adambolonsky

Bob, if it ends up Karen talks too much or has a date, you can stay with Yvonne and me just five minutes from Karen's house.

I'm revising the seven-part series I wrote about the Coast Guard rescue of two nspn.org members off Plum Island in ugly early summer conditions not so long ago. Lots of info in the posts on vhf radios (they carried two, one crapped out), flares (they shot off nine in daytime), their self-rescue attempts (one boat got washed away after a wet exit) and Keith's insights on the crucial importance of decklines, tethers and bow toggles while they waited to get found and basketlifted. Posts are at paddlingtravelers.blogspot.com Below: Rescue swimmer practice. Go limp. Don't fight the swimmer. If you're unconscious, the swimmer will manage somehow.

Mike, what's your experience with tape motor noise while recording with the internal mic on the Canon zr 800? Also, which model/brand external mic do you guys use? Does it have to be a self-powered condensor mic? Thanks.....

Thanks, Cathy.

Thanks for all the terrific info, Rick. Next time I'm at Harbor Loop I'll see if I can get a show and tell from station Gloucester. Never thought of the local auxillary. Nice to hear all of this from one who knows! One last question: I assume PIW means "person in water"? Adam

Hi SpitDawg; I came across the same list of acronyms. I see JAWS in a SAR context when I google "SAROPS replaces JAWS." But what initially set me off on the search was a CG map image I came across that shows the numerous cross-hatch search patterns the CG ran east, north, northeast and southeast of Nantucket while in search of the New Bedford scallop boat Lady of Grace which sank with loss of life off Nantucket last year. One of the images is labeled clearly with the notation "JAWS search." I also see "JAWS search" in conjunction with Coast Guard (Navy?) drills that involve a PIW, which I assume is either an SAR trainee or SAR training petty officer (?). I assume JAWS is a multi-resource driven computer drift model. But what I'm most interested in is how JAWS got developed (and where), how it works, and what resources it draws upon. Apparently SAROPS use many more live retrievable internet data than JAWS, but that's the only difference I've been able to come up with so far. I'd ask the PA officer here in Boston, but I've rung up those guys too often of late and don't want to pester them....

QUOTE(B @ Dec 18 2007, 07:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Adam Call me at 206-321-0011 and I'll hook you up with my buddy Don Kiesling, Tsunami Ranger, surf ski designer, national Surf Ski Champ and all around great guy who's here in Seattle. BB Thanks, Bob. Will do. It's nice to see that you're with nspn again, if only virtually!!

Opening post of a 4-part series features fine photography from a recent sponsored expedition to West Greenland: http://paddlingtravelers.blogspot.com/2007...r-paddling.html

From Mark Tozer's blog. Local Ofcom had to dig the damned thing up and turn it off: http://marktozer.blogspot.com/2007/11/be-careful.html Personal locater beacons (plb's) transmit on the same frequency. An outfit in Washington state rents them for $50 a week.

Click on the image to enlarge it. Pretty much speaks for itself. I've never been a fan of paddlefloat rescues, but this one seems to simplify the standard one.

Hi John, I plan to paddle Cape Cod Bay on Thursday or Friday, leaving from either Campground Beach in Wellfleet or a beach further north in Truro. I'll be on the hunt for bluefish. Most fun paddle would be from Truro to Race Point or Wood End. Why don't we get in contact via email. A group of us will also paddle Monomoy one of the weekend days. adambolonsky at yahoo dot com

Thanks for all the info, guys. I've contacted the site designer and we're going to be working together on better US English localisation for the text.

Thanks, David. Informative, measured and well-thought-out -- as usual! I still think the guy's work is great. First time I've seen anything like it and I hope he does a lot more. Adam

QUOTE(Kevin B @ Sep 24 2007, 12:53 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Yeah, the animation is rather neat and it does allow for a few new views of certain strokes; however, it does lack many fundamentals and there are quite few opportunities for physical injuries in many of the demonstrated strokes. Huh? Could you be more specific about which injuries? And the mechanics of the injuries? I missed what you see... Also, what are the missing fundamentals? More than one way to skin a cat....plus the guy needs to be sure his porfolio materials are not only technically good viz. web 2.0 standards but I guess also spot-on also for the inevitable sniff-tests of technique-hounds.

