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Posted

Dear NSPNians,

This post announces NSPN Wednesday Lunch Paddle #3, on May 15.  Exactly 7 days after the previous Wednesday Lunch Paddle... can this be a coincidence? Or is it simply a lack of imagination?

This week's edition will launch from Riverhead Beach in Marblehead Harbor (https://goo.gl/maps/BmdjdwqgS8Wb6y2dA). There's ample parking at this time of year. The trip will be 100% geared to the desires of the participants.  Given the very protected location, we are likely to launch no matter what the sea conditions are outside the harbor.

Thanks to a low pressure system moving through Monday and Tuesday and intensifying over the waters, the forecast outside the harbor is for 3-to-5 foot seas at 9 seconds or more. NW wind 5-10 knots, overcast/occasional showers with air temp mid-50s F, water temps around 48 F. Inside the harbor, however, there is plenty of shelter from the sea and lee under the cliffs from NW winds. So we can likely dial in any sort of experience the group would like. For a short, calm paddle, it should be possible to just go straight up the left side of the harbor from Riverhead towards the fort as far as conditions permit, then cross the harbor to make a circuit. For more adventure in the swells, or a more distant lunch spot, we can continue out into the sound or even the ocean, but only if the group feels like it.

>>>> And... we will have a Special Guest joining us! Steve Chard is a solo kayaker from the UK who has been completing an impressive journey called the Great Loop, a big circle around the eastern United States that (in his case) started in Halifax NS, and is about to finish there in another month or two. In the meantime he's visiting me in Marblehead (and is looking for places to stay further up the coast; please PM me if you'd like to help Steve out). Steve plans to launch with us and then either continue to his next destination, or stay with us if conditions rule out a crossing. You can find out more about his trip here: https://www.facebook.com/PaddleWithSteve/

Let's meet at 10 am sharp, and ready to launch around 10.20 am. Then we'll have a beach briefing, make a plan together based on what people feel like doing, and get on the water, hopefully around 10.30 am. Given the conditions we don't expect this to be a long paddle, probably we'll be done by 2 or 2.30 pm.

Marblehead tides: HT - 8.59a; LT - 3.07p.

The water will be cold and the air not exactly warm. Drysuits and fully rigged boats with bulkheads are necessary to make this a safe trip.

NOTE: The Wednesday Lunch Paddles are cooperative adventures, not guided trips. Each participant is responsible for her/his own safety. Don’t assume the trip initiators are smarter, stronger, better at rough water, more attractive, or more skilled paddlers than you are. For more information, see this description of our trip philosophy from the NSPN web site.  A waiver/float plan will be created at the launch, so there's no need to commit in advance. It's always 100% OK to show up, decide you don't like the conditions or the trip, and opt out.

If you have any questions, or if you haven’t paddled with Bob Levine or myself before, please get in touch with @rylevine or @Joseph Berkovitz by private message before the event so we can get acquainted!

If you're interested in coming, it's nice if you let us know by posting on this thread. There is no calendar entry for this particular trip. Other conversation (including stating your interest in going) can also happen on this thread.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Posted

Joe

id like to join you but I am in Roatan at the moment and will return Friday. Once I get home and reoriented I can be more definitive. It’s a long rush hour drive so I will have to see how things shape up if that’s ok

jane

Posted

I'm interested, but would like to venture out of the harbor for part of the route.

Posted

Folks should know that this will be my first paddle since breaking my wrist in late Feb.  I've just been cleared to be on the water but told not to overdo it.  Thus, my wish that I expressed above that this not be a long mileage, many hour, rough water paddle.  If people feel that what they want is all that I don't (???) pls weigh in now and I will take a pass ?.

Posted

Bob and I specifically want this to be a paddle that Prudence is comfortable doing. Given our protected launch spot inside the harbor, we think this can totally be a short mileage, shorter duration, calm water paddle.

If there is a subgroup that can safely peel off into the sound for a bit, that may also work out. 

Posted

Thanks for the clarification, withdrawing my interest, I've made other plans.

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