Adam Bolonsky

Hi Keith, the 16/22a would be your initial call on 16 (I assume) followed by continuing the conversation on 22a. I don't know what the CG and H'master did with you guys, but often the CG flips rescue calls to 22a so that 16 thus remains open for any other rescue calls from other boaters elsewhere. Each time I've contacted the CG, it's always been initial contact on 16, then they've told me to switch to 22a for details and further comms. But maybe the protocol is different for complex rescue scenarios.

Hi Keith and John, glad to hear you guys made it out okay. Sounds like it was a long day. I hope you can add details in your report on what type of flares you used, what it was like to light them while you were in the water...and other details like whether you used handheld flares after launching the rockets. And how did the rescue swimmer handle himself? And what was the lift in the rescue basket like? Any way you can could get and post a transcript of the 16/22a conversation you had with the CG and Harbormaster?

Last weekend during trip leader training one of the trainers put out a securite call on channel 73 (the working channel that day) to notifiy mariners that we were involved in rescue practice off the coast of Rockport, near Pebble Beach. Securite calls are good calls to make if you want all mariners in the area to know that you are either in an escalating situation or that you are, say, in the open or in a channel in darkness or fog. Basically you broadcast either your situation (say, pre-hypothermic paddler, and you are drifting around and need other boaters to be sure not to run you down) or your intentions (you're crossing from point A to point B on course x in fog or low visibility, etc., and you want powerboaters nearby to get in touch so they don't run you down). The keys to the securite call is to be sure you identify yourself so that interested parties can contact you directly AND to make the call on CHANNEL 16. A couple of seasons back, a bunch of NSPNers were running rescue drills off Rockport's Granite Pier. They put out a securite call that the Rockport Harbormaster duly noted in their log. The NSPNers gave their location, what they were up to, and a callback sign ("NSPN"). The harbormaster really appreciated the call. It gave them a heads up were someone on shore to phone them with a kayakers in trouble call when, in fact, the paddlers were only practicing drills. If I'm not incorrect, whoever made the securite call last week made it ONLY on channel 73. This doesn't accomplish much, as 73 is not monitored by the Coast Guard or local harbormasters. Nor is 73 (or 72 or 68, etc.) monitored by local boaters as a matter of course. The ONLY channel on which to make a securite call (or a mayday or pan-pan, for that matter) is on channel 16. Channel 16 is the only channel all boats underway and all rescue personnel onshore monitor. Don't mean to be a blowhard but, most important, 16 is the only channel that boats that carry VHFs are required to monitor. So if you want your call to be heard by everyone in the area, put it on 16. That's the beauty of 16. Since everyone is required to monitor it, it's the best way to contact everyone in the area who has a radio, has it turned on, and has it monitoring 16...who is in other words acting like a prudent and helpful boater.

...and apparently blitzing heavily on the flats and near the bridge. For more info check Dave Bitters' reports at baymenoutfitters.com. This is a fine place to fish without getting hurt. Shallow water (but fast-moving tides) and this time of year the fish are small enough that they are manageable. Bluefish are another story however, now matter how small they might be early in season....

Tommy, I might be able to help you out. I've got a Tempest 17 in fiberglass that the local rep might be interested in getting rid of pretty cheap. adambolonsky at yahoo dot com

...locals all, one from Ct.; all have articles in the current i(Arpil/May) issue of WaveLength. download the mag in pdf format at wavelengthmagazine.com or wait until a stack shows up at your local retailer.

I'll just point out you really don't want to be >bitten or scratched by a seal. The resulting infection is >reported to be quite nasty (and dangerous) and requires a >series of antibiotics for treatment. > >Ralph Cohn Hi Ralph, could you send me more info or links about seal scratches/bites and the course of treatment? I need more info to flesh out a possible article. Reply here or to me at adambolonsky at yahoo dot com. Thanks.

