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Bloaine Only if you agree to provide us with the tips you have learned since after 50 years you must have more than a few. <g> Ed

Renee: Is overnight parking allowed at East End? I thought not, but maybe people are leaving cars elsewhere? Ed Lawson

Barry: If you get out that way, it is definitely worth taking a day trip to visit Frenchboro. With the right route and timing with tide that 10 miles goes fast and conversely. <g> Ed Lawson

I have not been there for awhile, but New England Small Craft in Rowley has always been my go to place for stuff like hatch covers and things hard to find generally. The conversation to go with the sale always worth the trip as well. I trust it is still the valuable resource it has been. Contoocook River Canoe and Kayak also has Valley hatch covers for sale. Ed Lawson

Nate: I believe you are quite correct regarding no knobs as better for kayaking. Yaesu/Standard and Icom both stand behind their radios well in terms of warranty and repair. I believe they all have a three year warranty for water intrusion damage. The point about the battery is interesting. I suspect you, as most people, use the radio far, far more for receiving than transmitting and you will not notice the declining capacity of the battery to "hold" a charge after a few years if the radio is only used for receiving. Generally there is a specific number of charging cycles these batteries will be good for and some say there is a outside limit in terms of time as well. As a rule three years is about all these batteries are good for in terms of having their rated capacity when used regularly. Now I know folks will post their batteries still charge and the radio still works great after more than three years, but that does not mean the battery is fine. Maybe if you don't use or charge the radio often. The real crunch comes when you transmit with the radio and if the battery is old or has been through many charging cycles, it simply will not have the "power" to meet specs. For kayakers the early failure or diminished transmit capacity could come at a bad time during a bad day and make thing even worse. Ed Lawson

So Rick, do bigger fish follow the little fish and then sharks follow the bigger fish? You're down there emulating prey at night? And you're are afraid of cuddly bears? As to original topic; sounds like a fun adventure was had so why worry about things not going according to plans. Ed Lawson

Apparently they are called wetsuits for more than one reason. Perhaps the option mentioned is easier/safer that opening the spraydeck, unzipping the drysuit, and whatever? Anyone ever unzip a drysuit while paddling a boat? Just curious. Seems rafting up might be appropriate. Ed Lawson Apparently there is more than one reason to lube zippers as well.

Not sure anything to add other than to vote with those who say you need to look at water and air temps regardless of the date. Also a big factor is the type of paddling being done which directly affects the odds of swimming, the duration of the swim, and the consequences of the the swim. Personally, I do not blindly follow the dress for immersion concept since if taken to its logical conclusion would mean paddling is survival suits and nobody does that. Nor do I believe it is easy and practical to use rotational cooling when you overheat in many circumstances. From around late May into early September when doing routine paddling from Portsmouth to Jonesport I tend to dress for comfort which means if solo using a good wetsuit, but otherwise something much lighter. As others have said, it a balancing of risk and different people have different points of acceptable risk. Until you have a good grasp of actual as opposed to perceived risk, best to be conservative. Ed Lawson

Folks, you can pay someone at least a $150 per session to learn the basics and a little more about the skills needed to plan and be responsible on a trip or you can take advantage of the these CAM sessions which will prepare you not just for planning and initiating a trip, but also to be a responsible active paddler on any trip as well as giving you what you need to plan and safely take your own trips. The instructors are top notch and the mentoring experience is, IMHO, worth a very great deal. You would have to take a variety of courses at some distance away for big bucks to gain the knowledge and real world experience you obtain in these free NSPN sessions in your backyard. Just a shameless plug, but no puffery. I have no doubt given the folks involved these are absolutely great sessions. Ed Lawson

"venerable NDK Romany" Is that one step before or after "classic" status? Ed Lawson

Sherry: I don't know what paddling you intend to do or your size, but there are some other small boats although not often seen. The Impex Mystic, the Tahe Greenland, and the CD Rumor and Suka are examples. Some of these have very definite "personalities" and are not fungible. All are good boats. Might want to think in terms of volume as opposed to beam and length when determining if a boat is low volume, etc. There are full sized touring boats for average sized paddlers that have beams of around 20". Assuming the boat would be used for day and long weekend trips, my guess would be a small paddler (<115) is well served with a boat with a small wetted surface so it is easy to paddle at "club" speeds, has a volume of no more than 250 Liters, and has a proportionately sized cockpit although I think narrow cockpits are generally bad for everyone. Everyone has their personal opinion on these things, but for a day/weekend boat I like something with a volume of around 275 liters and I'm 5' 10" and 175#. So when I think of a boat for a small paddler, my view of low volume is a little skewed I guess. Ed Lawson

Something to watch as the next storm rolls in Wednesday. Ed Lawson

Sherry: Cannot comment on the boats personally, but assume they are both very good boats. Despite being described as very low volume, the Avocet LV and no doubt Pilgrim have plenty of volume for short (4 days) camping trips at least when along with another person. So for a small paddler they are very nice sized boats that you can do a great deal with. Ed Lawson

Sherry: When you say easier to edge do you mean you can dial in and hold any amount of heel or do you mean it will heel to a very solid shoulder which is easy to hold? I have heard folks say NDK boats have a very distinct and solid shoulder while "classic" valley boats tend to be more fluid as in no distinct shoulder. I suspect that is why NDK boats tend to be floppers as opposed to logs when it comes to rolling. I tried a Pilgrim Exped. once and the only thing I noticed was it seemed to have low stern volume or at least a "long/lean" stern. Or at least I thought so since when doing a cowboy re-entry as the boat tilted up quite a bit and that made it rather difficult. Of course might have been due to my being too big for boat. My impression is the Avocet has evenly distributed volume for a fish form boat. Ed Lawson

