SeanK

"his contribution to society was considerably more significant"??? (Red Auerbach) drafted the first African-American player in NBA history. Auerbach was the first to start five black players. Auerbach, when he retired, essentially picked Russell to coach the Celtics, making him the first black head coach in modern American professional sports. Auerbach was doing this, mind you, in a city very often openly hostile to blacks, a city heading into racial upheaval. (Wilson, Washington Post) I personally feel that societal movement in the form of better civil rights and the like WERE significantly impacted by Red's contributions...especially in Boston... Even though you may not be a sports or Celts fan, you don't need to disrespect the man.

Dear NSPN Members, This is just a place holder for your calendars. We've booked "the Barn" once again on the 1st weekend of December for our pot-luck soiree. For those who are new, we have an annual pot-luck Holiday party to celebrate not only the festivities of the year, but those of the past paddling season. The food is bar none the best you've ever had and the comradery is even better. In addition, we have awards and a free raffle which proves to be quite enjoyable. For more details please refer to the NSPN calendar. Looking forward to a fantastic event, Sean

What time?

You know Kev, some of the best paddlin' experiences I've had this summer is with my 2 year old. (Tongue in cheek - before Carl & Jeff beat me to it) They're predominately the *only* paddling experiences I've had this summer...

One trick is to exagerate your wrist/grip in the set-up position (Or push forward on the throttle vs. pull back). You should angle your paddle blade so that it cups the water vs. cuts the water - thereby when you're pulling on the blade the angle may offset it. Diving paddle can occur when you "pull" the blade vs. truly sweeping the blade - the pulling will change the angle of the blade. Another trick is when capsized, you should stick the blade out of the water and slap the surface like a beaver tail - then start your sweep. Thereby you know the blade is in the correct position, ready to give you support.

Al- I second that recommendation. I too got the book after reading the post. I also think it would be of great aid to the MA Bay Water Trail - as it details out a lot of the public access points not to mention good landing spots. No need to recreate the wheel. Sean

David, It’s all well and good to volunteer somebody else’s time, but this effort in my opinion incorporates a lot more time, effort and energy than you’re putting forth. Firstly, when is the hearing? Who is going to be there? What kind of press will be involved? Secondly, what does the general membership believe? Have you done a poll to the membership as to legitimately put forth the membership’s opinion? Thirdly, how will this legislation truly impact the club? Is it a statement for the kayak community as a whole, or from a group of rather sophisticated kayakers, who predominately are not affected by this legislation? Forth, will doing any political lobbying affect our 501©(3) status? As sometimes political lobbying will revoke your IRS designation. Fifth, who is going to do the legwork, because the Board has its hands full with everything else the club is trying to do? Sixth, did you consider any implications it may make to the ACA as we are an ACA affiliate organization? Seventh, there are more implications than just a statement from an educated club, have we considered them all? I do appreciate your original post, as it does bring club awareness to the Bill’s status, which mind you hasn't been changed since March. However, please don’t put a charge to the Board in this manner without truly detailing out its total impacts. Sean

Poncho- My apologies for my previous post. However, for those of us who want to help this organization out, any suggestions as to how we can participate without putting our lives in danger.

Keith & John – I am happy to hear that both of you are doing well. I am also heartened to hear that you are willing to talk about your ordeal. Dear NSPN, I think it’s a lot easier to look into the limited knowledge obtained through news reports to cast an opinion on these events. As Keith has written in hindsight, his decision to go out was not the best of choices. Hopefully, he’ll let us know as to how and why he made that decision so we can learn from him as well as other things that ‘could have gone better.’ We are a club whose purpose is to provide and educate safe paddling for and from our membership. In this recent event, we have witnessed one of our more seasoned members undergo something that we as a paddling community usually would only read and talk about from someone outside our membership. As this hits close to home, I think that this demonstrates that we ALL are capable of making an incorrect judgment, regardless of our knowledge and technical abilities. Over the past year we have seen the club torn on the issue of risk management and how we want to develop ourselves as qualified leaders and educated participants. The right decision and good judgment dictate whether we have a good enjoyable time on the water versus a bad trip occurring at the start. I do not feel this is time to declare our opinion as to what is right or wrong. Rather I believe this is a time to learn to help our own decision making for future paddling excursions. Sean

My condo association is looking into acquiring 2-3 kayak stackers to hold ~ 8 kayaks/canoes. Preferable they'd be self standing vs. wall mounted and have someplace to lock the boats to. Boats vary in size from small recreational boats to larger day touring. Any ideas? Any crafty folks out there interested in a project?

