djlewis

There's this review from the West Marine site... I don't have a mental image of what's going on here -- can somebody explain. Also, if it can be fixed with tape, then it doesn't seem so bad -- got lotsa tape around the house. My question with West Marine units is how they hold up. I seem to recall one a couple of years back that was cheap and got good reviews. But then a year later complaints came in that it was cheap in the other sense -- failing prematurely. Of course, this one's got a good warranty, but it's still a nuisance. --David

Yes, the boat survived -- but they don't mention the passengers inside!

Dynamite! Putting the radar in motion can give some remarkably accurate of storm and rain -- and lack thereof. I wish that somebody would wrap a good web app around the radar with time marking and projections. It's kind of a nuisance with the raw animated image -- but it still works pretty well in the end.

Thanks for that description and picture, Lisa -- helps clear up the distinction. What we saw was quite different -- purely you-know-what brown, not solid mats but floating clumps ranging in size from a few inches to a couple of feet, separated by 1-20 feet. It was thickest in the Morris Island Cove, but nowhere near a mat or even large clumps. But it was plenty to discourage rolling -- at a spot where many of us have practiced in each others' boats many lovely times in the past. I had to hold my sensibilities even to step out of the boat at the end of the paddle. I don't know if it's relevant, but something else new there was thousands of little crabs on the beach. There were lots as we launched, but on return they were so thick that they looked like a shimmering black mat in the sandy path. You had to look closely to realize there were a ton of individual crabs making up that mat. Could they have been attracted by the "nutrients"?

That area is far off the big-ship lanes -- way too shallow and not particularly on the way to any big port. In fact, even medium-size pleasure boats have a hard time around there.

On a related but important topic, I recommend MOST HIGHLY the Outdoor Research Hydroseal Compression dry bags for packing soft, compressible items. They are the only ones on the market that really work, IMHO, because they have two separate chambers -- an inside one for compression and an outer one for sealing the top against water. You compress first with straps, tie that off inside, and then seal with the roll top. You don't do both operations together, which is where is the other kinds of bags fail. I have several of these with soft things (spare clothes and fleeces, light sleeping bags) that are more or less permanently sealed and stay rock-hard forever, with not a cubic centimeter of compression lost! http://www.amazon.com/Outdoor-Research-AirPurge-Compression-Sack/dp/B001PS5NTE/ref=pd_sim_sbs_sg_1 Wow -- as I search for these, I fear they are being discontinued. That may be because they are more expensive, and though they are worth it, most people fail to appreciate their big advantage -- they work! If you don't believe me, I have a motley collection of compression dry bags that don't work, and I'd be happy to sell them to you very cheap. Either they don't compress well or they lose their compression rather quickly. Kayakers will primarily want the smallest two sizes, and mostly the smallest -- 10L and 15L. Get a couple before they are gone. I'm going to grab a couple more right now. --David

Wild Turkey territory? I haven't monitored WT in a while, but the main consumer of the two (yes two) Cohasset rips was/is Mark Stephens and his entourage. I don't think that equates to WT in any sense except that, years ago, Mark founded WT. As for general Cohasset paddles, I have organized numerous of them over the years -- it's one of my favorite local places to paddle in general, as well as play in the rips. I might -- personal time and tide schedule permitting -- do so again this September or October (parking gets a lot easier after Labor Day). One of the highlights is, IMHO, is Leslie's Picnic Rock, from which the view looks like a slice of the Maine Coast. But apart from that and the rips, there is -- as Bob says -- the famous light (the I Love You light), several rock play spots, a nice coastline up to and including Nantasket Beach if you want to go that far, and a small but gem-like tidal marsh. OK -- looked it up. Best post-Labor-Day weekend tide days for a complete Cohasset jaunt are 9/15-16, 29-30 (all these require early-ish launch) and 10/20-21 (late launch, return in the waning, just pre-EDT daylight). No commitments yet. But Marc and Bob -- you could do it, as could a number of others. --David

The story finally appeared online, here -- http://www.wickedlocal.com/chatham/news/x1814086238/Surprise-dampens-kayakers-trip-in-Chatham#axzz22vS2L1Ro -- and in the Cape Codder print edition. Decayin mung, eh? Anybody know if that is possible? I am kicking myself again for not taking a pictures of it -- had a camera in my pfd pocket too! --David

Using the moon divination system, they should have been gone with the full moon of August, which was Friday. But since that is so early, I suspect they will hang around until the new moon on the 17th. Or, perhaps the unusually warm summer (and winter) will push the date until the full moon on Sept 1, but that's just my random theory. In any case, I suspect you will have them for companions next Saturday. Say hi to them for me!

