JohnHuth

10 liters of wine, huh? I hear this works great for mosquitos - they won't bother you a bit. (or...rather, you won't be bothered by them a bit)

Wine bunker? Maybe that one belongs on the "ballast" thread.

Too many to name - but - Islesford is a great spot, off of Mt. Desert. They have a nice Inn there, and an excellent restaurant on the island. It's home to an artists community, and there is a local gallery. There's also a lobster gang that works out of the local harbor - a very electic mix of eccentric characters. Read "The Secret Life of Lobsters" if you want to get an idea of what Islesford's all about.

Sullivan Falls *is* great fun. In just one day, I think I capsized about 8 times. Maybe 3 of these were deliberate, the rest were various mess-ups in punching in and out of eddies. Great experience trying rescues and rolls in current - I'm going back for more mayhem!

Hmmm.....I'll avoid quoting from my book "Fluid Dynamics for Physicists". That formula is clearly a "rule of thumb" - there is no real speed limit, as far as I'm aware, it's just a question of overcoming forces. I think that the rule of thumb does have something to do with size of the wake versus boat length, but it's more of an issue of the speed where the forces holding you back start to climb exponentially with every additional fraction of a knot you pile on. That probably sets in around the speed that your rule of thumb gives you. I'll try to look up the relevant formulas and see if I can translate it into normal human-speak. Just for grins, I paddled around with a GPS to get an idea of my speed and such. I think I topped out at about 7 mph in a flat sprint, but, I was a wreck after about 1 minute of that. That was in a Tempest 170, which isn't noted for anything, other than feeling a bit too roomy in the cockpit and having leaky hatches. I'm seriously toying with a major upgrade to a Cetus or somesuch.

I second Peter's comment about Sullivan Falls. Even if you don't plan to paddle there, it's worth checking out. Even at slack tide, it still bubbles some. My only experience with it: I was out on it on a training course, in the morning on the ebb, and then took lunch when it was going slack. We managed to get out as the tide was just starting to turn to flood, it was one of the more amazing experiences to see the water transform from nearly dead calm, then build to a fairly brisk set of rapids. I tried to attach a photo of the falls on the ebb that I took. It's cool to see it go from slack to that, from the point of view of being in a kayak.

I'm pretty seriously thinking of going to this, but haven't fully decided. I spoke with Mark Schoon about this back in July, and I know that there will be a number of locations where events will be held. The most common area is the Porcupine Islands, just off of Bar Harbor, and is the easiest to access. I also know that they'll be doing work in Sullivan Falls, which is a reversing tidal falls, about 20 miles away or so. Whether they'll use other locations (e.g. out of Northeast Harbor), I don't know - but it may depend on conditions. E.g. 4* work needs moderate sea conditions, so if it's too quiet in the Procupines, they may have to go further out. I don't know about the CAT, but a simple phone call would probably suffice.

whoops, I made an error in one of the equations - the mathematica script is correct, howeve

OK, I e-mailed this to Jeff Casey, but if any of you folks want to check my math or reasoning, here is my calculation for the tides. Enjoy!

Take a look at these two diagrams - tell me which one of the two most closely resembles your view of what you think happens with the rotation of the earth about the earth-moon center.

OK, having trudged through this, I think I have more or less an understanding of tides. They are, indeed, due to the divergence of the moon's (and sun's) gravitational field(s). You can represent the field as two pieces: 1.) a constant field that acts on the entire earth uniformly 2.) a tidal force that has two outward and two inward bulges (see figure attached) The tidal force is a "differential" force, meaning that it acts on different parts of the earth with different forces. In fact, if you look at the diagram, you can see that it has a substantial component parallel to the earth's surface, which can cause the oceans to flow. Once you have that, and the fact that water flows more readily than land, it creates the tides. Beyond that, there are the effects of the size of a tidal basin. The Bay of Fundy is a particularly interesting example because it has a natural period of about 13.3 hours, which is very close to the tidal period of 12.5 hours (give or take a few minutes). What it is *not* is due to a centrifugal force. The earth is in free-fall about the center of rotation of the earth-moon system, and there is no force generated due to this rotation. The best analogy is to think of people on a spaceship orbiting the earth - they're weightless because they're orbiting the earth, not because they're far away from the earth. So, in fact, Burch'es explanation is incorrect - at least my conclusion. Thanks to djlewis and eel for discussions!

