Bob C

Carl Ladd is in Little Compton, RI and does a fabulous job on boat repairs. He’s repaired my Avocet before — you couldn’t tell where the repairs were made — and has recently replaced the skeg control lever. Good Luck!

Greenbelt HQ is a great site. Deb and I have walked through the woods to the put-in from the rear field once -- it's a bit of a long portage if you're carrying a boat so be prepared. I think the put-in is called Clamshell Beach -- I was told when I guided for ERBA that it was the location of an old Indian shell heap but who knows. I'd go there in advance to scope out parking to see where paddlers are allowed to park. You probably need to be a member but it's a great cause (we're members) and you get lots of neat places to visit plus spring's "Art In The Barn". - Bob

Conomo Point is STILL closed to non resident parking. Even the limited parking that was available appears to have been removed (signs changed). Essex is known for aggressive parking and speed enforcement (i.e., revenue enhancement). Sorry! -Bob

No, I mean it will take a coordinated, national effort to eradicate this virus (isolation, vaccine, treatment) . A bloody Civil War proved that individual states cannot solve national problems. Right now the individual states in the Northeast have a coordinated effort that has the rates in NE, NY, and NJ the lowest in the US but other states have to institure the same measures. The worst positive test rate is 79% in a no-mask, no social distancing state. Being in a high-risk group, I don't like those odds.

I expect the city to leave the signs up until the pandemic is over and I don't think that has a chance of happening until some time after January 20th. With luck.

Lanes Cove, Gloucester, this morning. TEMPORARY RESIDENTS ONLY PARKING signs posted in four places: the boat ramp, the shed on the pier, the pier itself, and along the road near the "steps" down to the water.

Hi Leslie! I investigated parking spots at and on my return from PT (for a nearly-healed torn rotator cuff followed by lower back muscle spasms, which is why I haven't been paddling yet this season --- Conomo Point was going to be the site of my rehab paddles). Mike Habich also knows this PT practice. ? Manchester Train Station: This is actually where I park for PT. Numbered spaces are assigned to tenants. Don't park there. Spaces in front of the shops are posted ONE HOUR PARKING. Evidently it is enforced. The train parking lot is checked, albeit randomly. Rating: Park at your own risk. Masconomo Park (just down the street, opposite 60 Beach Street): In times past the parking spaces around the perimeter were resident only and the 19 in the center were OK for non residents to park. You can launch at high tides over the rocks; it's a muddy slog at low tides. I don't know if the park is now residents only or not due to Covid19. Gloucester High School: It's a state/municipal landing, or so says the sign. Access by Emerson Street ONLY (according to the sign I drove by on the way in). Parking: Open to all but most of the spaces are designated for vehicles with boat trailers. There is overflow parking under the trees across the street from the tennis courts, which might be OK for paddlers. On a weekday, you can probably sneak into the school lot a little further in BUT given precautions for Covid19, that may be prohibited once school opens. Landing Use: Drop your boat and gear on the grass by the ramp as quickly as you can and MOVE your CAR. Boaters have generally been friendly but you don't want to wear out your welcome. As Christopher mentioned, the Greasy Pole/Pavilion launch site is open (I saw paddlers there yesterday) to all. Just be aware that parking is at a premium along the boulevard on weekends. Bob

"Not true. You can park at official boat ramp and the little dirt lot where many of us park to launch. Only restriction is parking on roads leading in and out, where you can't park in front of peoples' houses." Hey Prudence, The bright orange Residents Only sign is in front of the little dirt lot. I don't know about enforcement but I'd be careful and avoid weekends.

And... there is at least one "Residents Only Parking" sign at Lanes Cove for a few weeks now. You've been warned.

As a Gloucester local, here's the score as I know it: Essex: All Residents-only parking at the usual launches during the pandemic. At Conomo Point, someone WILL call the police if you try to sneak in. Just a prediction. Most of the properties there have been in the same families for generations. The town landing (next to the Essex Shipyard Museum on Rt133) is also closed to non-residents. Ipswich: Pavilion Beach is now posted as residents-only and has been for weeks. This will probably be for the duration of the pandemic. The TTOR Dock on the Essex Bay side of Crane's Beach has NEVER been open to the public nor has the beach there ever been open as a put in. Gloucester: Lanes Cove is NOW posted Resident Parking Only. Good Harbor Beach is by reservation only for non-residents and residents-only most weekends -- and the residents interviewed on TV were overjoyed at having room to social distance. Pavilion Beach (aka Greasy Pole) isn't restricted yet but parking IS limited and EVERYONE in town seems to park there to go for a walk, usually accompanied by their dog. I haven't checked out the high school. The reason for these residents-only restrictions is limited beach/parking space and a need for social distancing. That is, IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU!

Obviously!

Even better, when you buy a car camping tent you can use a tarp as the ground cloth, or in over-priced marketing speak, a footprint. Saves you about $100.

Add bacon and sausage -- it's good for you! http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/good-health-benefits-sausage-bacon-8236.html

Black flies can be toxic... just sayin'.

