rick stoehrer

so there's a name that's not eluding me...i just don't know him! i think i may have forgotten pete casson on that list above too....that one eluded me. and please..hijack a thread...i've seen people wandering around like feral cats on paddles and whole trips have been hijacked...i don't wanna hear any malarkey about hijacked threads! never been to the yucatan or to baja...i know that jen kleck has some contacts down in baja...you may give her a ring and see if she can give you a referral. as for the yuckytan...no se.

yeah...she's taking her own sweet time, ain't she? i think even within a 150-ish mile radius, men outnumber women almost 2:1...werner, ciro, me, greg, tom, john, mark....apologies to any names eluding me right now.

...there's one more woman waiting in the wings before the year is out...she's certainly waited long enough and her skills are sharp as hell. no pressure there you....but freakin' get it done already. 4 women? talk about your rarefied air. seriously, with so few women having hit that mark, we men have a veritable cornucopia of 5*'s...and i am not sure there are all that many of us in the US! dozen? 2 dozen? dunno.

hi ed - the gp's are nice if you like them....but utterly not my cuppatea. the advance of camera's / vid's etc is so cool...lets me pick apart every little thing i see myself doing and think "i can do that better"...there's always something. i think i mighta been able to do that a little more gracefully...keep that giant head lower and maybe lead with a hip but eh, it worked. i am hoping to make a few more sessions if there's any room and to work on the 'graceful' as opposed to 'energetic' parts of rolling a boat...slow things down. i've always just given a strong sweep and rolled but it'd be great if i could maybe be a little more graceful. strong is good but it never hurts if your technique is better. i've always wanted to hand roll...can i get there this year? probably not, but good to have a goal. was doing rolls with just the split last weekend...which is a 'little' less leverage....how many thousands more rolls and stretching before i can do a hand roll? for me, that'd be the roll end goal.

Thanks Doug! i still need to keep that fat head down from the looks of things....

i want it...it's mine, mine i tell you! thanks Pru

anyone not going to be able to make a scheduled pool session in haverhill or portsmouth? i'm gettin' a little antsy to get in a pool with my boat...lemmeknow. thanks

1. monstrously strong paddling. monstrously strong period. diet and the gym are going very well. i don't acknowledge "getting older" as a precept and graciously embrace "getting better" i don't want to be the same paddler on my approach to middle age as i was at 25 - i will be better. 2. bag nights. very few nights camped out of my kayak at all in 2012. work, dogs, commitments...unacceptable excuses for 2013. 3. at least 2 self defined "epic" journeys. nothing to get the heart racing out of the chest maybe...just a couple where i look back and can say "huh...i did that." parameters will vary - i'll know them when i encounter them. 4. embrace the journey and suck the joy right out of all of it. laugh, sweat, work, love and go to bed tired....some of that from little boats.

paddled outta pierces to the outside and into braveboat. coldish - never got out of the 30's on the water up there. foggy. viz wasn't so hot. we did have nice 4-5-6 footers with a decent period....pretty much surfed into braveboat. there was a sailboat from naples fl washed ashore there...long way to sail to only wash up. quick paddle through the creek and then a very foggy crossing over to the CG station and then back up to pierces. the crossing was interesting...not one of us brought a chart so it was a bit of a fugawi but it all worked out fine. have been dropping weight and working out and felt like king kong on sunday....this keeps up i am going to need a race boat! good to see an old friend i hadn't paddled with in awhile...nice day.

ooop....lest you think i'm wearing my pants on my head (they don't fit - it's a giant melon)...reverse that...

TOP - Peak UK Storm Pants - excellent dry pants/bib - very comfy and dry. once the feet wear out, have them replaced with latex booties. BOTTOM - Reeds Aquatherm Fleece Dry Cag - warm, comfy, cozy. perfect. they are both available in the states through Kayak Waveology in a variety of sizes.

from the breakwater/rockport harbor - 2nm or so. i miss rockport and seeing the sun come up over the water in the mornings...but virtually everywhere else is more convenient to....everywhere else!