kayakpaddling.net

....to write stories for the August/September '05 issue of WaveLength. See the magazine at wavelengthmagazine.com and click on the writers guidelines for details on payment, etc. I'll be editing that issue so all submissions/queries should be sent to me at: adam@wavelengthmagazine.com We need stories with an east coast perspective. For example, why surf (and how, including your access to surf cams, forecasts, and weather buoys), why greenland style (but more than the usual dog-and-pony show story of how there's 30 different rolls), why multi-night overnight (and where, such as MITA or elsehwere, including the Canadian Eastern maritimes), and why race (specifically the Blackburn, the Run of the Charles, and so on). So how about it? Sing? Nystrom? Hall? Binks? Stoerher? Cooper? Wilson? Luby? Any and all others? Finally, here's official word that Mark Stephens has been put on notice to produce that story of his on Vineyard/Nantucket Sound trip-planning, with an emphasis on dealing with tides and currents.

Thanks Michael but I've got it covered with a north shore paddler who wouldn't have to drive as far.

The Founders Award is given each year at the holiday party to the NSPN member who in the past year has given the most to the club in ways that resonate with the original spirit of the club's founding. In other words, sharing what you know so we all become better paddlers or by passing on what you know (or do formally for work) so the club continues to thrive. Past awardees were: Liz Neumeier, who stepped in as club president during a crucial time when the club was making its difficult passage from a highly informal internet network into a stable, healthy, and well-organized organization now with an active, sustainable life of its own. Mike Sabin, who served as NSPN's webmaster during the club's most rapid period of growth, who did so unpaid, generously, and well, and without whose generous work the club could not have continued its crucial on-line forums for organzing trips, posting show-and-goes, and sharing knowledge. Scott Camlin, who was the most instrumental member involved in developing, writing, organizing, and disseminating the club's Trip Leader Trainer program over three-plus years, and who was giving at all times of his on-water skills and abilities not only in the classroom and on-water, but also at the computer where he created training curriculum and materials. Now, for this year: since Bob Burnett's out on the west coast, and I'm pretty much the last founding board member still around, here are the Founders Award recipients for 2004. Not surprising there are four. BRIAN NYSTROM, for his willingness to pass on both online and in indoor winter workshops his extensive knowledge of custom boat outfitting, deck rigging, and paddle building. The workshops Brian has led for NSPN have allowed members to custom outfit more comfortable and seaworthy boats outfitted with custom seats, thigh braces, deck-rigging, and mounts for tow-lines and ropes. Thanks, Brian, for teaching us how to combine safety with comfort. RICHARD NAJARIAN, for his gracious willingness and generosity in supporting Brian's workshops by opening up his warehouse in Waltham/Watertown for our outfitting workshops, and for doing so off-the-cuff, in response to a posting (and for providing a workspace where the heat was on!). Thanks, Richard, for opening your doors to us. CATHY FOLEY, for her behind-the-scenes but crucial role as registrar of new members and renewals; for tracking our members' ACA membership credentials; for ensuring that new members and renewals are processed quickly enough that those who join or renew enjoy the benefits of memberships as quickly as possible; and finally for organizing and continuing to schedule skills sessions at Mystic Lake, Medford. Thanks, Cathy, for taking on such a large role in keeping the club going. DEE HALL for her ceaseless generosity and willingness to share paddling and safety skills with new paddlers; for leading formal trips and all-important Level 2 to the Oceans; for her instructional role at skills sessions at Mystic Lake and elsewhere; for her work on the Trip Leader Committee as both committee member and instructor on-water; and, finally, for her continuing to contribute to our paddling community at large by remaining willing to help raise the skill level of those she paddles with, despite moments of controversy. As is custom, the Founders Award token is a Clif Bar. Wow. Sawdust, yes, as we all know, but nonetheless if nothing else the sutff is good for plugging holes in leaky boats. Brian, Richard, Cathy, and Dee: THANK YOU FOR GENEROSITY, FOR YOUR HELP, AND SIMPLY FOR BEING AROUND!

