JohnHuth

As part of my preparations for the upcoming weather/nav course, I decided to be a true selfless citizen of NSPN and travel to Jamaica to investigate the weather there over the Thanksgiving Holiday. The philosophy being that if I could predict the weather in a climate other than New England, I could do it anywhere. Come Wednesday morning, I was sitting on the veranda, sipping my customary Blue Mountain coffee. I gave it a quick stir. My breakfast companion inquired of the state of the weather from the bubbles in the coffee. They hugged the edge of the cup! Gasp - it looks like a storm for sure. (perhaps this and the dark clouds in the SW were a clue). The heat and humidity of the tropical waters had had their last hurrah in torturing the mainland with hurricanes. Gamma was the last. Soon the mainland would have its revenge on the ocean. Wind was out of the SW, and the rain commenced to move in. I had to fetch some duct tape from the local town, and hired the venerable old Monroe to drive me in his taxi to the Negril hardware store. I assumed old Monroe would know something about local conditions, so I asked him about the weather. "Fo sure, mon, Ever since I be de likkle boy, whenever we 'ave rain like dis in de mawnin', it clear up by noon for sure. Every year, I tell you true, mon..." Well, the rain indeed let up by noon and the wind dropped to nothing. I swam in the ocean for about an hour to get some exercise. As I was swimming, I noted a swell from the NW beginning to build. I stopped swimming and bobbed up and down a bit - the swell had a perio of about 4 seconds. Having my handy-dandy wave-swell-velocity guide in front of me, I figured that the waves were traveling at about 18 miles per hour, no doubt in front of a storm that was pushing it along. At 18 miles an hour, that meant that a moderate storm would come from the NW in only a few hours. (real nasty storms in fully developed seas can have swells with periods of 16 seconds). Sure enough, the storm started to kick in from the NW, and the wind really started to blow. A number of squall lines came through. The massage ladies on the beach were better at forecasting than old Monroe. "De waves, dey wash up every-ting onto de beach in the mawnin'." The wind continued out of the NW and was blowing up to about force 7. By the next morning, the wind was still blowing. My anxious table companion inquired about the state of the coffee. I gave it a swirl - the bubbles congregated into the center. A clear day ahead. Sure enough, blue skies, a cold front remained steady throughout the day.

Here's an update for everyone: We'll have the weather/navigation course on January 7th and 21st in the Gould Barn in Topsfield. I'll be doing weather (and waves). Rick Crangle will be doing Navigation. Here's the list (non-alpha, sorry) of people who have expressed interest in the weather course so far: Mears Walter Dempsey Deb Shelburne Karen Lewis David Neumeier Liz Hutchison Suzanne Shelburne Linda Kates Jason Phelan Patty Bruce Scott Reynolds Anne Whipple Judy Casey Jeff Coons Al Gendron Deborah Konish Paul Smith Gerry Crouse Kimberly Hurd Joan Here's the syllabus so far for the weather course: Draft syllabus for kayak weather course January 7th syllabus I Basics a) Hot and cold air densities Temperature as a function of altitude, latitude, adiabatic cooling c) Equal pressure assumption d) Pressure as a function of altitude e) Coriolis effect f) Global weather patterns, doldrums, trades, mid-latitudes, polar II Fronts and barometric pressures a) Warm fronts Cold fronts c) Winds – veering and backing d) Nor’easters e) Cyclonic disturbances III Winds a) Beaufort scale Backing and veering c) Cyclonic d) Rules for high and low pressure circulation e) Katabatic winds f) Chinook winds IV Special topics a) Radiative and advective (hot and cold) fog Tropical onshore and offshore patterns V Clouds a) Cirrus (mare’s tails) Cirrocumulus (mackerel scales) c) Altocumulus (rollers) d) Altostratus e) Stratus f) Nimbostratus (rain clouds) g) Cumulus (puffy clouds) h) Nimbocumulus (thunder clouds) i) Bizarre clouds – noctilucent, lenticular Homework assignment In the two weeks between meetings, keep a weather log, noting cloud formations, weather state, wind direction and velocity (even if in the Beaufort scale). If available, report temperature and barometric pressure. Use handout on weather signs to try to predict weather state and compare with predictions. January 21st VI Weather signs a) Winds and fronts Halos around sun/moon c) Red sky at night/morning etc d) Reading the clouds e) Dew, humidity f) Northern/southern hemisphere considerations g) Barometric pressure and wind directions h) Mirages – fata morgana, green flash, distant images VI Waves a) Circulation pattern in water waves Velocity, period relations c) Swells d) Waves, breaking conditions e) Cat’s paw f) Reflections g) Refraction h) Clapotis i) Eckman transport (wind driven currents) j) Effect of fetch, wind velocity on wave height and period k) Effect of current, seafloor l) Freak waves and sets

I read somewhere that (hope I have it correct) - that there are two species of seals - one is gray seals, which are there all year round, and harbor seals migrate up to Maine in the summer and then migrate back. There's a large herd of gray seals that's around all year. The highest concentration is on the inside part of South Nauset Beach, near the point where it's joining up with South Monomoy Island. Don't know about the harbor seals or their migration. (not an expert here...) Also, some folks say that great white sharks are attracted by the seal population. Stands to figure. Hope they know the difference between seals and kayaks.