Besides the restaurant, direct shot to Jewell, and views; I would consider it a fairly safe and secure place to park as well. Not an inconsequential matter. As Peter indicates, the restaurant is known for being good. Ed Lawson

Just to increase options for planning purposes there are two other northern launch sites suitable for a larger group (5+). I believe you can use the Merepoint state launch site for overnight trips if you arrange with the Brunswick PD. It is not kayak friendly in terms of no easy beach, but is a nice big area with parking and changing/restrooms and the ramps are spacious. There is a nice all tide beach at the cribstone bridge between Orr's and Bailey which as the advantage of being a very pleasant spot with a store for goodies and a kayak outfitter who might have something you forgot. The launch/parking fees are reasonable. From Merepoint you can wander down an island chain, visit the Goslings and Whaleboat on the way to Jewell. Using the cribstone site you can go down the outside or inside of Bailey and take the long way to Jewell via boring (if weather is benign) crossings to Half Way Rock Light or more directly via Eagle. Ed L:awson

Peter: I would like to participate in the Jewell trip and the northern launch would be my choice. So I will count on that and hope the stars align so I can go. FWIW, my thought is Orr's provides more variety/interesting options to and from Jewell, but its all good. Ed Lawson

Dave: So I should come and capsize in the middle on nowhere next to a rock buffeted by waves? And when you come to rescue me, I should grab your boat and capsize you too? Sounds like more fun than debating whether/how/if the guide/leadership skills apply to CAM trips. Ed Lawson

As an extraneous comment, perhaps discussing the specifics of who, what and why belongs in the NSPN business Forum? Ed Lawson

Rick: Actually makes good sense. The wolves had already eaten part of the caribou before the grizzly drove them off, the grizzly is not about to pick a fight with them, and wolves very, very seldom bother humans and usually avoid humans or at least not be hostile if close. On of my fondest wildlife memories is when I and a small pack of wolves passed each other like trains on a double track. I was on a trail going one way and they were going the other about 50 feet up slope from the trail. Ed Lawson

In the FWIW category, recently a young woman hiked the Brooks Range in Alaska (@1000 mi./51 days) solo. During the first two weeks saw grizzlies every day. She elected not to take a firearm after some careful consideration. One interesting story was she walked around a bend to find a grizzly eating a caribou only 100 feet away and a pack of wolves who had killed the caribou hanging around nearby. Seeing her, the wolves ran into the woods and she quickly followed them believing she was safer being close to them than alone under the circumstances. Ed Lawson

Interesting stories. A SMSKN friend took some impressive pictures of grizzlies from his kayak. Or should I say pictures of impressive grizzlies. Anyway, suggests they wander down to the shore on occasion and they are not bashful like black bears, but I don't believe they hunt humans as polar bears do. Once had a ranger at a remote location give me the following black bear advice. "If they won't go away when you yell at them, just wack their nose with a skillet." Say what? Although carrying adequate firearms is one approach, not a good idea unless you comfortable with what you carry and have practiced enough to be able to hit the target. Otherwise a firearm provides a false sense of security and that could make for a bad day with a mad bear. Ed Lawson

I believe Sir Christopher has the correct view. As in it does not indicate a person is at any stage of hypothermia, but rather an early sign of the threat of hypothermia. After all, hands and feet often get chilled for a variety of reasons including it is just hard to keep extremities warm given the path the blood must take to get to the fingers and toes if nothing else. You can suffer frostbite and never exhibit any symptoms of hypothermia. People often have cold hands and feet even have minor shivering episodes while working/playing in the cold, but those are not symptoms of hypothermia as such. Are they indications that a person might become hypothermic? As Pintail says, "Yes." Do they need to be treated for hypothermia? No. Should some minor adjustments be made to to warm things up? Yes. I also think it is important to recognize that people are at risk of having a catastrophic accident due to mild hypothermia well before the more obvious and frequently discussed symptoms show up. For those interested, the following is a good reference work for those who play outdoors: http://www.mountaineersbooks.org/Hypothermia-Frostbite-and-Other-Cold-Injuries-P324.aspx Ed Lawson

At least the camera makers tend to put some language in the owner's manual about the limitations of waterproof ratings. My Pentax has a JS8 rating and they suggest having the camera returned to them yearly to maintain its waterproof rating. They also indicate that you should not jump into the water, swim with nor use the camera where there are swift currents or in waterfalls. That is because most waterproof ratings only apply to the equipment being submerged in still, fresh water and does not imply the equipment will be waterproof in dynamic water environments. Seldom see that info in radio manuals. Also why some of us would rather not expose our radios on the outside of a PFD where they are more exposed to the conditions similar to those mentioned above. Ed Lawson

An idle thought. With all the talk of damage to this and that from trying this rescue method, consider the implications of doing a T rescue with boats bouncing about in textured water and fully loaded for a multi-day trip. Out of curiosity, who has done such a rescue or even practiced it? Lots of stress on body and boat I suspect. While it is perhaps fun to practice multiple rescues in a pool,it is certainly necessary to practice rescues adequately to maintain proficiency, and some seem to consider them a routine part of any club paddle; I believe it reasonable to suggests there is some level of risk to gear, if not paddlers, when performing practice rescues. If needed, those risks are part of the price of admission, but otherwise maybe worth asking what is the value received from the risk? Ed Lawson