JohnHuth

Generally, I like to draw the line around 25 knot winds and 5-6 ft breakers. I have found myself in 30+ knot winds, and peaky 8 foot waves and found them uncomfortable. Also, high winds on a very cold day are worrisome - you have this feeling that the wind is going to suck all the heat out of your body no matter how you dressed. The main fog hazard is other boats in the water. I have to say that I like fog, as it pushes my navigational skills, and has a nice ambience, but I know in the back of my mind that it's risky because of boats coming upon me. Big currents...hmm... One problem I have is that there are two modes that I operate on - one is a "bring me to the brink to test my skills", which is entertaining, but probably ill advised. The other mode is "am I being prudent"? There's a graduate student in my group who is an avid rock-climber. We discussed the issues of risk in sea kayaking and alpine rock climbing, and agreed that the dividing line was a tricky one. Crevasses or sudden squalls? Take your pick. Peter B. and I did a fun little paddle along the south shore of Great Cranberry a few years back. It was foggy (always seems to be there), and there were all these funky ledges that caused waves to break without warning. We didn't have any problems and it was kind of fun, but I remember being surprised by a sudden breaker in front of me. There, I think the 'fear factor' was more the unknown of where the ledges would be looming out there in the fog, and they were probably manageable, but just surprising.

May sounds like the late end of things. My publisher was shooting for February, but my copy editor suffered a setback when her mother died. I think we're maybe a month behind schedule, so I'm hoping for March.

It would be insane not to have a kindle version - it's on the way.

I don't know if it's legit to post this, but the gurus of the site can feel free to take it down. My new book is on presale on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Lost-Art-Finding-Our/dp/0674072820/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353522399&sr=8-1&keywords=the+lost+art+of+finding+our+way There's some material in the book that I developed as part of the NSPN seminars I gave. A number of techniques I discuss and many of the illustrations are kayak-friendly, and many of you will be familiar with some of the areas I describe and maps (Monomoy, Baker Island, Jonesport). Huzzah!!

Wool or silk is definitely the best, but also pricey. I use synthetics as a base layer, even if they start to smell like troll's crotch after awhile. I do keep an extra set in dry bags - particularly when you have the lunch-time stops, and peel off the dry suit. Then, the wind will whip away your body heat even if you have wicking lower layers. I plan on a change during lunch breaks.

Power = Force * velocity. Assuming the paddler has some 'maxed out' power output in the slower kayak at 5 knots, that corresponds to 5.5 knots given Leon's table, which incidentally, gives precisely the same number at 5.5 knots in the faster versus 5 knots in the slower. Or, did someone already answer this and I missed it? I guess the only issue is that for a 17 ft kayak, the theoretical hull speed is around 5.5 knots, so the drag becomes very large, not linear versus speed in that region.

DEET is nasty stuff on polymers, avoid contact. Yes, I've had very good experience with kokatat, and this was even before Suz joined them! Only gets better. I did have that 'boot filling with water problem' once, but it was out on Mount Desert Island during one of the Labor Day kayak symposia. It was about 90 degrees air temp and I wore a dry suit. I'm assuming that it was just sweat, and I'll tell you....the under garments were *nasty* smelling.

Congratulations. John C. has high standards, so that's as solid a pass as you'll get. (so, uh...when's this 4* session John's running?)

I agree with PeterB, that launching from NE Harbor might be a better option. It's a shorter paddle and more interesting. If you do it that way, try to get to the eastern side of NE harbor and cross over to Bear, skirt the west side of Bear Island, then do a beeline to the north side of Sutton Island, follow the north shore of Sutton east and then straight toward the western side of Little Cranberry. You can then approach Baker from the Little Cranberry. Yes, you pay at the police station. It's not so much and it's very convenient - just unload you kayak and gear by the water front and park about 100 meters away. There's a large osprey nest on the NW side of Sutton (last time I checked), if you want to go that way - there's just more boat traffic on that side, and a lot of gawkers at the osprey nest. The eastern shore of Mt. Desert isn't so bad, but then you then take off to Baker, you can be kind of exposed without much of a line of retreat. There are some rocks to the east of Sutton that uncover at low tide. The SW shore of Baker can get some big breakers on it when a large swell is coming in. Actually for interest, the gap between Baker and Little Cranberry is a fascinating little patch when it's covered. A southern swell can completely refract around Baker and you'll get breaking waves from both the east and the west near the gap, plus there are lots of little 'surprise' rocks as you approach the gap. If you do it maybe halfway between high and low, it becomes interesting. I'm attaching a diagram of the wave refraction around Baker (my impression, anyway). Also, the restaurant on Little Cranberry (Isleford) is great for a beer on the way back. Either way works, I just think the Cranberries is a more interesting approach and isn't as exposed. Little Cranberry Baker Island

Thanks for the info. Since I haven't done a CAM, I'm not qualified to comment. If I had four or five under my belt, perhaps. I've done some "CAM-like" trips and others, but I'd really have to experience it to give any feedback. I'll try to attend the class in the spring. I missed all of the season so far, chasing the Higgs boson.

