Posted December 9, 20177 yr Once again, I am looking for people to join me on a New Year's Day paddle along the North Shore somewhere to be decided based upon experience & desire of attendees and weather conditions. This will probably be a journey-style trip (as opposed to a surf or rock play event) somewhere in the 10+/- nautical mile range, and all who have the proper clothing (drysuits & insulation, gloves or poggies, hat or hood, etc.) are welcome to join. If you have not paddled in cold water before and are interested, please contact me privately to discuss details, otherwise post interest here and we will continue to discuss once weather forecast becomes available. You can read previous years trip reports to get an idea of what the day could be like:20172016
December 10, 20177 yr It may sound like a cliche T-shirt slogan, but New Years Day kayaking could prove to be the best Monday morning of 2018, weather permitting.
December 27, 20177 yr Author Although it is still a little ways off, a potential storm will either skim the coast or be out to sea over the weekend. There is always the chance, when looking at the forecast this far out, that the storm could move slower and affect the region on Monday, or move faster and be a non-issue, so we will have to keep an eye on that. The biggest issue is that it looking like the cold arctic air will be around for New Year's Day, with temperatures trending for a high only in the teens, and single digits not out of the question at the start or end of the day. When adding any amount of wind on top of this cold temperatures, the wind chill factor becomes extreme. Although we don't have a forecast for Sunday, the winds are building from Friday through Sunday. This could be the pending ocean storm, which might pass on Sunday and leave us calm on Monday, or not. So again, we will have to wait and see, but this is going to be a tricky call. I encourage everyone to keep track of various weather forecasting options and participate in the discussion for this trip. Let's hope for a vast improvement over the next couple of days!!
December 28, 20177 yr Author Forecast for Monday is available (accuracy is always questionable this far out), but it looks to be nasty cold and still some wind. High around 12 degrees and 10-15 knot winds out of the NW mean wind chill factor will be AT BEST -2 degrees, with good probability that it will be around -10 degrees at either end of the trip. There are significant warnings for freezing sea spray, which means that everything above the surface of the water will get covered in a layer of ice. I also found this interesting chart: My take is that, at the temperatures (5-10 deg) and wind (10-15mph) forecast for Monday, we are outside of the 30 minute frostbite time section, but just barely. The added factor of freezing sea spray could make enough of a difference. I am having serious reservations about going out on a day like this, but will continue to watch the forecast to see if there is any chance for improvement and make a final call for myself by tomorrow night.
December 28, 20177 yr Rob, thanks for planning this trip, and for the weather updates. Too cold for me. I’ll sit this one out and stay warm.
