in front of a home near Fort Beach.
Seawall damage:
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The scene this morning on the gravel berms south of Devereux Beach, an hour before high water. I would estimate the surf was 6-10 feet. The largest waves arrived in very noticeable clusters. Balmy and sunny… until it started raining again a few minutes later.
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Hey Andy - paddling with you is dangerous too! 😉
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This sounds very interesting and I wish I could be part of it; I hope someone takes notes! Here is what it is:
create your own kayak symposium
Are you interested in upping your kayak game? Join members of the Casco Bay Kayak Intensive via Zoom as they discuss how they created an individualized sea kayak symposium in 2023. Regardless of your current skill level or what kind of paddling you intend to do, the learning structure developed by the Intensive paddlers can help you achieve your goals. Members of the Intensive will discuss how their year-long series of meetings and paddles culminated in a four-day skills- and team-building on-water event. We will answer your questions, helping you to develop your own version of the Intensive for the goals you and your paddling partners share.
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After various unsuccessful attempts to clean and repair my original Kokatat/Hydrapak bladder (the quick-release connection to the hose was failing), I just bought an entire new Osprey bladder (designed for biking) from REI and stuck it in where the old bladder had been.
I have to say it is a superior product to the Hydrapak. The slider closure is way easier to operate and the quick-release is located in a much more convenient location.
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Let me share a timely story that hope will be of aid to others. This is partly about spray skirts but at least as much about wet exit form and practice.
Last week I decided to practice my roll, since it had been a while. I did in fact roll up on my 2nd try and continued on my merry way. I was in calm shallow water near a beach and had never, ever missed a wet exit out of what feels like hundreds.
At the end of the paddle I was moved to roll again (same safe location), but I was tired and this time it didn’t go as well. After three blown rolls I decided to bail. But… for the first time ever, in decades of paddling, I could not find the grab loop by swiping for it with my free hand (my other arm held the paddle.) I concluded that the loop must be trapped under the rim, although I’m always careful to check. At this point I was afraid because I was running out of air and there was no one to help me or notice something was wrong.
(Side note: If you’re thinking of blaming this mishap on paddling solo, consider how long it could take to notice and hand-of-god-rescue a capsized kayaker on a typical group paddle - also a dangerous situation. Of course I accept that solo is more risky, but let’s leave “never paddle alone” responses out of this if you don’t mind; it’s a different topic than the one I want to illuminate here, and it wouldn’t eliminate the problem.)
Back to the situation. I was using my IR Klingon skirt which is very snug and tight. I tried but couldn’t release it with my knee. I semi-rolled up again to grab a breath, let my paddle go, and then used my feet and both arms to brute-force myself out of the cockpit. I can’t tell you exactly how I did that but I was very, uhhh, highly motivated. At the end of this improvised act of survival I was swimming with my head above water, with the spray deck still completely attached to the boat. I flipped the boat - and there was the bright yellow grab loop, staring me in the face. It had been there all along, waiting to be grabbed. Thought-provoking, eh?
I’ve been thinking hard about this episode, one I don’t ever want to repeat, and here are some reflections:
- in a high consequence situation like a failing wet exit, the first response had better be the one that has the highest probability of success.
- I had fallen into a habit of using an improvised technique (the one handed swipe for the loop) that worked nearly always, but turned out to have a rare mode of failure. When it failed, I didn’t immediately revert to the tried and true technique (running both hands up the coaming to find the loop), the same one that I would teach any novice.
- when you are afraid and struggling for air is NOT a time when it is easy to stop/assess/plan/execute. There has to be a learned and practiced sequence of actions and fallbacks that don’t have to be thought about. But instead, I flailed. I went to plan B (knee release) and plan C (force body out any old way) before even trying plan A (find the grab loop in a reliable two handed way). Plan B did not work with this skirt, and I had never tried Plan C. Fortunately I can report that Plan C, to the extent that one can even call it a plan, can actually get you out of a boat. And if you did bury the grab loop, which I hadn’t, that approach might be your only recourse.
Perhaps my single biggest takeaway is this set of recommendations, which I intend to make real for myself:Practice wet exits. With a buddy. Multiple times a year. Even if you’ve never failed one. Practice every variation of it: one handed, two handed, knee, whole body. Make doing the right thing in the right sequence a matter of instinct.
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I signed up a while back but since everyone’s announcing their intentions in a festive way, so will I.
signed up! Looking forward to seeing everyone in 2024….
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I.e. upload a JPEG of a wooden stake to its root directory.
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Talk to our treasurer @mhabich it’s happened before though not to me.
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Because that part of the tunnel gets a lot of shearing and stretching forces I think any repair has a tough road ahead of it. I’d go for an approach where you overlay and sew/glue a patch with similar thickness, flexibility and toughness to the original fabric - not tenacious tape, which is not very “load bearing” although it’s very sticky.
You might look around for a piece of nylon stuff sack or old tent to cut up into a rectangular patch, fold the edges of the patch inwards, and sew the folded edges over the rip. The seal the stitching with aquaseal from the inside. It won’t keep all the water out but no spray skirts really do that anyway, and it might hold for a while.
you could just glue the patch with aquaseal but I doubt that will last long.
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I would like to but only 1/1 works for me
York Harbor, Thursday 3/14/24
in Past Trips
Posted
Darn, I can’t do it after all - sorry, a case of wishful scheduling!