rick stoehrer

there's a few angles... public image - yup, use a dearth of public reasources and skeedaddle. ecology - if 5 paddlers fill one bucket and everyone rinses their gear then you save water as opposed to 5 paddlers going home and filling 5 individual buckets. (without going into some complex equation concerning the volume of the buckets, evaporation, the tide cycle and or the day of the week, please) to me as a paddler the ecological argument is more compelling than the public image argument. and that's not to say we should block a busy boat ramp either....if it came down to it, i'd fill it and move it to the back of a car and then rinse everyones gear there. but, like the lady said, i don't clean gear...i'm saving a ton of water.

yikes.... the last one they had stolen...i was coming back from maine and saw the identical boat on a roof on 95...i called suze and gave her the location, car make/color, license # and a description of the driver and she called BSK and then called me right back to let me know if i should "tail em" (move over spenser, it's stoehrer for hire...nice ring, no?) she calls me back 5 minutes later and tells me we have apparently located the GF of one of the BSK guys bringing a demo boat down from maine as the shop didn't have one in stock after the theft...alright so swing and a miss.... point being we ALL recognize boats and hulls going down the road...hell, it's the first thing we see above the roof lines in traffic (just me? come on, help me out here...that's "normal" for kayakers, right?) so it's hardly a case of eternal vigilance....it's the first damn thing we all see! so come on all you kayak junkies out there...you know what you're looking for - let's hope the boat gets back to BSK! besides which $750 is a nice # to round out your season of excessive (dare i use the word excessive?) gear purhcases....like that portable blender for delicous frozen beverages on the beach, apres paddle!

"the rick stoehrer school"? ...hmmn, i would have hoped that i'd be known more for my fantastic sense of humor, dashing good looks and remarkable humility as opposed to the condition and scent of my gear. as far as fresh water....weren't YOU the one that reccomended we paddle in that muck hole in merrimac earlier this week? the only time i've spent in that "fresh" stuff in quite awhile! in marblehead there is a faucet on the harbor side and there is a hose attached to rinse of your stinky boots and feet. it is on the R hand side at the top of the boat ramp...i think it used primarilly as a faucet to water dogs as i tripped over a bowl and dang near killed myself - worse yet, would have dropped my boat (perish the thought) most folks do bring fresh water but if you were to fill one bucket and then everyone rinse the gear then...i suppose that would be a solution to the notion of folks individually just keeping the water flowing. i remain fragrantly yours,

you see scratches, i see "fun scars" - proof of fun purchase. i keep 'em on the back deck. nothing stays on the foredeck as folks will confirm that they have lost amongst other things, charts, water bottles, gps' and various and sundry other things, besides which if it's right there in front of you, there will be the undoubted desire to "fiddle" with things when you shouldn't. if secured properly, i have never lost anything off of the back deck and only seen it happen once in REALLY big surf. the trick is to be able to reach around and grab a split if your primary busts.

don't forget the integral rudder....long, little rocker, integral rudder...i don't know why it reminds me of an australian boat but there seems to be a similarilty to my eye.. okay, whaddya think? look close? http://www.mirageseakayaks.com.au/graphics/530doyles1.jpg

welcome to the area - the club has a bunch of skill sessions and trips - check out the calendar and head out with one of the groups. it's a pretty nice bunch of people and most are pretty helpful.

i have an idea for ya....give me a call tomorrow.

hey john leonard - drop me an email - rickstoehrer@hotmaildotcom

i'll leave the expert judgement to others but i would like to paddle it in conditions just to feel the differences.

that's funny as hell! can you paddle this week after work? big water bubba!

i have nothing to add to Ken C's comments and would only add david, that it is extraordinarilly unlikely that nigel was looking for a good teaching boat in desiging and manufacturing the romany/explorer. the man has little interest in naught BUT paddling and the design, layup and evolution of same has been a direct response to the high winds, big seas and rocky shores of wales. it was designed essentially for his enjoyment and to paddle in big seas and not as a teaching platform. as it happens, the guy could probably teach comfortably perched on a 2 x 4. of the boats dicussed, i've paddled 2. the pintail is so different i would hardly compare it to an explorer - completely different keel - far, far more rocker with so little volume in the ends. the key feature to the pintail (and to which brian will attest) is that the little devil just wants to turn and play in rocks. you need a bit of skeg to keep her going straight - and while i was only in her one calm day, i would imagine this is exacerbated in conditions...particularly to beam or astern. the legend has hard chines and is a bit narrower...i've never paddled the boat but my observation is that it's quite large. the aquanot is a more similarly designed hull as compared to an explorer at least but again, my observation from camping w/suze is that it's huge. we unpacked and unpacked that thing like a damn clown car....stuff just kept coming out WAY after the explorer would have been emptied. as far as the explorer i find the transition from primary to secondary to be excellent and easy....scull down, scull up....roll, whatever. on a big day, this boat shines from this almost seemless transition...very little surprises you and grabs any bit of boat. it isn't the fastest, it isn't the most voluminous and it surely ain't the lightest but on a big day, i woudn't trade it for the world.

