spider

ahhh.... the tide waits for no one... a little up date.

One thing nice about Great Bay is that if the tides aren't working for the open ocean I get another "window of opportunity" to ride the tide in the Bay

So the good news ht was about 6-6:30 this morning the water was settled and I could see a couple of the Horseshoe Crabs from the launch before I even put the boat to the water.

Later when I returned to Adams Point about 9:30 am. I met the young lady who is heading up the Horseshoe Crab census these past 2 years,(if I have my info correct)

I paddled down to Sandy Point and there I definitely had to be careful not to step on them or crunch them with the boat, All in all there were about 20 of them right there on and nearby the launch even though I was more than an hr after HT by the time I stopped by there, they were still coming to waters edge for spawning.

I did rescue one large female who started climbing up some jumbled rocks and flipped upside down stuck between them. I knew it was a fatal mistake so I picked her up and put her back at waters edge. (yes and her pesky "boyfriend" as well).

So this is what I learned from the young lady and the fellow helping her.

...The horseshoe crabs like the warmer water right now and Sandy Point seems to warm up sooner so there is a good concentration there.

......they can tolerate a fair amount of fresh water so the salinity after a rain should still be ok.

.......she studies the temp of the water and the clarity of the water..the clarity of the water caught my interest as to whether it affects the spawning

......not all the empty shells are fatalities some are old shells from molting esp the smaller ones.

...they can't tell if the population is crashing or not, but they certainly are trying to figure it out

.....volunteers go out on all the high tides...even the new moon high tides at 3am in the morning

apparently a group of scientists or biologists took a kayak tour yesterday trying to get an idea how things were looking but came up somewhat empty handed.

...there are other invasive crabs in the Bay and may or may not be impacting our Horseshoe friends.

...they assured me the spawning is not over but we are in the middle of it and it will continue further into June as well...

...and yes they are looking for other volunteers also.

....there are other study areas along the Bay and Little Bay (up to the Bellamy maybe further I believe)

...and yes Horseshoe Crabs are more closely related to Spiders...though I would say part of the "extended" family :-)

Darn good question I wonder if your friend knows the answer. I was thinking I would give it another go for the new moon tide a bit later on.

When they are out and about you can often see them right there at the boat launch. It looks too rocky to me but they like it anyways it seems.

I'm going to try and pick a tide that is not the heat of the day if I can next time,

We saw they had the high tide line marked with flagging and a few places that had been scraped out by the "critters".

We noticed UNH had notice looking for volunteers for a Horseshoe Crab census. The age looked knew we took the 1st tear off tab with the address, but haven't followed through yet. It gave me the impression that we had not missed the main event yet for the big "Prom Night" .

We hid from the wind on the east side back behind Woodman's Point, there are a few pocket beaches, however it would be indiscreet to mention how we were able to do our observations there.

Seems they are blind to our way of thinking. They have light sensors on their shells, as we watched they would come to the extreme edge of the water line and do a U turn or burrow in a bit. They didn't come on shore like a snapping turtle for example.

A few came up through the softer edges where the grasses soften most the agitation from the water and the soil is a bit sandier.

A couple of horseshoe "teenagers" cruising the shoreline..looking for love in all the wrong places...and a few more successful couples to emerge, but certainly few and far between.

A few years back one paddler here saw a huge amount on a low tide off Sandy Point presumably getting ready for a later tide it would seem.

Good luck, When they are active there are times you literally have to be careful not to step on them or crunch them with the boat esp when launching and landing.

I'm hoping the water will settle and the visibility much better.

There is a lot of interest in them, they are having a tough go of it down in Chesapeake Bay apparently.

Nice to hear of the fellow from Stonington paddling Great Bay, it's a very unique area.

We had our limited luck over by Woodmans Point, I'll write a bit more over on the other thread, so I don't side track Dougs thread here too much. I'm sure they covered a larger area than I did and probably found some fun spots to play along the way.

Nice report, photos & links !!

I particularly enjoyed__ and the nice views of __. ( ok just having some fun).

I was wondering if anyone was out camping last weekend,sounds like you were north enough to get some of the better weather.

Thought the seas would be big, but the photos look calm.

Interesting bartering for the parking, though I didn't quite understand it, sounded like a great idea and nice "thinking outside the box" for ideas & solutions.

Very nice indeed !

......I also tend to think breakfast & lunch are over rated....I'll start with enough oatmeal for each day's breakfast and end the trip with exactly the same amount I left with. I tell my friend, who loves the stuff, that I just bring it in case we ever need to make cement with it and build a shelter...