The $149 VHF house-brand West Units at West Marine are fully-submerisible JIS-7's. The smaller sale unit (less of a markdown from $169) doesn't include a tray for alkalines but does include a drop-in charger. The larger, heavier sale unit (more of a markdown from $179) does include a tray for alkalines and also includes a drop-in charger. The sales guy I talked to said both units are made by ICOMM. Again, both sport big fat screens, and because they are knobless are probably fuss-free for cold water and winter use.

Here's the essay I wrote in the AMC Outdoors about the two kayakers who drowned in Nantucket Sound last October. http://triadic.com/NSPN/alone6.jpg

Shane, count me in for sure on a buy for flares. I'll need a packet of the rocket flares and a packet of the handhelds. For what it's worth, it's best to have a packet of each: the rockets to send up a long-floating distress signal, the handhelds (like the type state cops used to mark traffic accidents) as a beacon for rescue personnel once they have a general bead on you.

Don't say you heard it from me, but ... well-placed rumor sources have it that a certain NSPN member with a hot blonde girlfriend is gettting paid big bucks by a national seakayaking magazine (no, it ain't ACK) to review the current crop of handheld VHF radios for paddlers. Maybe if we put sufficient heat on this guy we can convince him to put a link on the message board to his article, or post it as a PDF file for all to enjoy. Regardless, anyone who paddles with this guy once the article is published ought to insist he use his coin to buy the first round. Better yet, maybe I can put sufficient heat on him to convince him to give a talk, on radio choices, sometime in late winter, at a place like REI. By the way, has anyone other than Dee Hall, Jeff Casey, or me considered organizing a VHF radio buy this spring? If you have (or haven't) consider passing it forward and organizing one for the membership. We picked up fifteen radios last year at a savings of almost $100 per unit. (P.I.F means pass it forward, by the way, so in the interests of passing it forward to fellow members when it comes to the true 'gen on valuable stuff to know, let's see if we can't get this guy with the hot blonde girlfriend to give a talk about his views on good and bad radios...or at least on how to find a hot blonde girlfriend). Apologies to feminists, by the way.

Exactly, But better ask Ken Cooper to know for sure. Worked for me though.

Here's a few examples of paddlers who in the best NSPN spirit have passed seakayaking knowledge forward on to me. ALEX LANDRUM passed it forward to me after an NSPN-sponsored class with Nigel Foster. Alex had spent about $100 I think to spend the day with Foster. He taught the class the stern-draw stroke, a handy way to prevent a kayak from weathercocking without having to resort to a sweep stroke or skeg. I saw her do it, asked how it was done. She told me who taught it and then taught it to me. No more tiresome sweep correction strokes in stern quarter winds, no more tiring boat lean. ERICA BERNSTEIN passed it forward to me after learning it from a registered guide she met in Baja and paddled with in Maine. To make on-water navigation easier, pencil in on your chart parallel lines the width of one minute of latitude. Because one minute of latitude equals one nautical mile, all you have to do is count the number of lines between two points to calculate distances. KEN COOPER passed it forward to me when he demonstrated the whitewater move I call the shtoonk. I saw him take an incoming wave broadside, which for me would have meant broach. He stabbed the blade of his paddle up near his bow, and his boat immediately swung bow-to the incomer. BOB HAYES taught me the deep value of the securite call on VHF 16 when making fog-bound or nighttime passages. Make this call and all boaters in the area will know who you are, where you are, what you are, and thus will be on the lookout for not running over you. Anyone who wears a camelback on their back for hydration during a long passage has had that passed forward to them by BOB BURNETT. He was the first around here to do that, and that was seven-plus years ago, or longer than many members have been paddling. LIZ NEUMEIER passed it forward to me after her trip to Norway. She had still in her house enough home-dried food to feed an army. Main dishes, fruit leather, desserts, energy bars. She leant me her dryer, recipes, and pointers, and I used that stuff for three weeks straight to dry food for a month-long trip to Cumberland Island and southeastern Georgia. I ate well and saved probably 85% of the cost of that commercially freeze-dried crap you see at REI and elsewhere. If you have or have had similar experiences, I encourage you to post them on the message board. It would be great if we could re-create a groundswell of the original spirit of the club that made the organization materialize from out of thin air. So if you remember another paddler Passing It Forward to you, tell us, using the header PASS IT FORWARD.

