Practical Chart Prep and Trip Planning: Casco Bay and Marblehead: May 11

[Dan Foster]

Two of NSPN's most popular annual trips are the Jewell Island (Casco Bay) camping trip in mid-May, and the Solstice paddle out of Marblehead in late June. Each location offers multiple destinations and activities, so there's always a trip option depending on your skill level, preferences for distance, and that day's tide and wind direction.

Having a well-prepared nautical chart and an equally well-prepared plan for your trip are key skills every sea kayaker should develop. These two locations in particular (Casco Bay and Marblehead) are full of destinations that NSPN paddlers return to over and over again, and it makes sense to invest some time getting to know them and getting them set up to suit your paddling needs. For example, many of this year's Wednesday lunch paddles will be focusing on Marblehead and Salem Sound.

Join us at REI in Reading on Saturday, May 11, from 2-6PM (with social dinner at a restaurant or a nearby park to follow) for an interactive, hands-on afternoon of chart prep, chart reading skills, and planning some actual trips based on the upcoming Jewell and Solstice paddles. If you're attending the Jewell camping trip, you and your fellow paddlers can go over the exact route you'll take to Jewell the following week, and sketch out a few proposals for possible excursions from the island. If you're not going to Jewell, you can work on plans for a paddle in Casco Bay or out of Marblehead, or simply go through the planning process to learn more about these two paddling destinations.

Paddlers at every level are invited to attend, and newer members are especially welcome. Even if you never intend to lead or navigate on an NSPN trip, you'll come away with a marked-up chart that you can follow along with, and you'll get a better understanding of the factors that go into choosing a particular route on any given day. More experienced navigators are invited to help with the chart prep work, to contribute to the development of route plans based on weather and tide, and to help answer questions about the upcoming paddles.

 

You are required to bring: pen, paper, and a chart of Casco Bay and/or a chart of Marblehead and Salem Sound. (Contact me at least a week before the workshop if you need help getting a chart)

Bring the following optional goodies if you have them:

 - various colored pens, pencils, highlighters

 - something with a long, straight edge for drawing straight magnetic north lines on your chart. (ruler, yardstick, scrap aluminum bar, etc)

 - something to measure angles (protractor, hiking compass, small craft nav aid)

 - something to measure lengths/distances (string, edge of paper, dental floss...)

 - MITA guidebook (for locating Casco Bay destinations) or guidebooks covering Casco Bay or Salem Sound/Marblehead area.

 - notebook/loose paper for developing trip plans.

 - your ideas. Where would YOU like to go?

 

There will be some homework (initial map prep you can do at home) so we can dive into chart reading, final chart prep, and trip planning.

You can click the Attending button on the Calendar posting to let others know you'll be there, but I'd also very much appreciate an RSVP reply in the Trips forum posting with the following info: - Which chart will you bring (or need)?

 - Are you going to Jewell this year? (if so, where are you launching from and on what day?)

 - Are you thinking about going to the Solstice paddle in late June, or participating in Joe and Bob's Wednesday lunch paddles in and around Salem Sound?

 - Joining us afterwards for dinner and more social trip planning? (prefer outdoors or restaurant?)

 

RSVP in reply below with answers so I know how much Jewell vs Marblehead emphasis to provide. RSVP on  calendar posting if you want to let others know you're going.

[JaneC]

Dan

This sounds terrific. I wish I could go but,alas, I will be in Roatan

[Dan Foster]

Jane, if this proves useful, I'll definitely schedule a similar event immediately preceding the MDI/Acadia trip in September, and maybe a second one right before the Solstice paddle.

[JaneC]

Great. Thanks

[BillHudgins]

Hi Dan,

This looks like an extremely useful exercise.  I have a chart of Casco bay but it is not the sort of thing one would mark up with various permanent markers.  I wonder if you have a way of printing out the charts so they are paper and can be marked up.  If so I would like a pair, if that is possible.

I would like to go to Jewell and have been there at least 4-5 times.  However, I don't know yet at this point whether I will be able to do that.

Bill Hudgins

[Dan Foster]

Bill, if there's interest, I will provide large paper charts that you can draw on to your heart's content, which cost me about $5 per chart at Staples.

Some of the things we'll be adding, like magnetic north lines, highlighting shipping channels, launches, and MITA sites, are things that I WOULD recommend you add in permanent marker to ALL of your charts.

[Joseph Berkovitz]

Cool idea, Dan. I should be able to make this. I will also be going to Jewell this year. And as you know, I'm constantly on the water in Marblehead.

