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CoastalPaddling.com: charts, places, weather, tides for the Northeast


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Hi NSPN folks,

I have been working for the last 6 weeks or so on to build a new website that provides the kind of resources we need as sea kayakers in the Northeast. It is still in an early stage, but I think it's finally ready to be tried out. This is not a commercial project: it's a free community project, built for us, and it's something we can work together to improve.

The site URL is https://coastalpaddling.com and is designed for laptop/desktop computers, tablets and mobile phones. Here are a couple of screenshots to convey the general idea:

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Here is what it offers so far:

Charts: Over one hundred 11x17 PDFs of NOAA raster charts from Boston to the ME/Canada border, with more to come. Click any chart rectangle to download the PDF.
Put-ins and destinations: information on places to launch and to go, sourced from public information and—going forward—from our community.  Click any marker for more information. These are going to be actively updated on roughly a monthly basis.
Tides and currents: NOAA tide predictions through the end of 2023 in graphical form; choose a date and move the time slider to animate. Click stations for more details.
Weather and observations: Tap any location for handy links to NOAA or Windy.com point forecasts and the closest buoy data.

How to provide feedback: To report any issues or suggest map locations or changes, please use the built-in feedback tools on the site to submit your feedback - every map feature has a "Provide Feedback" link that you can use, and so does the site main menu. All those reports are collected in one place whereas if you post issues on this thread, they could likely get lost amid the other conversation.

I plan to introduce some simple route-drawing and sharing tools in the near future. I need help from local experts on adding more places and more regions. And of course there are the inevitable glitches and things that need fixing.

That's it for now. Please enjoy!

...Joe

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This is amazing. So very very useful. Thank you! One question, after looking at Casco Bay where I camped last week: are you not including MITA campsites? Do you think MITA might not be on board with that? 

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Hi Kate! There are a couple of interlocking issues here.

1. I already talked to MITA and concluded it's better to avoid publishing all MITA sites outright, as some of these properties are private or would otherwise prefer to remain under the radar. So I am being careful to only list islands that have a public presence outside of MITA (e.g. all MCHT and state preserves).

2. MCHT's own online materials are a bit out of date, for instance they showed Whaleboat on their own map but not Little Whaleboat. So I missed Little Whaleboat.

3. Some of the MITA sites are Maine Bureau of Public Lands sites (e.g. Bangs) which I have not gotten around to including.

What would help me out is if you could either PM me the specific sites that are missing or use the "Provide Feedback" link in the app to send me information about each location and I'll get the sites in if there's no issue. Specifically what I need for each one is a link to someplace other than MITA that mentions the site and gives information on camping.

Best,

Joe

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  • 3 weeks later...

Joe,

Thank you so much. This is just the kind of tool I've been looking for. It would not be unreasonable for you to charge a nominal fee for the site if you were so inclined. Thanks again and keep up the good work.

Wayne 

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