there was no swimming but there was some research in the field of inverted paddling....a more traditional hull profile is better....but hell, if you ain't inverted every now and then you just ain't trying! i posted the trip report. it was a fantastic day! the southern contingent there has an amazing piece of shoreline to paddle.

as if there were a short way.... with the race not too far off, we wanted to paddle around just to see what it felt like. personally, i wanted familiarize myself with the entire course as opposed to the little putz arounds i've done....to see the WHOLE coast at a pop. we set out from the HS around 9:30 and rode the ebb to the mouth....came into an E/NE wind at a F2 or F3..not much at all really. we poked our bows into just about every nook and cranny we could find....ride the swell up the rock....and then back down the rock....more fun than this point to point paddling stuff.... we got around halibut point and the wind and swell were now pushing us along....LOVELY....paddle, paddle, riiiiiide....repeat. this was a blast! as we came into rockport, back beach disappeared, front beach disappeared....bear skin neck....gone....the fog settled in a thick blanket. got a little too excited riding the swells and rather than maintaining the correct heading to shoot the gap and lunch on straitsmouth....prety much ran right in towards the inner harbor...okay, could have done that better (but still, there were swells to ride!) after we lunched on straitmouth, we headed out again in the thick fog....paddling down the coast you couldn't eve see thatchers twin lighthouses...we paddled past pebble and long, past salt island and good harbor and bass rocks...all the while riding the swells down....we stopped in at braces cove (where it was FLAT, FLAT, FLAT) and had a bit more tea and met a lady walking 2 labs and a pony/mastiff named Zoey. Zoey was enormous and it was easy to see how a dog like that could defend a castle or bait a bear or pretty much do any damn thing it wanted if it was so inclined. fortunately, Zoey was inclined to be a friendly slobbery mess. we launched again and made the last 3 odd miles back to the high school in utterly not record time. but we'd seen the whole thing, poked our noses in everywhere we wanted and had a blast meandering about the cape!

hi suze - wasn't there chatter at one point about putting the minutes from the BOD meetings on-line? not stirring trouble, don't care....just recall in teh vague recesses that was bandied about....probably too big a PITA to be worth it really.

**caution - not for the feint of heart** Saturday we were set to launch from Pavillion with the modest goal of paddling to Plum Island...to walk over the top of the island and then take a gander at the mayhem going off on the outside....crossing over from shore, the wind whipped down outta the North, straight down the Sound with gusts to 50 mph...keeping the boat on any kind of track to head out East....next to impossible. the outside...HUGE, giant, waves - crashing and dumping monsters that would certainly snap a kayaker into little disposable bits without knowing or caring and poof...you'd shrug the mortal coil in a foamy malestrom. Paddling back West from Plum island....the wind had built and the flood had just finished...the tide was high, pushed in from the cycle and the storm; the swells were wrapping around the point and then heading back North into the teeth of the wind....big swells being faced up by the force of wind on water...they rose and rose until they broke with a roar. all the while, the wind shearing off the tops and trying to halt that inexorable flow of water....and it seemed as if the wind could almost do it on Saturday. Paddling back with the 50 mph gusts on your right shoulder and the very large breaking waves on the left....getting back to Pavillion would have been folly, the only hope was to head into the swell and let the wind catapault you down to Castle Island and Cranes and then walk back. Well, that's what we thought anyways, sitting in the comfort of the warm car. We did get to the launch and we did gear up....we also had the very good sense to not launch....good rule of thumb - if you don't dare untie the boats from the racks for fear of their becoming kites....you probably shouldn't launch. and so my soul was satisfied with company, talk and breakfast at the Agawam. Sometimes, you just gotta bag it. Now, on Sunday, we did launch from Cashman park and then headed up the Merrimac for while. No real conditions to speak of - a bit of chop built up by the still breezey Low pressure system that was lingering.....did get to ride the ebbing tide back though....much easier than getting my fool self killed in Plum Island Sound. What's that old Irish adage so frequently quoted in all those kayaking treatises? Something about being scared of the sea and only being drowned now and then? Saturday? Scared. Sunday? Less scared. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend in the great weather that got tossed our way!

