We had an amazingly beautiful day for an ocean journey style CAM session yesterday with bright, sunny skies (a little too sunny for the initial briefing and discussion), little wind, and calm seas.  After the morning discussions about such things as leadership and participant roles within the group, we experimented paddling as one group of 11 before splitting into two pods paddling the same route, which made it much easier to keep track of people.  David Mercer and Cathy took the leadership roles on the run down to Rye Harbor for lunch.

After lunch, we mixed up the groups and had Jeff and David Merriman lead for the trip back.  Along the way, we had group discussions on topics like dealing with paddlers who want to leave the group as well as groups sticking with their itineraries or not.  As we neared the harbor, people's focus dwindled and the two groups merged together.  We took a moment to discuss this common occurrence (aka "Barn Door Syndrome"), and decided to once again experiment with paddling back as one large group.  This did not last long as two paddlers decided to swap boats and a few more stayed with them while the rest of the group, with everyone's agreement, headed back to the launch since we were starting to run late.

I want to thank everyone for attending and participating in these events.  I have learned a lot, and I hope others did as well.  It's too bad that we only got two of the three sessions done, but weather can be a factor for this sport.  Hopefully, we will have better luck next year.  If anyone would like to provide feedback, either publicly or personally, please feel free to do so.  If you would prefer to remain anonymous, you can send a Private Message to our club president Peter Brady, and he will consider how to utilize the information for future sessions.

The Board Of Directors will be reviewing how this year's CAM sessions went and will look at improvements for next year.  We hope to be able to offer a similar system of winter classroom sessions, springtime leader-focused on-water sessions, and summer group-oriented sessions.  We strongly encourage any and all members to attend, as there is an incredible amount of information provided to our members for only the cost of maintaining the annual membership.

It was a great day on the water. Thanks Rob for organizing this and keeping us focused. Liz

Great day Rob. Dave

Rob, great day. Thanks for organizing.

It was a good day!  Thank you everyone for being so 'CAMable'.

and if people are checking buoy temps and getting reports for 68 or 70 degrees, trust me it does not feel that warm!  I was in for a few minutes with just a synthetic top and it was VERY cold.  Butt and legs in 0.5 hydro skin felt fine.

Ditto from me too Rob. Great day and a lot to reflect about for my next group paddle.