Looks like the weather Gods are smiling on us again and will provide winds from the right direction to afford us a convenient playground. Maybe even let us use "Big Day Reef" right outside Stonington...so named cause it'll only go off on...well, you get the idea. Event kicks off Friday morning and there's still room for a late sign up or 2. http://www.kayakwaveology.com/4th-year-running-autumn-gales-2012-oct-19-21/

From Wayne H via Facebook "At 4:12 PM GDT I said my final farewell to my adventure partner, my mentor and dearest friend Derek Charles Hutchinson. Derek passed peacefully in his bed. His adventure on this earth started June 30, 1933 and ended October 10, 2012. He has now launched for his next adventure. I wish to thank all of you who have sent your comments to Derek. It meant so much to him, his family and friends. It is typical to wonder if you have made a difference during your time on earth. The comments you have sent are just a fraction of the number of people Derek touched. There is no doubt he made a huge impact during his life. I will be posting when & where services will be held for those who are in the UK. I will also be writing some articles as tributes to Derek. On behalf of all of kayakers I want to thank Derek for touching our lives. He is truly the Father of Modern Sea Kayaking - Wayne"

For all you socially savvy media types, you may want to think about dropping Derek Hutchinson a message of gratitude or well wishes. He's got an FB Page. Like him or not, realize it or not, he had a huge impact on our sport and on our club. He was instrumental in writing BCU dogma and curriculum for years and still holds the rank of sr coach. He was instrumental in helping to form the philosophy of the club founder and subsequently, the course this club has taken over the years. He's a boat that leaves a large wake. If you have not seen the ANYPLACE WILD episode where he takes John Viehman paddling about the UK, then pull it up on youtube or order it on amazon. It's an oldie and while the sport, instruction and video has come a long way, that video turned a lot of people on to sea kayaking, myself included.

came outta rye harbor and hit the beach by 0900 or so....4 and 5 and 6 footers, a rising sun, one board surfer and us. we surfed and took a beating for 2 hours or so...both of us caught air a # of times while paddling out through the break as the boats were launched off the lips and onto the backs..slam/slam as the hulls come down. so fun. difference in technique....i prefer to bull over the tops (they weren't THAT big) paddling back out and through the mess whilst a friend rolled under, let the badness pass overhead and then roll up on the quiet side....i think he had the easier of it! took one breaking into my face that was a stinger! on the whole a great way to spend a morning! can't believe we had the run of the place.

Greg Paquin / Kayak Waveology is presenting it's AUTUMN GALES event in the still warm waters off of Ct on October 19, 20, 21st. Greg, Paula, Carl Ladd, Harry Whelan, Phil Clegg, "Baldy" Pete Jones....various and sundry others all in the fast moving, fun and fractious waters off of Fishers Island Sound. Come and learn to use surf and current to your advantage and for the sheer joy of it! If you ain't smilin' you ain't doin' it right! Days proceeding the event, the lads will be offering BCU Coastal Nav as well and 3 and 4 star suss. Still some room....link below. See you there! http://www.kayakwaveology.com/4th-year-running-autumn-gales-2012-oct-19-21/

No wind to speak of and the rides were looong and lovely at rye today. Four and five footer this morning that died away into the avternoon. We were the only ones there and then later joined by some short boaters. Five folks all day along that entire beach. Sweet