I confess that I need to learn about the CAM model. So my comments are more in the line of questions, and I'll offer my own suggestions. 1.) Leader? Is there one leader? What is his/her role in decision making? Could, for example he or she tell the folks going off to rock garden to rejoin the pod? 2.) Plans? In the beach briefing, can the group decide on a range of activities and variants? E.g. "We'll paddle to point X, stop and the rock gardeners will play, while others will watch or rest, then we'll carry on.." 3.) Paddle formation? I've been told many times that I'm too anal in suggesting that people have a fixed formation. I personally like a diamond formation, with lead, sweep and sides. There are responsibilities of the lead to check back and adjust speed. No one passes the lead. No one falls behind the sweep. No one strays left or right of the sides. Sounds like I'm a kill-joy, but if you paddle in a formation until you reach a spot to play, it seems like a way of keeping the group together. 4.) Maximum size of the party? This is the classic tradeoff of freedom versus group cohesion. Maybe if there are multiple interests in a large party, there are multiple leaders who are ready to join a splinter groups. I do a lot of solo paddling. I once paddled in a 'rough water' session with guides John Carmody and Peter Casson. They kept a pretty tight rein on things. We used a diamond formation, and I felt pretty comfortable with they way they ran it. I've also paddled with groups, where cohesion went out the window, and the 'leader' would just say 'what the heck'? In those cases, if an accident did happen, I wondered whether it would've been handled expeditiously.

Yes, "over and out" is a contradiction. It's like saying "I'm awaiting a response" and "I'm not awaiting a response". I don't know about other's trips and experiences, but I was trying to think over the times a VHF was useful for me, or could have been useful. 1.) A group of four of us were paddling around Monomoy. I have a VHF, but I don't think anyone else did. Through an unfortunate situation, which I can't even really reproduce in my mind, we got separated into two groups of two. I got back to my car in reasonable order, but the other pair didn't. Quite a bit of time elapsed and I became quite worried. If the other pair had a VHF, it would've provided some peace of mind to me. They did eventually made it back OK. 2.) I came upon a stranded motor-boater. His engine had quit and he was drifting toward a channel. He didn't have a radio, so I called in for a tow for him, and hung around until it showed up. No big deal, but perhaps a problem averted. 3.) Two teenage boys were lost in the fog in an area where I was paddling. I was pretty comfortable in the area, so I turned out to sea and blew my whistle hoping to get their attention. I did find one of the boys, and radioed in that I'd found him. In the end, he just followed me in, so maybe the radio wasn't necessary. Later the fog lifted and the other boy was found, unharmed. 4.) I crossed over some open water and paddled up an estuary. While I was in the estuary, the wind really picked up. The reports on the radio were for 30 knot winds. I had thoughts about whether doing the crossing was sensible on return, but ultimately did it. In this case, at least I was mentally prepared for the conditions. 5.) One day in November, I paddled solo in somewhat choppy conditions. I didn't have a friend to file a trip plan with, so I gave one to the local harbormaster. I hailed him with my radio when I was almost done just to let him know things were OK. None of these were emergencies, and would've turned out fine without the radio, but it gives some idea of the situations a person might encounter when it could be handy.