This no doubt didn't end happily. Mark and I had landed on Muskeget as the sun began to fade toward a muted scrim in the haze. We saw on a tombolo off Muskeget what looked like a log washed up on the sand. Stephens landed. It was a seal with a large section of fishing netting wrapped around its neck. Mark approached and reached to slip the netting over the seal's head. It lifted its head towards him, gruntend, bared its teeth, and bellowed hoarsely and in agressive fear. Mark backed off. The seal gallumpfed off the bar towards the water and slid into the waves, poking its head up to swivel its head towards us before submering again and swimmig away. It's unlikely the animal survived. The net was around its neck tight, and seemed to be affecting the animal's breathing. Later the tide came in and the tombolo disappeared.

I have heard from a most unreputable source that the AHawk is a crummy boat: weathercocks, pitchpoles in rough water, and is too long to be credible. Anyone know anything different or more? Or have a link to reviews? Along those lines, anyone know anything about the Sparrow Hawk? Feel free to answer direct to me at adambolonsky at yahoo dot com or to post here as usual.

I've got an article in this month's issue of New England Sports, a freebie available in most major sporting goods stores and in the larger health clubs. It's about paddling from the core and includes three or four pre-season drills for getting in shape for upcoming paddle season. If you don't want the print version, there should be a link at www.newenglandsportsmag.com

Hi Ed, I spent a week up there about four years ago. I thought it was a terrific place. Lots of fog, remote atmosphere, no boats other than lobsterers and the occassional packet cruiser in from New York or Boston. I remember you can get badly messed up there, as some of the islands in the outer ring have shallow ledges off and near them. The surf jacks high as it comes in from offshore and can catch you off guard. Erica Bernstein and Karen Gladstone highly recommend a trip to to the Brothers. Same issue with offshore ledges, but worth the trip. Tough landing. The tide runs hard. Jonesport hasn't got much in the way of services. Bring all you need. For what it's worth, there's a Coast Guard station in Jonesport with plenty of rescue resources. I was glad to have my VHF, yet was disconcerted when the only responder to my radio check was silence. The fog mutes everything. When in doubt or lost, paddle north. You're sure to hit land. East of Halifax Island, toward Corea, the waters struck me as go all the way downeast or go home, because the headlands don't leave much wiggle room to land on without getting hammered.

would you guys know the relevant exit numbers? I'm going west, he's coming east. Thanks.

Anybody know of an easy-to-find meeting spot in Framingham convenient and close to the Mass Pike? I need to meet a guy there Thursday night to hand off some gear, and neither one of us wants to drive more than a minute or two off the Pike to get there. Someplace obvious and hard-to-miss would be great: a McDonald's or Dunkin' Donuts or something like that.

Hey Jason, can you send me your phone numbers. Adam adambolonsky@yahoo.com

This one's both not as easy and not as difficult as it looks. Be careful not to down-arch your back (i.e., allow your belly to sag toward the floor) during the horizontal set up phase. Note how in the horizontal set up Mike flattens his feet on the ball, to aid his balance. The set-up and lift work your hams, glutes, lats, abs. If your abs are weak you will have difficutly supporting yourself while horizontal. Suck in your gut, concentrating on the muscles that lie over the front horns of your pelvis to either side of and just above the groin. You'll find extra strength there. I've done this drill many, many times. The amount of microadjusting with my abs and obliques it takes to hold my body horizontal during the set up is extraordinary, then fun. Do the lift (to the vertial pike) carefully, slowly, so you don't fall sideways. Meanwhile the workout to your obliques (muscles at the hips) and your abs is intense but not killing. Believe it or not, the vertical pike is pretty easy to maintain once you get your rear end up in the air: mostly a matter of balancing with your hamstrings and hip abductors. But wow, lowering yourself back to horizontal, now that's work! This, the ball pike, also works the delts (shoulders) and triceps. The exercise ball is as old as the hills even if in the U.S. it's new and trendy. Exercise balls with their book of drills are cheap: $20 at places like Barnes and Noble. As before, poses courtesy Mike Harb (mharb@rcn.com), who let me take the photos at one of the gyms he trains at locally.