Since it may end up as germaine to Saturday's membership meeting (which I can't attend, as it's my only day off this week), here's some background on how NSPN got started. The club started as a simple email list first. Bob Burnett formed it as an open network for any paddler around who wanted to find other seakayakers to paddle with. He intended the list to be welcoming, all-inclusive, and geared towards forming on-water cameraderie. For one he formed the group because his wife wouldn't let him paddle alone anymore, and also because the only other local seakayaking club was somewhat hostile if not downright unwelcoming towards new paddlers. I was lucky enough to hear about this informal list, got onto it, and start paddling all over the place with all of those on it. This was more than five years ago. The atmosphere was informal, along the lines of, hey, this trip was fun, where do you guys feel like going next week? Anyone know of anyplace cool? The list quickly became huge, the number of paddlers on the informal show-and-goes enormous. Seakayaking was very in, it was taking off, and the list grew bigger and bigger weekly. One day Roger Wilkerson said to Bob "so, is this going to be a club?" Yup. Bob, myself, Roger Voeller, Brian Duplisea, Casey Carey, Peter Logan, Bruce Gordon, Keith Attenborough, Chris Perkins and a few others (I think Jill Aaron and Bob Baldridge) started meeting informally at each others houses to talk about how to form this list into a club, as the trips were become unmanageable. It quickly become obvious that providing a forum for others to post show-and-goes opened all of us up to liability concerns if someone posted a trip and someone on that trip got injured or killed. To become a club, we needed liablitity insurance, and to get liability insurance, we had to become an ACA affiliate. To become an ACA affiliate, we had to be a formal organization, and in order to become a formal organization we needed bylaws, some sort of incorporation, and non-profit status. Jill Aaron found an attorney who not only incorporated us as non-profit but also got us our bylaws. We were all on the board, and stayed on the board, because we simply happened to be there as a nucleus wanting the show-and-goes to continue but our personal liability to be reduced. Once we became an ACA affiliate with non-profit status, we looked over our affiliation requirements and what it would take to fall under the insurance umbrella. The only standard, written by the ACA, was that a club have trip-leadership standards. More important, it seemed that what those standards were to be was entirely up to the affiliate so long as those standards were documented and adhered to. So the Trip Leader Committee was formed: Scott Camlin, John Leonard, Mary Mlodinskza, myself, and later others. We had at it, we hashed out some ideas, Scott wrote a lengthy curriculum, and there you are: NSPN with its current leadership curriculum and self-rating concept for leaders. Self-rate was meant to always keep us in each others eyes, to force the notion of "I need to know you as a paddler, you know to know me as a paddler, and we each need to know each other well enough as paddlers to have a clear idea of each other's limitations of skill, experience, and on-water judgement." We chose the self-rate because no-one (would you?!) wanted to assume the massive, onerous task and responsibility of being THE ONE to judge others leaders' abilities. And if all trip participants knew leaders were trained ad-hoc and had rated themselveds, then we all knew what we were getting in to on-water. Anyways, so too was nurtured NSPN's ongoing ideal of "Pass It Forward". The club wanted to welcome anyone of any level, unlike many other organizations. But the primary tenet has always been this: "I teach you what I know, you teach me what you know, and together we teach something to that newbie over there. And next year, that one-time newbie returns and teaches something to us." Paddlers like Brian Nystrom and Jed Luby are prime examples of how the ideal works. First trip out with me, Brian capsized on a baby's wave. No biggie, he was a newbie. Now Brian teaches us how to outfit our boats, does it like a pro, is an accomplished Greenland paddler and can extricate himself from whatever the ocean throws at him, no matter how rugged the conditions. Same thing with Jed. First trip with him, he got dumped by a boomer on a bony piece of reef. The rest of us were just chillin', swimming near our boats in incredibly warm water. Jed rolled and didn't come up with a busted head. No biggie, just a new paddler. Now he's certified to teach open ocean skills, runs NH skills sessions, and makes open-ocean crossings with others from Woods Hole to the Vineyard to Nantucket. The deal of it is, and has been from the beginning, is "Pass It Forward". If you as a paddler are certified or skilled or know something we don't, then post something or teach it. Pass it Forward so we can pass it on to others. In the best organizations, "what goes around comes around", and what goes around only goes around faster if what's given is given openly, freely, and often.