We're trying for January 7th and 21st as dates for the weather/nav course at the Topsfield Barn. I'm awaiting word on the availability from Suzanne Hutchinson. There is now a list of people who have expressed interest in this - it's about 15+ people. No special equipment is required. If you have a barometer, this could add a bit of fun. An assignment will be to create a weather diary between the 7th and 21st to record conditions and we'll discuss what you saw at the second meeting. Here's a "teaser" for the course (taken from "Weather Forecasting" by Michael Hodgson": "Coffee Grizzled outdoorspeople swear by the bubbles-in-the coffee method of forecasting. Perhaps this explains why so many of the them spend hours staring into a steaming mug of java. Remarkably, this method does seem to work, and is attributed to the way pressure affects the meniscus, or surface tension, of the coffee. In high pressure the surface is rounded, like a globe. In low pressure the surface is concave, so naturally bubbles head to the highest point on the coffee's surface, the edges of the cup. For coffee forecasting to work, the brewed coffee must be strong. Instant coffee won't do the job, since there aren't enough oils to create satisfacotry surface tension. Pour the coffee into a mug (vertical sides work best; venerable Sierra cups don't work as well). Give the coffee a good stir or two and watch the bubbles form. If they scatter this way and that and then form near the center, fair weather. If they cling to the sides of the cup, a low-pressure system is setting in, and rain is possible." Coffee prognostication is fair game for a weather diary.

Says on the website "cancelled/postponed" http://www.expeditionkayak.com/southgeorgia.php

E-mail me, and I'll get a list going: huth "at" physics "dot" harvard "dot" edu John

Yes, I'd be the one teaching weather. I believe Rick Crangle will be doing Navigation. I'm imagining something pretty "in depth": two sessions. I can call waves part of the syllabus. To cover that amount reasonably, I think I'd need at least three evening sessions, or two sessions on two days - I guess the 21st and the 28th would work well for me. As part of the "hands-on" experience, I'll probably be asking people to keep weather diaries between the two sessions - recording temperatures, barometric pressure, wind direction, and most importantly, cloud formations. John H

Dear All - We were tentatively proposing the dates of Jan 21 and 28 for a navigation/weather workshop. I *think* I'm tagged for weather. I'd like to see if these dates work. I crafted a draft syllabus for the weather course and wanted to get some first reactions to it. I'd probably have a combination of a projector show (to show photos of cloud formations, mirages etc), with a flip-board. Comments most welcome. John Huth Draft syllabus for kayak weather course I Basics a) Hot and cold air densities Temperature as a function of altitude, latitude c) Equal pressure assumption d) Coriolis effect e) Global weather patterns, doldrums, trades, mid-latitudes, polar II Fronts and barometric pressures a) Warm fronts Cold fronts c) Winds – veering and backing d) Nor’easters e) Cyclonic disturbances III Special topics a) Radiative and advective (hot and cold) fog Tropical onshore and offshore patterns IV Clouds a) Cirrus (mare’s tails) Cirrocumulus (mackerel scales) c) Altocumulus (rollers) d) Altostratus e) Stratus f) Nimbostratus (rain clouds) g) Cumulus (puffy clouds) h) Nimbocumulus (thunder clouds) i) Bizarre clouds – noctilucent, lenticular V Weather signs a) Winds and fronts Halos around sun/moon c) Red sky at night/morning etc d) Reading the clouds e) Dew, humidity f) Northern/southern hemisphere considerations g) Barometric pressure and wind directions h) Mirages – fata morgana, green flash, distant images VI Waves (optional) a) Circulation pattern in water waves Velocity, period relations c) Swells d) Waves, breaking conditions e) Cat’s paw f) Reflections g) Refraction h) Clapotis i) Eckman transport (wind driven currents) j) Effect of fetch, wind velocity on wave height and period

As the saying goes "discretion is the better part of valor" I got into a discussion with a long-time fisherman who has plied the waters of Nantucket Sound on Monday. He cursed about the Muskeget Channel and how nasty it can get when the winds are up. Good call!

Yes, that portion of the Muskeget Channel probably has the trickiest waters - the channel is deep and the drop off is very pronounced. Not for the faint of heart, I think.