cancelled, cancelled, cancelled

it's going to be too big to be called a forecast....it's a five cast minimum...

i don't play well with others besides my friends are either already participating in the foolishness or won't be there. now a solo roll in that behemoth....

to paraphrase marv alpert via the david lettermen show. "....as always, this is an exhibition, not a competition, please no wagering" what so now we're an on-line gambling site? roll that fat boat dot com?

if you google the good senator you will already find him villified by the fella that writes a sex advice column that is nationally syndicated. i now better understand the strong emotion the senator engenders.

several of us went to see what we could play in off of plum island this past saturday. short answer is "not a lot" almost no wind, fog and very little "popcorn" off the shallow tip on the incoming tide. we stayed and played in what we could there, got a bit bored and then headed to the outside to see what we could play in. and here we had better luck...the swells were gently breaking on the sandy shore at about 3 feet or so...what better place to practice a little surfage? and so we did...walter had little experience surfing and so this forgiving break and sandy beach were a great situation/location to take those first exciting steps. ...the first challenge of course is catching them! timing and then that burst of speed required to get onto and then drop into the pocket....that's a huge step....the idea that the forward stroke you've worked so hard on all this time - to throw it out the window and just concentrate on FAST...not a stroke you'd use for more than a very short, brief time but to just paddle, cycle those blades and GO....and after a bit he got it and was catching the swells...which leads to the next challenge.... trying to control the boat as you catch that wave...lean forward to go faster and drop into the pocket...to lean back to slow down and to use the stern rudder a bit and then strokes (braces) up towards the front....and then when the boat starts to broach to bring those strokes around into a brace amidships and bongo on in....and then at the end to bring the brace around to the bow and let the power of the dying wave push the stern around toward shore on that pivoting brace and then, with your bow now pointed to sea....to paddle out and do it all again.... fun! walter took those first steps this weekend! and as folks who do would would certainly attest....once you get the rush of surfing a boat....yup, that's addictive. congrats walter....and you even fit into an explorer!

betty is a distant second to janis...but still far above the rest of the things in my heart and mind. i will not be putting her aside. that said, the WW is a blast and yup, i am more interested in the long WW boats than the cartwheeling, whacky gymnastics of playboats. i can see what you mean when you say those WW long boat skills transfer over...picking the line, moving in and out of eddies and surfing. the last 2 weekends have been a blast....but next weekend i return to the salty world from whence i came....hopefully i'll find a little surf to play in....or i'll end up doing miles....either way, the salt's on my face and i'll be happy! i'll check out that boat you're talking about. good luck next weekend with your next "pupil"

yesterday was the release of the millers river. for those of you unfamiliar with arcane massachusetts places, it's over by royalston, baldwinville and athol....nope, i'd never heard of 'em either. but they are really in massachusetts - tucked away off of 495. we got to the river and set up our shuttle for the 7 mile run....as the other fella's shuttled cars, i stood around and watched the folks bring their boats dow, get set up and greet eachother after a looooong winter. kayaks, sure, this i can understand....but there were folks taking canoes down this thing....pretty cool to see a short canoe, all decked out with the massive float bags with a minicel saddle and then the knee braces all rigged out....never saw anything like that before. and so we eventually launched and it was amazing fun....running down the icy cold river on a warm sun-shiney day. cutting into and out of eddies, trying to catch standing waves (with mixed success) and just bopping around, grinning as the river jusgt flowed on. lots of thanks to the other fella's for keeping me out of too much trouble!

i would agree with you, judgement is learned, as much as it ever is, through experience. the point is that no where in any training from the club is it indicated that solo in 30 degree water (or any degree water for that matter) is a good idea. all the training indicates actually, that hey, that's a bad idea. so in that regard, the training failed before the successful rescue could happen. and you're right, it is a success story. fella came back to shore. happy day, he'll paddle again and might not make that mistake again based on his experience! that is good news! i'm not being critical...like i said, we've all done this. me too. what it is not, is to say it's alright to do this solo, that someone has had training in a warm pool or lake with self rescue through nspn so by all means go out on the ocean alone. you don't want to perpetuate that, right?

all of the 'instruction' and the collective experiences say that the best tool in the box is judgement....not that we all haven't done it, but solo? now? no one's roll is bombproof...we've all seen schwimma's that were so unlikely as to be shocking. water temps in the 30's is probably not the best time to test that roll solo, huh? just one more lesson. obviously, glad/fortunate it worked out.