NOTE: Many of the forthcoming NSPN Wednesday Lunch Paddles will occur in the Marblehead/Salem Sound area, so there's a payoff for these trips as well. Bob and I will welcome planning input from whoever attends.

[JanetL]

I'm coming to this - sounds great

- Which chart will you bring (or need)?

I have and will bring both

 - Are you going to Jewell this year? (if so, where are you launching from and on what day?)

No   unless there is a group going just Saturday-Sun

 - Are you thinking about going to the Solstice paddle in late June?

No, Away that weekend

 - Joining us afterwards for dinner and more social trip planning? (prefer outdoors or restaurant?)

Yes!

[Sue H.]

Hey Dan, great idea!  I will be there.  Are you planning to just copy a Maptech chart or are you downloading a NOAA chart and printing?

Thanks, Sue

[Dan Foster]

Sue, I typically take a NOAA chart and crop and scale it so that the area we tend to paddle in ends up in a 24"x36" or 36"x48" PDF map that can be printed at Staples.

I'll be bringing Waterproof Charts #101E - Casco Bay for my personal Jewell planning, and using whatever custom paper map gets created for my Marblehead planning, since I don't own a waterproof chart of that area. Over the next year I intend to create PDF charts of many of our favorite paddling locations as a club resource, and I hope others will help document some of our go-to paddles (listing details about parking, known hazards, etc), so that a new trip organizer could just pick NSPN trip #11 - Riverhead Beach to Great Misery, and have everything they needed to post the trip after checking the weather and tides.

I'll post PDFs of the Casco Bay and Marblehead charts later this month.

[mharrison]

Any cost to attend this?

-No, we're not going to Jewell. We're looking for Lvl 2-3 trips.

-I don't see a Solstice paddle on the calendar?

-Yes on dinner. 

 

[Dan Foster]

The event is free. You'll need a chart of either Casco Bay or Marblehead, and if you don't have one, there may be a small fee to have one printed for you. (Details on that coming later in April)

[Sue Two]

Looks good Dan!

Marblehead, I have a chart from last June , not sure if that is ok

Hopefully solstice, not Jewell

Yes dinner, in or out

 

 

 

 

 

[Joseph Berkovitz]

Dan will no doubt provide a recommended option for obtaining/printing the maps for the course. But... since NOAA doesn't make it so easy to find online PDFs, so I thought I'd share links to the free online maps I use most often for these areas. This makes it easy to get started looking at the material, for zero $.

I find the best all around NOAA chart of the Marblehead/Salem Sound area is the Salem and Lynn Harbors map: https://charts.noaa.gov/PDFs/13275.pdf

For Casco Bay, it's hard to beat the ever-so-appropriately named Casco Bay chart: https://charts.noaa.gov/PDFs/13290.pdf

You might like paper. So once you have downloaded these into Adobe Reader, you have a few options for printing them.  My favorite quick and dirty technique is this:

• resize your window to the approximate shape of the paper you will be using
• zoom and scroll until the window contains the portion of the map you want to print
• use the Print command to bring up the print dialog
• under "Pages to Print", open up the "More Options" thingie and select "Current View" (this prints only the contents of the window, not the whole PDF)

Or, if you are into cutting and taping regular paper, you can use the "Booklet Chart" versions of the above charts: https://charts.noaa.gov//BookletChart/13275_BookletChart.pdf and https://charts.noaa.gov//BookletChart/13290_BookletChart.pdf.

I tend to just stick regular printouts into my chart case after spraying them with Krylon varnish, because I am lazy and hate going to Staples. If they get damaged I just print new ones.

 

Edited April 13, 2019 by Joseph Berkovitz

[mhabich]

More detail on getting and preparing charts on another thread:

https://www.nspn.org/forum/topic/12038-on-line-nautical-noaa-charts/

I got a cheap laminator (Amazon basics, maybe $35), and it works fine. If I can make it to this session I’ll bring it. 

[ssmith]

Thanks so much for organizing this event.  For guide in addition to MITAs I recommend "AMC's Best Sea Kayaking in New England" by Michael Daugherty. 

* Yes, I am attending REI event

* Yes, going to Jewell, don't know which pods will be offered - l have large waterproof chart and laminated smaller chart

* Yes going to Solstice paddle if I doesn't conflict with other plans - have large waterproof chart and laminated smaller chart - possibly will go to lunch paddles

* Yes to dinner - prefer restaurant

Sherry V. Smith

 

 

[jmcotton]

That's for organizing this Dan. 

Yes to REI event

yes to Jewell. I have Casco Bay Maptech chart #73. I don't know which pod/launch site yet. I can go on Friday, back on Sunday. 