The Micronesian Islanders had to make long crossings between islands (100+miles). To estimate drift, they would sail some distance off the island, and then stop and watch what would happen to the vessel relative to the island under ocean conditions to estimate drift. I've experimented with this technique and found it works reasonably well. It does take a bit of patience to sit idly in the kayak for 10-15 minutes to let things move around, when there's a temptation to be active and paddle, but it does work. The story of Micronesian navigation techniques is the subject of a fascinating book called "The Last Navigator". John

Sounds like a fun trip - I'm itching to do this some time. What I recall is that about 3% of the wind velocity shows up as current (called Eckman transport). Then there's the force of the wind itself on the kayak. This has a considerable variation. Also, this force scales like the square of the wind velocity, so, you can't really give a number like "5%" of the wind velocity. Different hull shapes give different leeway under wind conditions. Probably 10% of wind velocity for winds below 20 knots is a good drift to allow for, but there can be a factor of 2 variation in this rule of thumb. I recall having to make about a 25 degree correction for a 20 knot beam wind on a crossing.

You can pretty much do it on any tide, but high water is best, because it can get a bit shallow on the inside of some of the bends (plus it smells a bit rank at low tide). You can paddle from Rt. 28 north to the dam at the resevoir comfortably in about an hour in flat water. If you want to do the resevoir, I'd add an extra hour for exploration. If you go against the current, add about 20 minutes, subtract going with. I did the whole trip in 3 hours from my house at Allen Harbor, including a portage into the resevoir. This included about one nm in Nantucket Sound before hitting the entrance. BTW - on the west side of the entrance of the river, on the Sound, it can get pretty darn choppy with a SW wind - quite shoaly there (or conversly, good for practicing braces). So, optimally, head north from Rt. 28 about two hours before local high tide (I can dig this up relative to Boston Harbor, if you like -there's a bit of a time delay relative to the entrance of the river because of the volume of water in the marsh) - that'll give you the current both ways, and you won't hang up on the shallows on the inside of the bends. I'd estimate the max current is about 1 knot - there are some spots where it perhaps hits 2 knots, but there are only about 2 places where that happens - very isolated(I could tell you where, if you like). If you do go against the current, you can play the game of hugging the inside of the bends "hidden" by the current and then cross the main current rapidly - zig-zagging your way up. Again, a great way to practice your edging. John

The Herring River is fun! I must've paddled up and down it 15 or 20 times, and still love it. It's a great workout. Starting from the entrance into Nantucket Sound - after clearing the channel past the jetty, there is a section of about 2 miles where boats are moored. You'll pass under Lower County Road, and then there's a good put-in point on Route 28 - where you can park and head north. I have a house on the Sound, so I just paddle over, but if you want to skip the area where the boats are moored, just got to east side of route 28 and park on the south side, across from the restaurant. Going north from route 28 - as a general rule, always take the left hand fork in the river. About half a mile north of route 28, you will enter a bird sanctuary. The river meanders quite a bit and you can get hit unexpectedly by the current when you go against it and turn a corner - no big deal, but it's interesting. There's one hairpin bend that'll catch you by surprise on an ebb, I guarantee. Going upstream another couple of miles, you go under a foot bridge. The marsh it drains has a large number of birds - I've seen arctic swans, blue herrons, red tailed hawks, and even what I think was a Wilson's snipe - ospreys and kingfishers. Gulls and cormorants, of course. About a mile past the footbridge, is another bridge - this one is a dirt road that goes over the Herring. A bit further upstream from that road bridge, you get to a dam. Upstream from the dam is a resevoir that's a nice quiet paddle. It's a quick portage over the dam. The only caution I'd make in the resevoir is that there are a lot of dead trees and some barely-submerged stumps that could hang you up - so keep your eyes peeled. Basically any skill level can do it. I developed a little game called the "Herring River Slalom" - the rules are that you have to paddle the whole thing with no stern rudder and minimal sweep strokes - just use edging around the bends. When you do this in the modest current (less than a knot), it really pushes the edging skills. Anyway, I love the sanctuary and highly recommend the paddle north from Rt. 28. John

Sounds great! (although I know the sand flats can be a slog) I have a prediction - let's see if it comes true - within the next two years south Nauset beach will join up with South Monomoy, and South Monomoy will experience a break in the middle - in that order.

True - but even a very shallow attack angle will produce some yaw - it's unavoidable - and for learners (like me), having that foot to counter-balance the yaw often helps us get to the other parts of the roll, like the hipsnap. John

I think Jill has a point. Here's something I found in practicing rolls - you can tell something is going wrong when you get a lot of "yaw" (or horizontal rotation) when you come up. Ideally, the roll should have no yaw in it, and the yawing motion bleeds off power from your desired aim of the roll. (I used my compass to measure the amount of yaw - before and after the roll) The initial sweep, when the blade is planing across the surface of the water can induce some yaw, and I think the foot, being the furthest object from the center of rotation, can create the most counter-torque to fight the yaw. That's why I think the force of the foot at this stage of the roll can help a bunch.