For a paddle of any length I always wear on and have it on Chan 16. When launching, I do a radio check, which can sometimes be problematic, as the CG doesn't like you to use channel 16 for that, but often no one is listening on other channels. More often than not, the CG will query people on channel 16 if they've seen something, so it's good to be able to respond. It's also good to be able to report someone in distress if you see it. A radio check is simply to see if someone hears you. You can say "Radio check, channel 68, please come back, over", and release the transmit button. Some kind soul on the same channel if they hear you will say "Radio check, channel, 68, I read you loud and clear, out". The typical transmission distance of hand-held VHF transceivers is maybe 4-5 miles. I'll often do securite' calls when crossing a busy harbor entrance, particularly in the fog. You say "securite' securite' securite', this is sea kayaker blah-blah [your name or handle], crossing blah-blah channel [channel name], estimate time in channel of one minute [or whatever], will inform when clear, out" Then when you finish crossing the harbor, you say "securite' securite' securite', this is sea kayaker blah-blah, I am clear of the blah-blah channel, out" The word "securite'" is pronounced "securitay" - it's from French When you finish a statement and do not want a reply, you finish by saying "out". When you finish a statement or question that requires a response, you say at the end "over". This means you have released the transmit button and the other person can then respond. Typically, if you initiate a non-emergency hail to another person, you propose to switch from channel 16 to another channel (e.g. 68) to communicate. When I'm traveling with other kayakers, we'll try to agree on a common channel for communication before shoving off. Generally this isn't a problem as I try to stay in voice contact. Sometimes, however, a group might split up for whatever reason, then it's a good policy to monitor each other, particularly if conditions are difficult or it's getting late. I don't find carrying the transceiver much of a problem. My recommendation is to carry it for any paddle of significant length and let people take turns doing the securite' call to get experience. "pan pan pan" is for a emergency where there is no immediate threat to life. It's pronounced "pawn pawn pawn", you then communicate the nature of the emergency, whether you need aid etc. "May day may day may day" is for an emergency where there is immediate threat to life. It comes from the French phrase, "m'aidez" or "help me". In addition to the CG and other boaters, most harbormasters have offices that monitor VHF transmissions and direct traffic. You'll often hear people ask if berths for their boats are available in harbors. Lobstermen will just yak on some non-emergency channel. If the CG is engaged in a mission of some kind, they'll typically direct the communication to channel 22, if free. More info can be found here: http://www.coastalbo...adioBasics.html

Strange, I've been looking at that stuff for years and the Cape and never once heard the word "mung" used to describe it. David's description doesn't square with a mat of seaweed. Regarding the crabs, I've seen crabs like that in soil that was a mixture of sand and clay. I'll be out at the Cape over Labor Day. I'll try to take a paddle around there and see what I can see.

What is mung? I've heard of mung beans, but that doesn't seem plausible.

This is probably unrelated to David's sighting, as it's further away, but it does illustrate the stress the outer Cape feels during the late summer months: http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120803/NEWS/208030341/-1/NEWS01

Yup, that's the gap I was talking about. The actual channel is quite narrow and is rather sluggish. If you're referring to the gap between the parts of the islands with vegetation, sure, it's reasonably large, but the gap is so silted in that the effective channel that carries water is small. Negotiating that area can be a real challenge when the tide is going out, you can find yourself stranded on flats.

There was a tiny breakthrough between N. Monomoy and whatever we're calling S. Monomoy these days. It's small, but there's definitely flow through there to the west. I don't think this is large enough to get any significant tidal flushing effect, however. Maybe it's now closed off? It was open last year, although quite shallow. When I mentioned Stage Harbor, I was referring to the sheer volume of traffic in and out of that neck of woods. A significant number of boats to up into that inlet from Stage Harbor. Not so many go into that cul de sac, as you call it, but there's still a fair amount of motor boat traffic there, enough that when I'm paddling from Stage Harbor toward N. Monomoy I'm always looking over my shoulder.

I'm pretty sure those flats are tested on a regular basis. I know, for example, of a large set of flats that are rich in oysters, but are also in an enclosed harbor, surrounded by houses. Every so often signs go up that warn against picking shellfish. Now I guess the mystery is this: if there's raw sewage collecting in that area, why hasn't testing shown this? The fish and wildlife guys are all over those flats. They usually are into license enforcement though, but they must test it, as it's used commercially. Based on your letter, I'm sure some reporter was (or is about to be) dispatched to the area to see what they find. If/when they see a bunch of raw human sewage, it'll be quite a story. I was thinking about possible sources. If there's an illegal discharge of holding tanks in boats, this might be a more logical explanation. There's a huge amount of traffic in and out of Stage Harbor. I don't know what it costs to get the holding tanks pumped out, but those harbors charge pretty steep rates for their services. This seems more likely to me than the failure of a septic field.