Hi Paul, nope not the same benefits if you stand up straight, because then it works mostly the tri's and delts (shoulders). Best way to learn more would be to contact Mike at mharb@rcn.com But one way to protect your back is to go slowly. Also, strengthening your abs is the best way to protect the back, as your abs support your back.

The medicine ball twist, shown here in an advanced form by Mike, because he has lifted his feet off the floor, strengthens not only the obliques (the muscles that wrap around your hips) but also the abs, the lats, the quads and the hamstrings. Strengthen these muscles and you will end up with a paddlestroke that uses more torso rotation. First you will gain awareness of what rotating muscles feel like. Once you know what a rotating torso feels like, torso rotation will become the basis of your paddle stroke. All your arms will then have to do is deliver to your paddle the power your rotated torso creates. You will keep the kangaroo out of your boat.... The key is to place the medicine ball (or soup can or telephone book) on the floor to one side before lifting and twisting to the other side and putting the weight down on the floor before lifting it once more. What's nice about this exercise is that in addition to strenthening your core it forces you to use your hips and abs to maintain your balance. You'll thus learn also to balance your kayak more with your body, less with your paddle.

It's tough to paddle with torso rotation if you don't have a strong core, or that muscle group which connects your torso to your lower back and shoulders (i.e. your lats, abs, obliques and hips). Here's Mike Harb, Australian National Tae Kwon Do champion and alternate on Australia's Olympic team, demonstrating a series of exercises aimed at helping kayakers strengthem their cores. This, the simple lat row, strenghtens your lats, or that flared muscle which connects your hips to your shoulderblades by way of your armpits. You should feel a tight pinch, with each lift of the dumbells (or soup cans or telephone books), both at and behind your armpit and a nice stretch when you lower the weight. Start with three sets of six reps, and try not to increase the weight by more than 5% each week. Some soreness the next day after doing the lat row is good. Soreness and tenderness prove that your muscles were working. To alleviate the soreness, avoid the temptation to take several days off. Do the same exercise the next day without any weights. By repeating the motion weightless you stretch the sore muscles and increase blood flow to the muscle microtears that are a necesscary by-prodcut of strength training. Mike works at Gold's Gym in Arlington, a Boston-area kayaker's mecca if ever there was one.

Hi John, I have about another dozen photos. If you know Coast Guard Beach in Eastham, the one with the former CG station on the bluff where the national park service lifeguards live in summer, that's the place. This is directly behind the beach dunes about a quarter mile north of the Nauset Inlet. I've fished back there, closer to the inlet, and seen lots of fast-moving thin water, but never seen patterns like this. I added in a couple other photos on the message board under "more of the same, different view." The pix were taken long after low tide, with some backwash still swirling at the inlet. The symmmetry of the delta pattern and their sheer number was remarkable. Typically the water back here doesn't get too deep: maybe four feet at most.....

posted in a new thread

An unusual sight recently after a drain tide on the flats behind Coast Guard Beach in Eastham. These were perfectly symmetrical and covered an area roughly a eighth-mile square. Perhaps John Huth or some other physics or bathrythmic expert could explain why and how:

....still trying to get the Photoshop pano function to blend photos gracefully. http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c169/Ada...intpanocopy.jpg

...how many paddlers does it take in winter to take a picture of a solo paddler on water on a cold January day?

Hi John, the Little Wing was as easy to roll as the Tempest but not quite as fast overall --- too short. It was as fast as my Tempest on demo day mostly because a newer padder was in my Tempest and I had put the jets on so I could outpace the two longer kayaks. So I wouldn't say that the Little Wing would be faster overall. It's too short relative to a full-length seakayak. But then again, the Tempest 17 is no speedster either. Its expedition width was made for seaworthiness, not speed, as you of course know.. (I've got one too and have had to adjust to chasing everyone else these days, Monster Kates notwithstanding.) Yes, it is unusual to have the skeg control inside the cockpit. But Zac and Warren say they will customize hulls to put the controls outside the cockpit. Thing is, the boat is almost too loose with the skeg up. You really need it down to make the boat track properly. If you want more info email Zac or Warren.