MPARSONS Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Four of us launched at about 12:20 on Saturday afternoon. Tyson and Emilie were in their tandem; Bob and I were in singles. The weather had been foggy all morning, but it burned off relatively quickly and turned into a beautiful day to experience the current. Air temperature was in the high 70's and minimal wind. We started in the narrow channel between Devil's Foot Island and Penzance Point. It was very mild since we only started an hour after slack. Still, it was good for a few warmup rolls and crosses of the eddie lines. We then crossed the channel to see if things had picked up yet around Pine Island and Middle Ledge. They hadn't. We eddy hopped our way up to Hadley Harbor and then through to the bridge over East Gutter. By the time we got there, things were moving well. We spent at least an hour or two practicing eddy turns, ferry angles, etc. I was amazed at how well Tyson and Emilie manouevered their long tandem in such tight quarters. After a while there we decided to see how things were going back in the main channel, so we doubled back. We decided to practice some towing into the current and across eddy lines. It was a great experience to see how a boat that is being towed responds. Despite the difficulty in matching ferry angles, it didn't seem to matter very much and we made good headway directly into the max current while towing. We went back out through Hadley Harbor and then found some standing waves around Pine Island and Middle Ledge. The waves were deceptively slippery; just when you thought you were in the sweet spot, the wave would shift a foot and you were shooting off to the side. We stayed there until fatigue and hunger told us it was time to cross back over the main channel toward home. We spent a little more time in the small gap between Devil's Foot and Penzance, doing a little more eddy turns and rolling practice. Finally we returned and (three of us) had a nice meal at Shuckers. All in all a good day. Not much gelcoat damage and no unintended swims. Now I need to decide whether the next Woods Hole themed trip that I post will be more of the same, or Cuttyhunk, or Martha's Vineyard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyson Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Woods Hole Photos are posted! We had a great day on the water looking to improve our surf/eddie skills in the 23' tandem. Found lots of eddies, but not so many waves. The few smal ones that were found were by the NE end of Pine Island. It took a couple of tries to figure out how to get out of the eddie by the bridge going onto Nonamesset Island. On the first try the bow swung out into the current a bit too strong for our efforts to head up under the bridge. When it was clear we were loosing the battle, Emilie and I both put in a strong back stroke in an attempt to avoid colliding with the bridge abutment on the far side. Unfortunately we had quite a head of steam going and slammed the boat into the rocks/abutment. An initial inspection showed no damage. However, on the ride home I noticed water dripping down the bow line a few times when I was sure that all dripping should have ceased. A closer inspection at a gas station showed about a 3 inch crack in the (carbon?) tape that joins the hull to the deck. Fortunately it is nothing that a bit of sanding an fiberglassing won't make stronger than new. ...and nothing that a bit of duck tape won't take care of until I get a chance to fix it. ;-) Thanks to Marc for initiating the trip and thanks to Bob for also enjoying the day with us. Cheers! Ty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rylevine Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Woods Hole Photos are posted! We had a great day on the water looking to improve our surf/eddie skills in the 23' tandem. Found lots of eddies, but not so many waves. The few smal ones that were found were by the NE end of Pine Island. It took a couple of tries to figure out how to get out of the eddie by the bridge going onto Nonamesset Island. On the first try the bow swung out into the current a bit too strong for our efforts to head up under the bridge. When it was clear we were loosing the battle, Emilie and I both put in a strong back stroke in an attempt to avoid colliding with the bridge abutment on the far side. Unfortunately we had quite a head of steam going and slammed the boat into the rocks/abutment. An initial inspection showed no damage. However, on the ride home I noticed water dripping down the bow line a few times when I was sure that all dripping should have ceased. A closer inspection at a gas station showed about a 3 inch crack in the (carbon?) tape that joins the hull to the deck. Fortunately it is nothing that a bit of sanding an fiberglassing won't make stronger than new. ...and nothing that a bit of duck tape won't take care of until I get a chance to fix it. ;-) Thanks to Marc for initiating the trip and thanks to Bob for also enjoying the day with us. Cheers! Ty Wow, that was different! Here I was expecting a gentle stroll around Woods Hole and ended up in a having a blast in 'white water'. Thanks to Tyson and Emilie for designing the elegant tow.....being third in line was great, as well as tips on how to sit in that standing wave. Ending up with some rolls in strong current was perfect. A great area to paddle, especially for relatively safe practice in currents. Thanks to Marc for organizing the trip, and Ty and Emilie for being there! Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin B (RPS Coach) Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Four of us launched at about 12:20 on Saturday afternoon. Tyson and Emilie were in their tandem; Bob and I were in singles. The weather had been foggy all morning, but it burned off relatively quickly and turned into a beautiful day to experience the current. Air temperature was in the high 70's and minimal wind. We started in the narrow channel between Devil's Foot Island and Penzance Point. It was very mild since we only started an hour after slack. Still, it was good for a few warmup rolls and crosses of the eddie lines. We then crossed the channel to see if things had picked up yet around Pine Island and Middle Ledge. They hadn't. We eddy hopped our way up to Hadley Harbor and then through to the bridge over East Gutter. By the time we got there, things were moving well. We spent at least an hour or two practicing eddy turns, ferry angles, etc. I was amazed at how well Tyson and Emilie manouevered their long tandem in such tight quarters. After a while there we decided to see how things were going back in the main channel, so we doubled back. We decided to practice some towing into the current and across eddy lines. It was a great experience to see how a boat that is being towed responds. Despite the difficulty in matching ferry angles, it didn't seem to matter very much and we made good headway directly into the max current while towing. We went back out through Hadley Harbor and then found some standing waves around Pine Island and Middle Ledge. The waves were deceptively slippery; just when you thought you were in the sweet spot, the wave would shift a foot and you were shooting off to the side. We stayed there until fatigue and hunger told us it was time to cross back over the main channel toward home. We spent a little more time in the small gap between Devil's Foot and Penzance, doing a little more eddy turns and rolling practice. Finally we returned and (three of us) had a nice meal at Shuckers. All in all a good day. Not much gelcoat damage and no unintended swims. Now I need to decide whether the next Woods Hole themed trip that I post will be more of the same, or Cuttyhunk, or Martha's Vineyard. Sounds like you guys had a blast...wish I could have joined you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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