OK, a few questions (I feel like Colombo): On my chart, I see a red nun, marked "4", but it's only about a mile and a half east of Vineyard, not really halfway. Was that the buoy, or was there another? There's one much further south, marked "2", but you'd have to do a course change, and I think the currents are hairier in that area. What was the date of your departure from the Vineyard? I was trying to figure out what the relative currents were as a function of the time you were out there, but needed a starting point. Naively, I would've timed it so that I was approaching Muskeget when it was locally close to slack just before ebb, which would be about an hour after ebb starts at Pollack Rip. The milder flood current on the rest of the crossing would've been going with the wind and pushing you a bit into the sound, and then you would've have mild conditions at Muskeget. Also, I see in the bathymetric charts that there's a local kind of "funnel" about a mile west of Muskeget that would locally amplify an ebb in that area.(channel looks like about 30 ft. deep, with 4 ft on either side - funneling down from the NE) I might have been tempted, once I actually saw Muskeget visually, to sweep wide and approach Muskeget from the north, giving this channel a kind of wide berth - especially on a healthy ebb with a SW wind - that would've been pretty choppy! Isn't it spelled "Pisces", not "Picses"? Finally - you guys seem to have done a few adventurous trips. Have either of you done the Monomoy -> Nantucket crossing or know about it? Thanks a bunch! John H.

This is great - I've been contemplating that crossing - perhaps next year, and I've been wondering about the effect of the current there. Thanks for relating it. Also - I can relate on the bluefish end of things - I always find landing those buggers to be a bit of a challenge. The hardest part is figuring out how to get the hook out of their mouth in a pitching kayak and still keep your fingers! J

Ceratinly on their websites they say that some things are under development. I'm sure they would welcome volunteers, and NSPN, in my opinion, has a vast amount of collective expertise that would be very welcome. I do know that there is a three day course, and a three day certification for instructors. Rather than go the BCU route, I'm seriously thinking of going the ACA route on this one. I've been involved in teaching canoeing to boy scouts (merit badge involves rescues in addition to the usual strokes), and my only qualification is that I've canoed since I was 12 - they (Boy Scouts)have to take my word for it. I believe that the paddler certification lags behind, and this is where some work needs to be done, but I'm not knowledgable enough to even know who to talk to.

OK, a serious question. Rather than americanize BCU ratings, why not bolster the ACA ratings? They may lag behind, but we do have an ACA affiliation, here. The BCU seems to have this halo around it as a gold standard, but we are in the US. Why not help make the ACA ratings the best we can? I have heard of legislation that would make an ACA instructor's rating mandatory for guides in some states. Perhaps we might discuss this rather than worry about "dry cags" or leptosporisis?

Two definitions of weir. Generally speaking, it's a manmade structure that is used to divert water flow or fish flow (depending on whether you want the first or second definition). For kind of weir you find on rivers, it produces higher water flow and a possible obstruction to navigation. For a fish weir, you have an obstacle you have to go around (also can be a good landmark). Boy, this discussion is fun! I took one of my son's friends fishing on the Charles and he fell in - boy was his mom upset! J

While I agree with Brian completely, I became curious about leptospirosis - basically I'm a nerd, so I can't help it. According to the CDC website: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo...ospirosis_g.htm it's a disease you can get from animals in contaminated water. Do, don't practice rolling in hog troughs, I guess. The relation to sea kayaking seems a tad marginal. "Cag" is a Britishism for a kind of dry suit - here are some pics: http://www.chillcheater.com/products/shop.asp?cid=8 Wouldn't an ACA rating make more sense?

By short boat, would a white water boat work? A couple of quick observations - I had a recent surf session with Kevin of Charles River Canoe and Kayak. This was my first introduction to serious surfing. I've surfed before, but not in big ones, nor had I gotten a chance to do combat rolls in surf before. Great fun. Kevin's wisdom on the etiquette was that the animosity toward kayakers by boarders is two-fold: 1.) we move faster and 2.) many of us present a hazard. If you demonstrate some knowledge of the etiquette and are a bit deferential to the fact that they can't move as fast - e.g. wave a few through, they tend to be a bit kinder. Because of the clinic, I started looking at the chatter on some surf sites. Boy, these guys can be brutal on each other - accusations of girlie-men when people shy away from 12 ft. breakers (hey, I think I would) etc etc. So, a different way of doing things. Now there's a whole new vocabulary it looks like I'm going to have to learn. Is there some kind of wave-dictionary for surfer wannabe's out there?

I think I'd vomit if I tried a full 15 rolls in a minute. I once made the mistake of practicing my rolling after eating a tuna sub. I won't repeat that one.