Dear NSPN members, I’d like to take this opportunity to update the members as to our recent activities as well as those activities which we see coming up this Spring/Summer paddling season. Well to start off, for a kayaking club who spends most of their time on warmer waters, we have had a very busy winter. Pool sessions: We’ve hosted multiple pool sessions in Beverly, Ipswich, Chinatown, and even Brookline. People are having a blast in the water, whether it is learning or fine tuning their rolls, working on their braces, or practicing a scull. We still have more pool sessions open so if you still interested in some pool time please refer to the message board or the calendar. Workshops: We’ve had some great workshops from weather and navigation, fitness and personal safety, continuing into our annual outfitting and rigging boats workshop. In the near future we’ll be having Kayak Camping, Intro to Kayaking – a beginner’s workshop, and potentially a hands-on full Navigation class with on water practice. Please refer to the message board and calendar for dates and times. Professional Instruction: This year we’re going to go with a themed approach to instruction. Basically, start from the basics and work towards becoming more accomplished paddlers by the end of the season. Jun – Back to Basics/Fundamentals (Basic Strokes and Technique) Jul – Fine Tune Your Skills (Roll, Forward Stroke, Other Adv Techniques) Aug – Greenland Paddling/Rolling Sep/Oct – Surf and Rough Water for Beginners/Intermediates As we’re still in our planning phase; details will be announced when they are ready. Trip Leader Training: TLT is well underway with 20 aspiring leaders. For those NSPN leaders who would like a refresher or just join the crew on the water, please contact the Trip Leader Committee. Trip Leader Assessment: As I mentioned in a previous post, the Board is still working on the Trip Leader Assessment and will be rolling this out shortly. I’m anticipating a great paddling season, and look forward to more trips, events and activities in the future. Hope to see you on the water, Sean NSPN President

Dear NSPN Members, Before we get ahead of ourselves through posts, I'd like to set the record straight. Firstly, as we all know (if you don't feel free to read the strings) the club (via the Board) has chosen to follow the suggestions of our Risk Consultants and opt for a more standardize practice of assessing leaders. Mind you that the Risk Consultants also commended the club on its current Trip Leader Program. Secondly, we (as a Board) are extensively going through what the appropriate assessment should be. I can assure you that this has neither been and easy nor quick task. Our goals are to ensure that our program, as a whole, remains in earnest of what we have done and will continue to do. That is to lead and provide safe kayaking trips from and for our members. However, keeping in mind that our membership constitutes many individuals from all different minds of thought and histories of various training, we have found that there is no presolved perfect solution. Therefore, we are catering the assessment well within the insurance guidelines setforth by our insurer (ACA) and stay true to the Trip Leader Training program the club has historically worked hard at building. When the assessment criteria has been determined (which will be soon), I will personally send out a message informing the club on how we will roll it out. I do appreciate people's wants and needs to know what is going to happen, but I do not want to mislead anyone. If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact me. Sean NSPN President

Ken- This is a program for "anyone" who wants to be a better leader on the water. It is not a requirement for folks to take the assessment to lead trips through an ACA PAC. Meaning NSPN will still have insurance coverage running its own official trips similarly to years past. I think this is the ACA's reaction to various club's questions of how to assess leaders. As well as letting people know individually how they compare to objective standards. -Sean

Brian- Will I be able to repair a leak in my (dare I say it) plastic boat? There's a leak in the bulkhead b/w the day hatch and the cockpit. And put me in for some bungee material & deck lines. How long do you think it'll take? -Sean Red Necky Elaho

VISION: To create a water trail from Salisbury to Provincetown, MA WHAT IS A H20 TRAIL? Per the ACA: - The trail is a contiguous or semi-contiguous waterway or series of waterways that is open to recreational use by paddlers; - The trail has public access points for paddlers; - The trail is covered by a map, guide, signage or a web site that is of reasonable quality and detail and available to the public. - Published or printed materials for the trail (e.g. guidebook, map, signs, website) communicate low-impact ethics to trail users; and - The trail is supported and/or managed by one or more organizations. WHY? B/c it’d be a lot of fun…b/c it’s cool…b/c we can…b/c we can give back to the paddling community…and many others… HOW CAN YOU HELP? Considering the scope of this project, I see needs everywhere. Some initial thoughts are: - Planning the overall trail - Mapping (err…) Charting out the course section by section (any GPS heads out there?) - Creating a website - Linking those Charts to that website w/ descriptive write-ups - Going on “Private” or mayhap “Official NSPN” trips to write a brief synopsis on what to expect to local history of a section of the trail - Coordinating w/ local lodging (campsites, motels, hotels, B&B’s, 5* Boston Harbor Hotel?) - And everything else that I can’t think of right now. OK I’M INTERESTED, WHAT DO I DO??? Send me an email – kimballss at hotmail dot com I’m hoping to have a brainstorming/planning meeting on a Saturday sometime in February.