Rob Hazard

I plan to attend. I keep promising myself that this will be the year I start doing overnights in my boat!

I got an email from Rick Crangle with a shot of his Toyota pickup crunched under a pine tree. I offered him my chainsaw but got no reply. Anyone heard more from him? We had one big pine come down but it didn't hit anything. We were without power until noon on Saturday.

I will be there. Rob

I will try to make it , but it's not looking promising. Big "do" tonight in town. R

Congratulations to all three of you! Rob

Dear Prof Pintail: In addition to gracious invitations from locals, it is also worth keeping in mind that the southern coast of New England, from New London to Hyannis, is within range of a one-day road trip from the North Shore, especially if one is willing to carpool. As the days get too short for after-work outings, the option of a full day trip south becomes more enticing. It pays to stay in touch with all your paddling cronies! Cheers, Rob

This evening was the last Thursday paddling session at Chebacco Lake for this year. Thanks to Rick Crangle for his insightful, supportive, and enthusiastic coaching. Thanks, too, to all who showed up to play and learn. It was a wonderful summer! There's still plenty of warm paddling weather ahead. Get out and enjoy it! We'll be back on Chebacco Lake next June. Cheers, Rob

The clammers' beach is the first one on your right when you get out there. It has a couple picnic tables, a stone ledge, and beyond that, an unpaved boat ramp. Do not block the boat ramp! Drop your boat off on the beach, then go park your car beyond the "Resident parking only" sign on the other side of the road. There is space for at least a half-dozen cars there along the edge of the marsh. The few parking places between the sign and the Porta-Potti are off limits to us out-of-towners. As Gene indicates, launching there within an hour of low tide involves a bit of slogging through sticky mud. But it's such a lovely place to paddle!

A few of us are heading out of Conomo Point at 1:30 pm today towards Crane Beach. Low tide is at 2:30, so we hope to find some surf and ride the flood tide back in later. Obviously CAM rules would apply. Cheers, Rob

Oh, the skeg. We both took them out while the deck was off. They had never gotten much use and I'm convinced that a well balanced boat doesn't need a skeg.

Michael! I had lost track of your posting of the chopping of your Seguin. Was it on the Pond Scum website? I was quite taken with your idea, though, since my Seguin had been gathering dust ever since I bought my Explorer. Bob Cornell, with whom I'd built 2 Seguins in '94, also cut his down after mine turned out successful. Originally our boats were painted Pine Green and Grand Banks Beige, one color on deck and the other on the hull, reversed for the other boat. Very tasteful, but one day while crossing the channel of the Merrimack I realized that if I capsized, my boat would be perfectly invisible in the water. Not good! So I resolved to paint the hull something brighter if I ever got the chance. The chance came when I decided to chop the deck down, following your example which you showed me at Walden Pond. Actually, the colors I was after were more like a boat of Wayne Horodowich's, with a dark blue deck and a sunset orange hull, but when I tried to mix orange from yellow and red all I got was a slckly salmon color, so I stuck with the yellow. Consequently Bob's boat got the leftover red paint, trimmed with black and some bold yellow safety stripes on the bottom. I'm sorry I had forgotten your name, but I have always given credit to "some guy in Maine" from whom I got the idea of lowering the deck. It was a great idea! Unfortunately, the boat still gathers dust, since I picked up a used Romany for use as a rocks boat and have paddled nothing else since. But Julie needed a loaner boat so I foamed out the cockpit to fit her and that's what you see in Doug's pictures. Somehow I suspect that the photographer was more interested in the paddler than the boat...

I plan to launch (as in butt-in-boat) at 8:45 am to ride the ebb out the mouth of the Annisquam and arrive at Lane's Cove in plenty of time for the beach briefing. The distance to Lane's is just over 3 nm. Anyone else feel like getting a jump on the day? Rob

Doug, I plan to launch earlier at Long Wharf on the Jones River (off the Annisquam) and meet you at Lane's Cove. I will be there on the beach in Lane's at 10:00. Rob

The boat with the blue deck started life as a Seguin, designed by Rob Bryan of Woolwich, ME. Stitch and glue, 4mm ply/glass, about 40#. Bob Cornell and I built a pair of them the winter of 1994, then in 2006 I chopped the deck off mine and lowered it ~2" to make it a better "Greenland" boat. A few months later Bob did the same to his, but he gave his a different color scheme. It is a good rolling boat and fairly fast, but it doesn't edge and turn as effortlessly as my Romany, so it gets little use. The paddler is Julie Huang, a summer intern at the shop where Bob and I work. She has been in a kayak about 6 times, but she can already stand up in that boat and is halfway to having a roll! It's just NOT FAIR! Rob

