Kevin B (RPS Coach) Posted April 21, 2005 Share Posted April 21, 2005 Since it was such a beautiful day, I decided to stay local rather than make another lengthy drive to a put in. Fifteen blocks later I put in at Cashman Park for a little playtime in the Merrimack. As I did my pre-paddle check, a lone kayaker paddled in wearing a pfd but sans any type of immersion clothing. Apparently, this kayaker and newbie friend had been out at the mouth of the river and his friend had yet to arrive back at the docks. Eventually the second kayaker (also with no immersion gear) came into sight lagging behind his “more experienced” friend by about 10 minutes (I reserved comment at the time.) After playing around for a little bit, I decided to paddle against the tide out to Joppa Flats just for fun. There were a few small boats on the water as well as one or two of the big tour boats that call Newburyport home, all of which made the trip more interesting—a nice balance of trying to avoid becoming a speed bump and playing in their wakes. Conditions were fairly calm with a mild offshore breeze until I passed the Route One bridge, where a sustained one-foot chop developed and remained for the rest of the trip. The breeze became a little gusty and so I decided to take a path that kept me in the lee of the docks, managing to grab hold of a minor eddy created by the tide coming in. From that point on, my speed picked up as I whisked by the docks, much to the amusement of the tourists who seem to treat the sight of a kayak as tantamount to spotting a rare bird species, and out towards Joppa Flats. After some time spent navigating the mud flats at still fairly low water, only hitting bottom once, I turned around as the wind had become quite gusty. The ride back along the same route was uneventful and so I spent some additional time in front of Cashman Park ferrying across the river since there was no boat traffic by this time. Overall, about a 4 NM leisurely paddle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eneumeier Posted April 21, 2005 Share Posted April 21, 2005 I may be in the minority on this one, but when I see people on water this cold without immersion clothing I say something. People do give me dirty looks and make remarks. I don't care. I would have said to that "experienced" paddler "How about if we both paddle back and make sure your friend is okay? If something happened, you have no way of knowing." Occasionally someone will say "I didn't know that" or people will alter their course to stay closer to shore. If one person avoids danger through my efforts over the years, I will consider all the dirty looks worth it. When I was a newbie I did not understand the danger of cold water. I wish someone had gotten in my face about it. Liz N. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin B (RPS Coach) Posted April 21, 2005 Author Share Posted April 21, 2005 Two things "convinced" me to hold my tongue in this instance. First, the "experienced" paddler seemed to be rather arrogant and I didn't think any advice would be followed (now or in the future) never mind well received. Secondly, as I began to paddle away from shore, I spotted his friend and paddled out to him to make sure he was ok. By the time we crossed paths, he wasn't too far from the river bank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eneumeier Posted April 21, 2005 Share Posted April 21, 2005 Yeah. That kind of arrogance is tough. Good show on paddling out to check on paddler 2! Liz N. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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