Sounds like that gap is silting in even more than before. It was always dicey at low, but never exposed flats or vegetation. In fact, maybe the whole area enclosed by N Monomoy, S Beach-S Monomoy is heading toward filling in, now that there is no more outflow south. Perhaps all that will be left is the channel close to shore across Stage Harbor and Morris Island, even that is looking more silted than before. Oh well, I guess we can be old-timers and recall when there were islands and peninsulas there. Time -- and sand -- marches on.

Are you sure you have your islands straight? There's quit a wide gap between N Monomoy and S Monomoy (the latter now joined to South Beach) -- always has been. It's pretty shallow, especially at low, but with a circuitous deep channel through it. This gap is indicated in the map by the gold loop. Just for completeness, what I am calling the cul de sac is in the purple loop. It's now getting heavily silted and is posted for bird nesting -- it used to be landable beach and a common stop-and-play spot for kayakers. The s***ty course was from the cul de sac north staying near the South Beach (east) side. The west side, closer to N. Monomoy, was clear once we got away from Morris Island (not shown).

I can't believe I did not take pictures. Well, for the sake of getting to the bottom of things, I hope there are at least some remnants when the Chatham Health official goes out there today. As for Stage Harbor -- it's not that close. Also, there is no outlet between South Beach and South Monomoy, so it's just a cul de sac now become a bird nesting area. BTW, the wind was from the S earlier, and from the E when we were there. So it's hard to imagine that the wind recently blew the s**t in from somewhere else. But that stretch probably is a big, slow eddy now, so once stuff gets in there it may stay for a while.

Yes, much more than a bucket. It was fairly heavy in the cove on Morris Island, and then clumps every 2-5-10 feet all the way out South Beach to the land bridge. The reporter contacted the Chatham Health department, and I just talked to them and described the location precisely (the reporter did not know the area well enough to convey that). He was pretty incredulous --there is no source he knows of for that much sewage. He will go out and take a look. Of course, we had rain all evening yesterday, so who knows what's left of it. In any case, I guess we can rest assured that this is unusual, and that one of the nicest paddles on the Cape is still -- usually -- pristine and beautiful. But note that the shore of the land bridge is now posted as a nesting area and the shoreline is silting in and becoming a tidal flat. Also, there's pretty heavy silting off of South Beach all the way out the channel. So there is no longer any apparent place to land. We did not go up the final channel into the land bridge, close the S. Monomoy, because the water was getting low -- it was high + 4 hours -- and we did not want to get trapped. Perhaps somebody will get out there at high tide and report more completely.

The Cape Wicked Local office called me about my submission, I think to see if I was a real, credible person rather than some crackpot. They had asked the local harbormaster who denied there was a problem -- too bad I did not think to take some photos. I described the situation calmly and in some detail, and they then asked if they could use my story. I said, sure. I haven't seen it appear yet -- not as exciting as the great white attack in Truro.

Thanks, John, I look forward to your report. I don't think my piece in the Cape Wicked Local has been published yet, and if they are in a mind not to alarm tourists, it may never be. Evidence in favor of the "flushing" effect, or lack thereof, is that the route hugging the E side of N. Monomy Island was relatively clear, perhaps since that area still has a good flow into opening between N and S Monomoy. And the prevalence of the s**t on the South Beach side of the channel is consistent with that area running into the new (as of five years) cul de sac. In fact, that whole side as well as the edge of the land bridge are notably more silted than before, which makes sense in terms of decreased flow. So that route may in fact constitute a long, slow eddy, which might concentrate the sewage. One odd thing, I thought, was seeing perhaps a dozen folks clamming all along the route, including along South Beach a few hundred yards from the sewage, and also in the cove formed by the N end of South Beach hooking around to the west. Either they are pretty dumb, or the water has been tested and found OK, at least for coliform count. BTW, the large areas of floating sewage definitely smelled a lot worse that then few open areas, adding to the unpleasant experience. One last point. On our paddle, we saw both Fish & Wildlife and Chatham Harbormaster boats in the area up towards the cul de sac, so they can't be unaware of this. It also reminds me that asking them might yield some useful information.