I can't speak for Plum Is specifically, but yesterday on Essex Bay there were not all that many. I think I swatted 5 during a 5 hour visit. Of course I was in a shortie and paddling jacket, so I didn't have too much skin exposed! Maybe the rainy summer has flooded them out? Rob

We had 10 paddlers on the water today. Liz, Suwin, Judy W, Florrie, Julie Huang, Doug A, Bob Cornell, Dana, David McD, and meself. The launch was a bit muddy, being just a couple hours after low tide, but we paddled down to the the mouth of Essex Bay for a break and a bit of play in the standing waves kicked up by the current. Then we were off for a circumnav of Hog Island, which all the charts insist on calling Choate Island, for some unknown reason. At the north end we stopped for a spot of rescue practice before cruising back to Conomo for another session of rolling practice. OK, so nothing spectacular, just another great breezy, sunny day on Essex Bay with friends. BTW: The dreaded Greenheads were few and far between. I think I nailed 5 at most the whole day. Don't let Greenheadophobia keep you off the water! Thanks to all who showed up! Cheers, Rob

Take Rt 133 east through Essex to Harlow St, across from the Red Barrel Pub with the double decker bus. Take Harlow St, then go left on Conomo Pt Rd and follow until you see all the cars with boats. We unload at the little beach then park cars up the street.

I'm thinking of taking a turn around the bay, with the tide incoming (Hi ~ 2:30 pm) maybe cruising over to Hog Island and back, and if anyone wants to do some rescue practice we could do a bit of that on the way back to the launch. Meet at 10:00 am. On water by 10:30. This would be a Level 2 paddle, less than 10 nm on protected water. CAM trip guidelines apply. I figure a shortie wetsuit would be about right. So, who's up for it? Cheers, Rob

Ed, I'd love to explore that end of the bay. I'd go for a day trip rather than an overnight, at least until the weather dries out and the skeeters go bye-bye. Do you have a day in mind? Rob

Sounds like a glorious day out there, Rick. Who was there with you? Anyone take pix? Cheers, Rob

Thanks for posting the report and pix, Barry! Now you just need to photoshop yourself in next to Glen so we have the whole group in one shot! Thanks, too, to everyone who came along and helped with the brush clearing on Crow. We made some big progress there! It was a lovely day on the water. Maybe we can do it again before summer's over? Cheers, Rob

OK To recap: Saturday, July 18 meet at 0900 at Sandy Point, Cousins Island, Yarmouth ME. Sandy Point launch is on your left as you reach the end of the bridge over to Cousins Island. At 0930 we will launch and head around the east end of Cousins, past Great Chebeague to Crow Island and Bangs Island for some MITA stewardship, either clearing the path on Crow or deconstructing a little stone wall on Bangs, as per a request from the MITA stewardship director. Then, presumably about 1300 (1 pm), we will decide on our return route, either straight back the way we came, or a wider loop, depending on weather conditions and the consensus of the group. Total distance will be about 12 - 15 nm. It will be an all-day affair, so bring lunch. For dress, I plan to wear a shorty wetsuit and paddling jacket. PFD's and spray skirts are mandatory. The usual spare paddles, tow lines and other safety gear are recommended, as well as suitable footwear and bug spray. Also please bring work gloves and tools for clearing bittersweet and raspberry vines. See you Saturday! Rob

To all who are coming along: Remember "the MISSION"? I just got a request from MITA for a couple specific jobs that need doing on Bangs and Crow. On Crow the path to the cabin is overgrown with bittersweet and raspberries and needs some trimming. The bittersweet is also crawling up the cabin wall and needs to be hacked way back. On Bangs someone built a cute little stone wall which really doesn't belong there and needs to be returned to a more natural looking state. Anyone up for a bit of artful deconstruction? Anyone who has clippers, shears or work gloves, please bring them along. It sounds like an hour or so would do it. I will bring some large trash bags too. Cheers, Rob

No parking issues that I know of. Fairly large lot with a porta-potti, on the left just as you get off the bridge out to the island.

Oops, I was wrong about the bow. It's a clipper bow instead of a spoon. Otherwise she's typical Gloucester fishing schooner style hull and rig. So who is that other boat?