The Chatham Harbor master must get umpteen calls a day to ask about the seals. I even monitored some long-winded Q+A session on VHF channel 16- wishing the Coast Guard would cut in and tell them to stop. They're more dispersed along the east part of South Monomoy (peninsula? - we need a new name)

One I took on a 4 day Maine Island trail trip was the sierra design clip-flashlight. It's a stake-reliant tent - but is very compact and fits well into the cargo hatch. There aren't a huge number of spots where you would need a free-standing tent, but one that's a good option is the MSR hubba http://www.msrcorp.com/tents/hubba.asp I've heard good reports on this one. Both are small enough to fit well into cargo hatches. At the other extreme, I have a Northface Mountain 25, which is your basic North-col, survive-Everest model, and I've weathered the toughest storms in this puppy and always have been comfortable. Unfortunately, it takes up a lot of room in the hatch.

Hmm...what's the secret? I always kind of tip my kayak sideways until it's at a comfortable angle, start to get my legs in and then let it rotate down as I slide the rest of my body in. It seems to work pretty well. My biggest complain is pumping the cockpit out. I pulled a muscle in my forearm last time from being too vigorous in pumping - still recovering.

Egads! Being a Newtonian, and having paddled and fished in that location many timee, it's pretty disturbing news.

You might want to look at the section upstream of Dover. It's a very pleasant stretch, not at all crowded and there is a lot of water-fowl there. On the other hand, if you want a weird experience, try paddling downstream from the CRCK kiosk near the Eliot Bridge. By the time you get around MIT, you'll feel like you're in the eye of a hurricane - cars zooming by on either side of the river, sirens blasting, and you're sitting in this calmness in the middle. If you go near the CRCK boathouse in Newton - it's thick with paddlers. Start paddling fast and some young buck is sure to try to challenge you. Something for everyone on the Charles.

I'm interested in doing this round trip - which is about 37 miles total. It can be done in one day, if you time it right. You should be able to paddle at least 25 miles in "flat" (i.e. no current) conditions. Winds are typically from the SW in the afternoon, so this will probably give us a boost, in addition to the current. After consulting the current tables, it appears that the right time to leave Woods Hole is when it's high tide at Boston Harbor. So, assuming a full day to do this - probably a 6 AM departure, and a 1 hour layover in Cuttyhunk around 11 AM - the most auspicious dates in June would be 9/10 and 23/24. In July, it would be 7/8 or 22/23. June is already pretty cramped for me, but one of the July dates would work pretty well. E-mail me if interested - reasonable experience required.

Here's the current text that we're working on for the August issue of Sea Kayaker: [sIDEBAR 2] Status of Massachusetts Safety Law In the wake of the Jagoda-Aronoff kayak accident, Tom Leach—harbormaster of the town of Harwich and one of those who searched for the missing kayakers—worked with State Representative Shirley Gomes to sponsor a bill that would require kayakers in Massachusetts to wear PFDs throughout the year, and to carry compasses and whistles. (Currently, all occupants of small craft are required to wear PFDs between September 15 and May 15.) Gomes brought the proposal before the Massachusetts State House in 2005. After some debate, the legislation stalled. Another kayak-related fatality occurred in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, in May 2001. Robert Beauvais, 51, capsized while receiving basic instruction and couldn’t free himself from the spray skirt. The instructor got Robert to the surface within about 15 seconds, conscious, but breathing with difficulty. He had inhaled enough sea water to compromise his breathing, leading to his death. (See “The Tragic Death of a Novice,” by Charles Sutherland, , Dec. ’04.) In the spring of 2006, partly in response to this incident, Massachusetts State Representative Bill Strauss drafted a bill that would require kayak instructors to first provide instruction in wet exits before taking students out on the water. In the summer of 2006, the two bills (the Gomes and the Strauss bills) were combined into H-4551, which would mandate PFDs, whistles and compasses, and wet-exit instruction for kayakers. A version of this bill is currently under consideration by the Massachusetts Legislature. Many of those in the Massachusetts sea-kayaking community oppose the bill because they feel it conveys a message that kayaking is riskier than canoeing, which is not subject to the same legislation. Statistics indicate that more paddlers die in canoes and other small craft than kayaks, and kayakers are also more likely to wear PFDs than canoeists. Although the wet-exit requirement is problematic, a more serious issue is that professional education reaches only a tiny fraction of paddlers. As for the compass requirement, having one won’t necessarily help the substantial percentage of paddlers who don’t know how to use it.

For some reason, when I paddle solo - especially when the weather is snotty, I always sing "Dixie Chicken" by Little Feat.

