hoppy09 Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Beach breifing 8:30 ok 9:00 we can have a workshop on being on time some other time. 35+ paddlers showed up not a bad turn out a big thankyou to Rick S. for posting and hosting this event. After intro's and disscusion on the beach we split into 5 or 6 groups [not a simple task with this many people ] then we were on our way . my group consiting of 14 actualy 2 groups together headed to the breakwater to take a look out side and from there as a group decided to head out and play. I'd like to thank Dana for being my victim so I could do a rescue in conditions other than flat water. We had on person decide they didn't want to stay outside and Kevin B. paddled back with that person to one of the other groups . Paul and Paula kept us busy paddling in a group inthe sweels going diffrent directions to experince the difrincas in folowing and beam seas while we waitfor kevin to return. After his return we went to play in some surf. Not an easy task for the inexperianed but a hell of alot of fun. After lunch we decided as a group to go around Newcastle Island with a few returning to putin due to time issues. We met Rick S.'s group and they joined us and off we went. For the more seasond paddlers it was another day in paradise . for us less seasond paddlers holy sh-t them swells were big. For Mary B. she sounded like she was 10 years old on a ride at disney world. After turnig the corner at the coastgaurd station and a paddel up the river we stoped at Peirce Island to strech our legs and then back to the putin all in all one hell of a fun day and many thanks to all you seasoned paddlers for your help and tips. And Sir Christopher sorry for any spelling mistakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NPSheehan Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 For those of us who stayed on the inside we had a fun time in protected waters but still had some currents and wind to play in. Thanks to Gillian and Suz for providing some fun paddling skills practice as well as rolling and capsize recovery. A BIG thanks to Rick for organizing the event and all of those who attended and shared their knowledge and answered questions. I know I returned home with some knew knowledge and skills especially with CAM and beach briefing. Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NPSheehan Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Here is a birds eye view of the area for those who want to see the rocks and islands they paddled near or around New Castle on Sunday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopefloats Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 I too, need to thank Rick for huge value in initiating the wonderful open discussion of weather conditions presented, each and every participant's varying skills and experiences, and what was the collective concept of the ideal ratio of experienced participants to less experienced.... I was also deeply impressed in the number of more experienced paddlers willing to take the initiative to beef up the "experienced ratio" and work with those less experienced, in lesser conditions. Gillian, Suz, Neil and Bob lended wonderful coaching skills and local knowledge to a slower paced adventure for those of us itching to enjoy the unique weather yesterday, and even encouraged the reluctant (myself ) to join in at the last minute. Your collaborative efforts & local knowledge ensured we all had a positive adventure getting the opportunty to challenge ourselves and apply learned skills with experiences with changes in wind, current, tides and manuevering and navigating around obstacles not found in a typical lake skills session. From what I hear of the other groups that went out too, this consistent underlying support of being "responsible TO" each other (rather than "responsible FOR" each other) is the reason why so many people learn so much, become more self aware, and advance their own skills so quickly...and why the good experiences tend to outweigh the bad. Couldn't have found a better group to be a part of! Ok - I'm done gushing now. Great day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spuglisi Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 I too, need to thank Rick for huge value in initiating the wonderful open discussion of weather conditions presented, each and every participant's varying skills and experiences, and what was the collective concept of the ideal ratio of experienced participants to less experienced.... I was also deeply impressed in the number of more experienced paddlers willing to take the initiative to beef up the "experienced ratio" and work with those less experienced, in lesser conditions. Gillian, Suz, Neil and Bob lended wonderful coaching skills and local knowledge to a slower paced adventure for those of us itching to enjoy the unique weather yesterday, and even encouraged the reluctant (myself ) to join in at the last minute. Your collaborative efforts & local knowledge ensured we all had a positive adventure getting the opportunty to challenge ourselves and apply learned skills with experiences with changes in wind, current, tides and manuevering and navigating around obstacles not found in a typical lake skills session. From what I hear of the other groups that went out too, this consistent underlying support of being "responsible TO" each other (rather than "responsible FOR" each other) is the reason why so many people learn so much, become more self aware, and advance their own skills so quickly...and why the good experiences tend to outweigh the bad. Couldn't have found a better group to be a part of! Ok - I'm