I just posted this in Cape Cod Wicked Local... My wife and I just kayaked from Morris Island Road (across from the end of Stage Harbor) out between North Monomoy and South Beach, ending near the recent land bridge between South Beach and South Monomoy Island. This used to be one of our favorite paddles anywhere, and we did it at least once a year. We have not done it for a couple of years however, and we were shocked this time to find the entire way studded with raw sewage -- yes, sewage -- and it stank! We first noted thick floating sewage in the cove off the east side of Morris Island Road, opposite Stage Harbor. We recalled playing the the water there, practicing rolling and having a good time after paddling. No way would I go in that water now! As we paddled out of the cove and headed south, we hugged Morris Island and then stayed just east of North Monomoy, and the sewage seemed to be behind us. But out at the cul de sac created by the new land bridge was more of it. Returning, we stayed closer to the South Beach side, and there was sewage all the way back into the cove. Ugh! Is this a regular occurrence now in these waters? If so, we are very sad, as one of our favorite, most pristine and beautiful paddling spots -- and an attraction for many of our paddling friends -- is now useless for the purpose, and we won't be returning. If it's a one-time event, then I hope somebody can explain what has happened and how to avoid it in the future. Regards. --David Lewis PS -- apart the the sewage, the end of the new cul de sac, where the land bridge has cut the flow from South Beach to the east of S. Monomoy Island, it's now silting in and the former landing spot has become a posted bird nesting area. I have no problem with that -- it's natural changes in a dynamic area. But the sewage ain't the least bit natural, in a formerly pristine spot --- yeee-eeew-ugh! I'm guessing that the very expensive waterfront homes in that area were allowed to get away with discharging sewage in the past because the good flow from there out to open ocean east of S. Monomoy Island cleansed it effectively. But now that the flow is closed, we get what we experienced today -- a three-mile long open sewer!

That's a big design flaw in the VHF's I've used. Seems like there outta be a way to specify or switch, like press the xmit button again to go to the next in scan sequence. --David

OK -- works for you -- works for me. But do take a look at Brian's pictures. With good tough units, like ICOM, not Vertex or West marine, I haven't had much trouble with swims, reentries and rolls (when I had a reliable one) and keeping the radio working fine, with rinsing, etc. And though I have indeed snagged stuff, I can't recall that every happening with the VHF way up high on the PFD strap. The knife/snips, camera, yes. And again the question -- if some of the time, why not all of the time? Re taxes -- Whatever income you have from kayak work you can (and should) offset by deductions so you show only a very small profit on Schedule C. Actually, you need not make a profit every year to take tax breaks on Schedule C, just once every few years. With this sort of thing I used to claim a lot of the deductions most years and show a small loss, and then every couple years, cut back on deductions to show a small profit. Plus, if you have any consulting income or the like, you can bundle that in with kayak income to make even more room for deductions. And with congress (mostly due to one party, which I shall not name) having underfunded the IRS for quite a while now, they do not spend much time on small fish like you and me. Remember, it's just a dumb computer picking audit targets. But keep those receipts just in case. That'll be $180 for the tax advice -- minimum billable time is 1/2 hour. Oh, wait, I'm not a CPA -- but I have beaten the IRS at their game a couple of times and gotten kudos from a real CPA.

Hey, Phil: I'll show you my (Brian Nystrom-inspired) setup next time we paddle together -- when, oh when, will that be. I don't think you have the picture. (Too lazy to shoot a picture and upload it -- at least right now -- but check out Brian's at http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/63141273BimkGp). As for cherry-picking sentences, you said -- "I find the radio gets much more abuse on my PFD than it does in the easy access mini-hatch between my knees." So the purpose of a radio is not to get abuse? Gee, it gets even less abuse home on the rack! ;-))) And if you are guiding and teaching, then IMNSHO you have an even better reason (dare I say, responsibility?) to keep your radio very handy, despite any abuse it might take. Hey, it's tax deductible for you, right? --David.

Well, the most important piece of safety equipment by far is the one between your ears. If you leave that at home, then of course no other gear will keep or get you out of trouble. But that's not a reason to leave that other gear at home nor deploy it in the most intelligent way.

Just curious, Phil -- if you are OK keeping it tucked in your PFD some of the time, what's the downside of doing that all the time? For the record, I keep my VHF mount permanently attached to a PFD strap. It's just part of my suiting up routine to slip the radio onto the mount, slip over it a bungee loop that also lives there and snap on a tether that is also permanently attached to the radio for more insurance. 10 seconds. I never have to think -- will I need this or not, check the forecast, etc. It's always there, like my tow belt, short tow line, sea snips (well, gotta replace those after they took a swim), etc. BTW, many years ago, in about my third time out with the VHF, I used it thus... I went into a high-walled rock corral and got a bit stuck -- nothing serious, but it took me a minute to swing around and paddle out. Meanwhile I heard people outside the corral shouting -- where's David? Not being sure I could make myself accurately understood with a return shout (it might sound like a yell for help), I quickly pushed the transmit button and blasted a short message -- I'm OK, out in a second -- so nobody would feel a need to come after me. Worked perfectly!

Would that be the law of co-signs? --David <ducking under a dock>

Isometrics? (Seriously)