I hope to attend the Solstice paddle. I have Maptech chart Marblehead to Cape Ann #84

sadly I work Wednesdays and can't make the lunch paddles  

yes to dinner, prefer restaurant unless it's gorgeous out and the mosquitoes are few. 

Janice

[BethS]

Hi Dan, this sounds great! 

Yes, I'll be at REI, yes to dinner, and Yes I'm going to Jewell!

Beth

Update, alas, I am now a maybe for the day, a no for dinner, and a no for Jewell Island! Work stuff....

Edited May 9, 2019 by BethS

[Dan Foster]

So far there are 11 of us who have RSVPed on the calendar for this Saturday's event at REI. There's plenty of room for more, so please RSVP soon if you're planning on joining us. I'm placing the chart order tonight, based on around 15 attendees. Looking at the current RSVPs, half of the group is going to Jewell this year, and all of us will end up paddling out of Marblehead at some point, so my plan is to divide the group up into smaller pods around a single paper chart (Casco Bay or Salem Sound) on a table and have each pod work through their upcoming trip. 

NSPN Chart Casco Bay and Jewell Island 24 x 36.pdf

Salem Sound ARCH D 24x36 18000.pdf

 

Right now the weather is looking like it will be 68 degrees and not raining (knock on wood) after the workshop, so if that forecast continues to hold, I'm proposing we head a mile south to the park on the SW end of Lake Quannapowitt for a picnic dinner after we're done. There's a sandwich shop and a BBQ place nearby to grab takeout. If the weather turns dreary, there's the Mandarin Reading Restaurant/buffet right across the street from REI.

 

[Dan Foster]

There's still plenty of room for Saturday's trip planning workshop. RSVP on the calendar if you're joining us. Read the first post or the calendar posting for what to bring.

Here's the agenda for Saturday's workshop - it's a live document and may evolve further as we get closer to Saturday, especially if you send me questions. Joe was kind enough to help me refine the structure of the workshop, and he and I will be floating between the groups during the hands-on part of the class (that's most of it!) and helping to guide the discussions. We'll be dividing up in to four groups, each with a set of paper charts to work with. If you'd like to mark up your own waterproof charts outside of class, I've put together detailed instructions at the top of the agenda, and here: how to prepare a nautical chart.

It looks like it's going to be 60+ and sunny after we're done at REI, so plan to bring some food or grab some takeout after class, and we'll head over to the park by the lake for some socializing at 6PM. I'll have some picnic blankets in case we can't grab a picnic table.

Here are some reference materials for the workshop, just so they're all in one place:

cascobaypublicaccessdraft23feb2018.pdf

MarineTraffic_Casco Bay Density Map.pdf

Portland, ME 8418150 Tidal Data Print View.pdf

NSPN Tidal Offsets.pdf

Boston to Salem Ferry Schedules & Fares _ Boston Harbor Cruises.pdf

 

[BethS]

Unfortunately I can't make it.. have fun and learn lots!

[BethS]

23 hours ago, Dan Foster said:

There's still plenty of room for Saturday's trip planning workshop. RSVP on the calendar if you're joining us. Read the first post or the calendar posting for what to bring.

Here's the agenda for Saturday's workshop - it's a live document and may evolve further as we get closer to Saturday, especially if you send me questions. Joe was kind enough to help me refine the structure of the workshop, and he and I will be floating between the groups during the hands-on part of the class (that's most of it!) and helping to guide the discussions. We'll be dividing up in to four groups, each with a set of paper charts to work with. If you'd like to mark up your own waterproof charts outside of class, I've put together detailed instructions at the top of the agenda, and here: how to prepare a nautical chart.

It looks like it's going to be 60+ and sunny after we're done at REI, so plan to bring some food or grab some takeout after class, and we'll head over to the park by the lake for some socializing at 6PM. I'll have some picnic blankets in case we can't grab a picnic table.

Here are some reference materials for the workshop, just so they're all in one place:

cascobaypublicaccessdraft23feb2018.pdf

MarineTraffic_Casco Bay Density Map.pdf

Portland, ME 8418150 Tidal Data Print View.pdf

NSPN Tidal Offsets.pdf

Boston to Salem Ferry Schedules & Fares _ Boston Harbor Cruises.pdf

 

Dan, this is fabulous, did you put this together yourself? Is it something that we can download and print out? Thank you! Sorry I can't make it tomorrow...

[GeorgeP]

I'm signed up for Jewell.

Will drop in at REI to touch base & perhaps get instruction on a sub-topic  "hands-on how to make them-there charts".   Also for feedback on ice-ages climates & coasts slides,  from p.o.v. of interest in aspects we encounter.

yes to the food