Hope its there for me tomorrow Glad you had a good time

i agree that making something a bugaboo does you no good. and i agree that practicing the developing roll (and the subsequent wet exits, etc.,) can really sap your energy and that's why 2 folks practicing rolling is less tiring...one can support the other and literally give them a hand if/when the roll fails - this way you don't have to come out of the boat, empty it out, get back in, repeat. not always possible as you may want to practice on your own but that can definitely be more tiring. one of the things some may find useful for sculling, rolling and for the R&R is extending the paddle. it gives you a much longer lever (so if you have less nuance...well, you've got more power), it gives you a feel for the blade angle and i think you're more likely to find success with it as a beginning roller. once you've got that down and then can progress to rolling practice alone (so you don't have to schedule with that second person if you just want to get on the lake or whatever for an hour or so alone) you can try bringing the paddle back into a normal hold and if/when you don't have success with that grip, can simply extend the paddle and roll up. saves you expending the energy of coming out, pumping out, etc. the paddle float i find to be a poor device other than for re-entry and roll or for a camp pillow or added emergency flotation, or, or, or....but as that whole paddle float rescue thing goes? nonsense. i don't like that its a core curriculum bullet point and hope that someday the aca comes to it's senses on that one. much better off teaching to what it's useful for and emphasizing the safety in at least 2 people paddling as long as they're familiar with rescues....opinions will vary.

FWIW - i once had a spinnaker shackle release at an inopportune time.

i question your statement that the coast guard is tasked with enforcing all state laws. "The Coast Guard shall enforce or assist in the enforcement of all applicable laws on, under and over the high seas and waters subject to the jurisdiction of the United States." that's federal law, not state law. an example of the divergence and separation of state and federal aquatic / marine law enforcement - in NH waters (fresh and salt), the state requires and enforces (barring change) that kayakers have a 360 degree white light visible for 2 miles at night while the coast guard enforces a less stringent federal requirement on vessels our size...in low light, we're required to have a white light available in time to avoid collision. while the 2 standards above don't preclude one another, they're different and the coasties enforce only the federal requirement and not the state. my curiousity is this ...the cg is a federal agency and enforces federal law....as state agencies enforce state laws and local agencies enforce local laws. as a federal agency, the CG has jursidiction in regards to any federal maritime law on the books. while safety and sar is a huge part of what they do, it seems that their law enforcement focus is drug interdiction, marine resources enforcement and illegal alien interdiction. in any event, all of which is the basis for my questioning your statement that the cg enforces all state law being entirely accurate. questions 1 and 2 others have answered.

i have a rescue vest that is equipped with a belt w a QR to rig a short. I think most manufacturers make a rescue vest with a similar setup...i use an asrtal - i find it to be very comfortable. that short tow line is daisy chained and then only deploys to about 11 feet or so...enough to clear the back of my boat so i can maneuver around and short enough that there's little delay between deploying and actual towing. the long tow and short tow 'biners are always stashed separately and always in the same location on my vest so that when i need to grab a tow, i know which one i'm grabbing. one of the things that brian is talking about above is a contact tow - the line is attached from boat to boat as opposed to more traditional tow lines that are attached rescuer to boat, ya? if you look in the photos i have on line on nspn here (somehwere? content? i have no idea how to find them again!) there are photo's and captions of changing out that bungie on the foredeck closest to the cockpit for a hardline and then how to make the contact tow and how to run it between boats. so basically 4 ways to tow... bulldog (rescu-ee holding onto rescuer boat. fastest way to get that swimmer/boat moving!) and the thing is that if it's faster/safer to just haul the swimmer BACK away from the hazard, you leave them in the water, have them hold your boat AND their boat, bring their legs UP around one or the other and then just paddle out fast, fast fast....you don't neccesarily need to put them back in the boat or deploy a line...they act as the link between boats. it's a very fast way to effect movement but the guy in the water has to be careful to watch his head...it's by pointy ends of boats. shoulders are exposed...it's dangerous but fast. contact tow (line from boat to boat, second fastest way. little / no maneuverability, can be pretty darn rough on everyone involved) short tow (rescuer to boat - short line, third fastest, you are maneuverable but not suited for bigger conditions or very comfy for long hauls) long tow (rescuer to boat, slowest to impact movement but the most comfy, safest for long hauls or bigger water)

i think a sail on a kayak is an interesting idea....i think too that it would work better with a ruddered boat....you could stow the paddle leaving your hands free to fiddle with the sail while controlling direction with the rudder. i'd guess you could cover a whole lotta water that way at a pretty good clip. be interested to see photo's of whatever you do.

good for you pru!