"I also must add, I know I never used the words "single file" that clearly implies one in front of the other, which is wrong." Yeah, you did. Which is why I asked you "Who told you that???"

Hmmm that might be me. I was a wee bit incredulous that you kept insisting that the group cross the busy channel between Marblehead Light and Children's Island "in single file", especially with the high speed ferry due momentarily. Instead, we waited for the ferry to pass and everyone happily crossed in a clump (example b. It may not be what you meant, but it is what you said. Bob

I've paddled the Bahiya -- it's good for going fast and in a straight line and hauling a lot of gear but not very manueverable. Definitely not a rock boat. I'm a loose-fit advocate; I've ripped the knee paddling out of two boats I've paddled (a Bahiya and my ocean-cockpit Pintail) because the padding put in by previous owners forced my knees close together and made the boats more unstable.I like to be able to slide my weight from side to side for edging and bring my legs up into the thigh braces as necessary for additional boat control. In general, let the boat do the work: it will remain upright if you let it. I've found stabililty in rough water to be more hips than anything else with an occasional knee (or hip flick) to bring the boat back under me. Bob

The Persnickety Pundit of Paddling strikes again!

Here's a view of of area Peter and Scott were describing: the mouth of Plum Island Sound between the south end of Plum Island and Steep Hill Beach (the north end of Crane's Beach) taken today from Pavilion Beach a short time after low tide. Cape Ann is in the background on the right-hand side of the photograph, which is why the horizon appears higher on the right then the left. The day marker is roughly dead center and is visible in the "pre-shrunk" version of this photo. In this version it's only a smudge! Bob

Unfortunately, there is no longer parking along the side of the road by Clammer's Beach for non-residents of Essex. You can legally park very far down the road (well before any of the houses) and not get ticketed, but park where non residents used to and you'll get a ticket. There's an earlier posting about this further down this section of the message board. Deb M (I'm on Bob's laptop)

Jason, Julie, Deb and I paddled out to the Dogbar this morning to cheer for paddlers finishing the Blackburn Challenge (a circumnavigation of Cape Ann) and we happened to see a few friends: Fiona Cousins won the women's sea kayak class by more than 10 minutes and Gloucester's own Will Rich won the SUP by a wide margin. A happy Brandon Gunderson finished in the men's sea kayak class. Cheerleaders Jason, Deb, and Julie in front of Ten Pound Island. Bob

Ahem. John is translating the midieval Latin text on how St Brendan built his skin-on-frame for the voyage from Ireland to North America. I provided two references on the voyage that John may have already found, one is on Severin's recreation of the voyage, including his team's construction of a curragh from St Brendan's description, using traditional Irish construction methods, and the other on Morison's historical treatment based on sailing the route described and comparing landmarks to the descriptions in St Brendan's narrative. At least one of them also includes a translation of St Brendan's text, which might be useful to John as the variations in translations may offer different perspectives on the voyage.

I learned "Church Latin" as a kid but that to me was more like Latin with an Italian (or Boston!) accent and "soft" Cs. I know things like "Hic Iacet" were later rendered as "Hic Jacet" but I remember learning to pronounce it like a Yacket rather than a Jacket. I learned to pronounce Veni, Vidi, Vici like When ee, weed ee, week ee. We did read a little bit of midieval Latin my sophomore year and I agree, it was a tough slog even compared to Cicero. Good luck! (Aside: Have you read Tim Severin and Samuel Eliot Morison on St Brendan's voyage? Severin's curragh is on display in Clare at a museum not too far from Shannon. Very cool.) My AP Latin teacher (Constantine Pappas Jameson) was quite a a character -- an early pioneer of live television and a member of Actor's Equity -- who never lost sight of the fact that poetry in Latin and the Aeneid in particular was meant to be heard -- so he taught us how to scan Latin poetry and had us recite often. I think reciting the Aeneid (and other poetry in Latin) over the centuries is what kept the correct pronunciation alive -- the poetry doesn't work if the words are mispronounced. Mr. Jameson was very disappointed when I chose Physics over his Classical Greek class the following year. Bob

Hi All, PC Software I use with a camera: Picasa to keep photos organized. AVCHD is a nuisance; I use a free program called Handbrake for video format conversion, mostly to MP4 for viewing on my iPAD. DVD Flick and ImgBurn to make DVDs. Both open source. I use a program called VideolanLosslessCodec, or VLC, for viewing because it displays almost every video format in creation, including AVCHD. However, I use an older version, 0.8.6h, which is pretty solid. The newer version was buggy and crashed fairly often so I reverted to the older version. It was also open source. The TS1 came bundled with Arcsoft Panorama Maker 4, which works very well in stitching photos together to create a panoramic view. Enjoy, Bob

Hi Rick, Almost perfect! In-ven-ee-um vee-um ot fak-ee-am The last am has a very broad a, like ahhhhhm. You're using "classical" pronunciation, in which the C is always hard. For example, in Caesar, the Cae is pronounced like the Kai in Kaiser and the sar sounding like the sar in Tsar (both titles derived from Caesar). Congratulations! Bob (five years of Latin at Boston Latin School)