done gushing now. Great day. A great experience for me too. I learned a lot even before we hit he water..met some new people..got plenty of helpful tips from Sir Chris. I capsized outside of Little Harbor and failed to roll. My first time swimming with my boat in big (for me anyway) swells. It was both humbling and confidence inspiring but more importantly it helped me identify a couple of things that I need to work on... ie. a more reliable and natural offside roll and rolling practice with all of the gear that I'd bring on the ocean with me. Many thanks to Rick S, Sir Chris, Rick C and everyone else who so generously shared what they know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinfre Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Thanks to Rick for initiating Sunday's activities and for the time spent coaching me out in the swells. Besides a good day on the water we also got some good practice in figuring out how to actually do CAM trips. I'm more optimistic now that if we keep doing these in typical situations (i.e. a smaller group with more definite plans), the CAM approach will become even more workable. To that end, I'm thinking about a trip to initiate. I'm booked for the next couple of weekends, so it'll be awhile. Kevin Fredette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 If there was an overarching theme to this day (both the beach briefing and our time on the water), : I would say it would be “group awarenessâ€. What I learned: “Group awareness†begins with the beach briefing, where everyone has a responsibility to communicate what they bring to the group on that day. In short, the group needs to inventory its resources for that day. "Resources" mean both human (skill, experience , temperament , special strengths, vulnerabilities , etc) and equipment (compass, chart, tow belt etc) “Group awareness†then carries to the water. Only If everyone paddles in concert can the resources of the group be utilized if the need arises.(e.g. a rescue, a tow, someone's allergies act up, fog obscures group destination, nav. work is needed etc) . How this is implemented is up to the given group on the given day. Throughout the day, Rick (and the group of experienced stalwarts he had assembled) reinforced this theme of group awareness, through personal example and the occasional verbal admonishment. It was a day of big seas, safe and fun. Applying the Common Adventure model to how this club goes about its paddling business will not be a tidy thing: it will be learning experience for us all, from the newcomer to the most seasoned paddler. To this end Rick Stoehrer stuck his neck way out by initiating this event, and deserves praise for doing so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EEL Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Throughout the day, Rick (and the group of experienced stalwarts he had assembled) reinforced this theme of group awareness, through personal example and the occasional verbal admonishment. It was a day of big seas, safe and fun. To this end Rick Stoehrer stuck his neck way out by initiating this event, and deserves praise for doing so. From one contrary, hard to herd cat to another ( we were just protecting the flanks..right?), all so true. I'm sure everyone came away not only with something learned and a desire for more opportunities to expand comfort zones, but more questions as well concerning how to do some things and how trips can be done. Which is how each of us and the club can improve. We all should be thankful for those who stick their necks out and generate the questions. We all need to find the answers to our questions and along the way there will be more paddles and better paddlers. Ed Lawson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopefloats Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 If there was an overarching theme to this day (both the beach briefing and our time on the water), : I would say it would be “group awarenessâ€. Throughout the day, Rick (and the group of experienced stalwarts he had assembled) reinforced this theme of group awareness, through personal example and the occasional verbal admonishment. "Group Awareness" was something Suz continually reinforced on our trip as well... including head counting tricks among other ideas... Applying the Common Adventure model to how this club goes about its paddling business will not be a tidy thing: it will be learning experience for us all, from the newcomer to the most seasoned paddler. To this end Rick Stoehrer stuck his neck way out by initiating this event, and deserves praise for doing so. Soooooooo... Can we do it again in August? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EEL Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Soooooooo... Can we do it again in August? Why wait till August? Maybe some attendees will post a trip they would like to do or have enjoyed doing. Better to practice/reinforce on a "real" trip (just do it as they say), than assuming someone will agree to put on another "practice" session. FWIW, I think that those who contribute to the club in other ways should not shoulder any of the burden of posting trips. And yes, maybe I should do it instead of asking others to do it which seems hypocritical, but I have a couple of reasons for not doing so. Ed Lawson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaila_27 Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Thanks to everyone for sharing your local knowledge and experience. I also thought that it was helpful to do introductions and experience/assets/issues of each person. I had a blast playing in the swells and adding a new paddling route to my repertoire. I still have a smile on my face from the "bigger water" experience and I find myself wondering when I will get the next opportunity to take my boat out in that kind of stuff again, but this next time I would like to play around a bit and maybe practice a rescue or two. On Sunday I officially put the first little crunch in my hull so I suppose that I will have the joyful experience of doing some repair work. Although I love my pretty boat, I was beginning to feel as if its pristine appearance would hinder me from trading my "rookie card" in for something more advanced. Beautiful day, great people, many lessons learned! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NPSheehan Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 I have an Ocean Paddle planned for Saturday July 26th with Seacoast Kayakers meeting at 11am at the Bicentenial Park Hampton's North Beach just down the road from my home. This is a great spot for getting out on the Ocean as it's a protected cove good for practicing but on the outer reaches of the cove there are usually breakers and if the wind is right some swells. There is also a great opportunity for rock gardening. And you can paddle over to Plaice Cove for an Ice Cream at the Beach Plum in North Hampton I'll post the event on the NSPN trips page. Also we're doing a Wednesday paddle to view the Fireworks off of Hampton Beach this Wednesday July 16th meeting at 8pm. Looks like a clear night with full moon and light winds. This is always a fun event but a late night for those not in the NH Seacoast Area. I'll add that event as well. Same launch location as above. Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick stoehrer Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 sunday was only possible because we had as many salty old dogs to throw into the mix as we did....all thanks goes to paul and paula, rick c and scott, carl, suze and christopher and all the other folks with lots and lotsa water behind 'em. because of the entire groups effort, we were as safe as we could all manage, we had fun and we all learned a little...hats off to all that showed...some folks got pushed a little and just kept smiling (or in at least one instance, yelling yee-haw from atop a large swell!) great to see some folks exposed to water that may have been a little meatier than they'd seen before....cool, right? doesn't high brace make about a billion times MORE SENSE when the swell/wave is right there by your elbow / shoulder / holy crap, how far over my head is that? anyone take pix? can never remember my camera... as far as CAM...we're all still sortin' it out...that was one version on one day in that place with those people...others will vary. the constants i'd think would be some of those beach briefing topics, some of the group stuff....the having fun part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsigall Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Lost booties? After a terrific day on the water Jason & I headed out of the landing and about a 1/2 mile down the road on the first curve I plucked a Neosport neoprene bootie off the outbound lane. Another 1/2 mile and I picked up it's mate. Both size 6. It's amazing how long stuff will stay on top of the car. If your feet are feeling cold reading this send an email and we can arrange to get them back to you. Thanks to all for a great day, especially Rick S for getting us all underway. Dana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaila_27 Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 I have a few pictures that should be up by tonight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillian Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Big thanks to everyone there - I think it was amazing to see that many folks show up, some who have been with NSPN since it's inception and some brand new. The other great thing is we had folks with skill sets ranging from pretty new to the most experienced paddlers around, so it was awesome that we could split into enough groups where everyone could test their skills. From a perspective of CAM it was interesting that there are leaders to a trip whether appointed or not and that seems to be basic human nature. Incorporating leadership skills and group management into a less formal setting will be the trick. From our group which stayed on the inside to the groups who ventured out into the big swells, it seems like most of the folks I've talked to and from what I've read, that people were happy with the structure and the beach briefings . . . Great Job!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boatbossbsb Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Here’s my 2 cents worth. This was my first NSPN paddle and my FIRST ocean paddle. I had an absolute blast. I wanted to challenge myself. Even though I questioned my intentions during the beach briefing, I am so glad I stuck with it and went out “just beyondâ€. Not only did I have fun (once my left knee stopped shaking), but I thrived and can’t wait to do it again. I was with a great group of paddlers and I really appreciated the experience. Thanks again to all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EEL Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Here’s my 2 cents worth. This was my first NSPN paddle and my FIRST ocean paddle. I had an absolute blast. Neat. Very neat. Ed Lawson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pintail Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Neil, You live in Hampton? You know J & B Bagel shop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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