I guess the current setup is because awhile back, there were some posts where large chunks were deleted, and they became impossible to read coherently. I got bit by the edit time-limit- I posted my most recent note on tides, found some typo's, but couldn't post the new version without making it a reply. If people had a bit of discipline about editing (ie. not deleting large amounts) - then it would probably be better to have no time-limit - or perhaps make the time limit a lot longer - e.g. 24 hours?

It's pretty much my backpacking gear put into a bunch of dry-bags - except no pack. The one thing I want to change is my tent. I have one that requires stakes to be driven in to stand up. I think MSR has a nice, light, one-person free-standing tent. That's the main "tweak" for my gear that I need to do. The MSR pocket-rocket is my stove. I've seen a few intrepid gear-heads who used the jet boil, but I like the simplicity of the pocket-rocket.

I'm a guitar and banjo picker, myself. I have a long list of tunes that I play or have played in the past. Bluegrass and acoustic blues. It all comes together for me at the Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass festival, near Brunswick Maine. It's on a great beach, and I bring my kayak - paddle during the day and pick banjo around the campfire at night. One of my favorite bluegrass tunes has a nautical theme: "Where is my sailor boy" Oh, where is my sailor boy; Where is my sailor boy? He sleeps at the bottom of the deep blue sea, And he can't come back to me. I stand on the beach alone And gaze at the misty blue. Deep sea, as you hold him to your breast, Does he mention my name to you? CHORUS: Oh, what does the deep sea say? What does the deep sea say? It moans, it groans, it splashes and it foams, And it rolls on its weary way. Oh, please tell me, deep blue sea, Is he sleeping peacefully? The winds from the north are blowin' icy cold; Can you keep him warm for me? If only my grieving soul Some token of love could find; And if only the waves would show me where he sleeps, Then I'd leave this world behind. Oh, what does the deep sea say? What does the deep sea say? It moans, it groans, it splashes and it foams, And it rolls on its weary way. A beautiful rose, one day, I placed on the crest of a wave. I said, "Take it, please, and let it settle home Above his watery grave." The driftwood I watched in vain, And my rose never came back again. Oh, waves, take another message to my love Sayin' I'll need him alone. Oh, what does the deep sea say? What does the deep sea say? It moans, it groans, it splashes and it foams, And it rolls on its weary way.

Yup - I think we all agree that there isn't a right answer. Just thank the stars that the woman was OK. I know of a similar story - although this was related second hand. Chris, the friend of a friend, was walking on the beach and saw a similar situation - someone who seemed ill-prepared and didn't quite seem to have an understanding of what was going on. I think he spoke with the guy, although didn't try to dissuade him from going in. The next day, he read in the papers of the death of a kayaker in the vicinity. Chris never knew if it was the guy he saw on the beach, but it was close enough that it was quite likely. It always haunted him.

Yikes! That's scary. I actually was in a situation like that and I used some psychology - which is probably the only option you'd have to affect the outcome. In my particular case, I saw a couple in a recreational kayak paddle from a harbor into a fairly choppy afternoon in Nantucket Sound. They capsized, tried their best to right the boat, but couldn't manage it. I finally got into my boat and towed them in. The girlfriend didn't want any part of going out again, but the guy wouldn't hear of it, and wanted to go back again. I finally said "hey, let me put your kayak on top of my van,and I'll drive you home. I'll bet your arms are really tired, I know mine would be, so why not give your sore muscles a rest?" It worked and I drove them home. In this particular case, you might do something like "gosh, you know, I was out last week and made the mistake of wearing exactly what you were wearing and I even had a spray skirt on. Well, what do you know, I nearly killed myself, but I was lucky that someone observant was nearby and I avoided getting serious hypothermia." It's a white lie, but might save a life. Anyway, that's I might have approached it - if you turn the conversation around from being a "know-it-all" (in their eyes) to being a "geeze, I did that last week, and nearly killed myself..." it sometimes can take the stigma out of the advice. FWIW - was learning to roll a few years back, and not quite making it. A guy who said he was an instructor told me that I was lifting my head too soon. Well, I actually took his advice and it got me rolling in no-time.

Yup, Jeff and I are going through the details. It's actually kind of fun - I haven't thought hard about the tide issues, and he's forcing me to think about them. (that diagram was a result of us hashing through some of this). I'm not ready to be definitive until Jeff's on board, mind you. FYI - I'm not the only one to come up with that "case 1" - if you look at this website: http://www.vialattea.net/maree/eng/index.htm it has some good animations of that Case 1. (I'm not saying that "proof" exists in a URL - but just that there are people who have used that to help explain tides).