David - This is pretty anomalous. I don't know what to make of it, but I have an e-mail out to my friend, who is a harbormaster in Harwich - not quite Chatham, but I'm sure he'll know what's going on. I appended your message to an e-mail I wrote to him. I've paddled in that area many times and have never seen raw sewage. I can also tell you that the septic regulations are pretty severe, so I strongly doubt that this is anything legal. I have a house in Harwich Port, and I can tell we had to really go through a lot of hoops to upgrade our septic field. Typically they are required to drain away from the water, and are generally sized to the maximum capacity they can possibly reach. I don't know explicitly about Chatham, but in Harwich, the town is extremely careful about the environment. Having said that, there are some grandfathered cases that are unpleasant, but nothing like that. Even though that stretch gets less 'flushing' (can't think of a better word for it) from the tides, it's always been very clean when I've gone through. I'll let you know what I find out. What a bummer! John H.

On the original thread...I think we were supposed to relate a semi-disparaging story about motor-boaters, but we got off into what a tough business lobstering is and the like. So, returning to perhaps the intended purpose of the thread. I have a house on Nantucket Sound, and although I *should* broaden my horizons by finding every tidal race in New England, I frequently paddle the same stretch of water from Hariwch Port to Monomoy and back over and over and over and over again. I've even made something of a sport of navigating in the fog by dead reckoning. There are so many paddle strokes from one prominent jetty to another to a point of land, each with its own heading, which is usually 90 degrees or 270 degrees - OK, not *that* challenging. Each little stretch of coast has a distinctive wave signature that I've gotten used to over the years. One day last summer, there was a thick fog and the Sound had some wind-driven chop on it. Perfect conditions for re-re-exercising my dead-reckoning skills (again). I paddled east toward Chatham. At some point, a motorboat appears in the fog with a bunch of guys in their early 20's in some semi-inebrieated state. Evidently they had motored from the southern tip of Monomoy. They wanted to know where they were, lacking GPS. I told them that they were on a Harwich-Chatham line. They asked me about the nearest harbor, so I told them that this was Wychmere Harbor, about a mile and a half west on a compass heading of 270 degrees magnetic. They thanked me. I paddled on toward Chatham, and at some point turned around. When I paddled back, I again came upon the same group of guys, who had now put out an anchor and were just rocking in the waves, drinking. I stopped again. One asked "Where are we?" "You're about 3/4 of a mile from Wynchmere Harbor, it's due west from here." "Do you want a beer?" (I was steadying myself against some waves breaking from behind me as I chatted with him). "No, I'm good, but thanks." "My friends think you're crazy." "I may be crazy, but I'm not lost."

How about during a heavy fog?

I have three, but I'll share my first one. Yes, the Lobster Gangs book is really a good read. I should add that this was based on work contracted out to a sociologist by the State of Maine, which was working in conjunction with the Lobsterman's Union to figure out ways to get a sustainable catch. Despite the mafia-style way that the gangs run their territory, the work really had to be informed by what is more or less accepted as the 'way of doing things' in lobstering off the coast of Maine. It's a tough business, particularly when they have to go offshore during the autumn months, and I've heard of a bunch who have died. Still....one story I was kayaking solo around the islands off of Mt. Desert - Sutton, the Cranberries. I kept my VHF tuned to the channel the lobstermen use for chatter. This was mainly for my own entertainment, but it was enlightening to hear the chatter. One day when there was some chop on the water... Guy A, a relatively young one: "I can't get my pots when the waves are this bad, I'm heading back to harbor and wait." Guy B, also relatively young: "I don't know who the f* has been f*ing with my f*ing gear, but I'm f*ing going to find out who the f* it was and you're going to be sorry..." (dead silence ensued for some minutes...) Next day, a heavy fog Guy A, again, "This fog is too thick, I can't find my pots, I'm heading back to the harbor and wait..." Guy C, an older guy, "What?" Guy A, "I said the fog is too thick, I can't find my pots, I'm heading in." Guy C, "You're just a pessimist." Guy A, "A what?" Guy C, "A pessimist, look it up in the dictionary."

I have a 170 - same problem. There's a screw-on fitting that's brings the sheath around the skeg cable into the box. The problem is that the joint that holds the fitting into the fiberglass is weak, and any stressed on it will cause cracks. My solution is pretty low-tech. I carry around a bunch of plumber's putty and plaster it over the fitting. Over time, the putty eventually finds its way into little bits in the rear compartment that I just clean up and then slap on some more fresh putty. Not pretty but it works. One possibility is the epoxy-putty that you can get in hardware stores. I have a stick of this around, but I haven't had the time to try this more permanent fix.

Congratulations! That's great!