I don't know how you folks made out yesterday, but Marilyn and I just came back from a bit of a picnic/ paddle up there today.

Timed it pretty good for the high tide but the water was pretty turned up by the recent rains so it was mostly mud colored. We only saw about a dozen and those were the ones literally coming out of the water.

I don't know the optimal time this year for them but it wasn't today near as we could tell.

I must be lucky I use boats with skegs or rudders many a time with no problems. I think there must be some lurking danger of using a skeg but have yet to find it.

Course it is good to practice pretending that either one or the other is broken, though for me it's a nice practice but seems to border on masochism if I stay at it too long.

If one or the other brokedown on a trip knowing how to do a field repair, would be a huge help, or just limp along till a better day.

if I were to make an analogy would a jammed skeg be like a drysuit with the zipper frozen open...? and if that were the case would it be better to learn how to paddle without one...?

...just rhetorical questions for a rainy day...

We used to do some of our Bald Eagle observations from there and enter info into the log books a few years back. They manage the property for species diversity, so over time you get to see some pretty unusual things. Owls observing and woodcock doing crazy display flights etc...

just to help clear up the dates.. I have... Sat the 25th... high tide 1:20 Dover Point

Sun 26th 2:13 Dover Point

Guess I figure another 20 min for it to reach Adams Point (or something like that) A round trip from Adams Point to Exeter will give you about 20 miles paddling, if you're feeling energetic.

For kayak paddling Adams point works nicely giving Furber straight it's necessary respect.

For a more family canoe outing I would tend to recommend Sandy Point and not deal with Furber Straight at all.

I believe Sandy point also offers educational Kayak outings as well. Also an interpretive board walk along the forest/ edge.

Adams point also has an interpretive trail.

(both Adams Point & Sandy Point are tide dependent)

happy paddling...good viewing..

Glad you mentioned it, I'll start looking around the next few times I paddle up there.

Here is a link or two that might have some good info.

http://www.greatbay.org/

http://www.greatbay.org/about/facilities.htm (Sandy Point Discovery Center, Greenland NH)

(the Nature Conservancy might also have some info)

I don't know my way around Little Bay that much, but when I paddle Great Bay I usually think in terms of paddling 4 hrs or so.

The horseshoe crabs will be looking for the highest tides to help insure their eggs do not get washed away.

I have seen them, in other years along most all the shoreline when the season is right. I have seen them aplenty at Adams point launch enough so you are careful not to step on them or land your boat on top of them.

Also they do have a fondness for coming ashore at Sandy Point Discovery Center.

I don't know my way that much up through Little Bay but I am sure there places up through there as well.

I'll be curious how you make out with viewing them this year.

"Miles from nowhere, guess I'll take my time..."

5 nights/6 days paddling with Philippe, friend and fellow adventurer from Sherbrooke, Que

While I don't often post my fresh water trips here that often these days, I thought what the heck it was an excellent spring "pre-season" paddle to warm up for a Saguenay trip later this summer.

So of course 1st thing we wanted to be sure was the ability to paddle 6 days with a couple of portages thrown in and not tire or fall apart at the seams or suffer general pandemonium.

Snow...the access road to the launch at the northern end of Lake Richardson was clear, but the snow on either side was thick and deep in the woods...hmmm that did give us a little pause.

As it turned out that was the snowiest section we saw after that there were just a scattering of snow and ice as we did the circumnavigation of each of the lakes.

Though each day we would see an occasional fishing boat, we saw no other "persons a paddlin" and had the lakes to ourselves day and night. Well perhaps not all to ourselves..lot's of footprints of moose and other critters. Perfect set of bear tracks in the sand the morning after my friend said he heard dogs barking in the night..safe to say I asked several times if he was sure it was not a bear he heard.

Quite confident it was canine..with no houses for several miles I tend to opt for coyotes as the source of the sound..the bear..just passing through.

The weather was near perfect each day warm and sunny with No biting bugs yay !!

Though I don't carry a camera Philippe does and here are a a couple of photos he sent along, course with only 2 peeps I tend to get well photographed :-)

the "mirrored' picture does make for beautiful pictures, it does play with your head a bit and can make it difficult to maintain the horizon or stated anothe way.it makes it hard to tell what is up and what is inverted..

the campsite picture ..Philippe's small tent in the front...I got the jumbo version tent platform..quite ingenious in it's construction by unknow peoples...

the portage...combined trip 1st time through 5 trips..on the return 2 ...think we refined it a bit..

could this be it...... http://passageweather.com/#

Just got my book today. Looks awesome can't wait to dive into it.

Congratulations as well !!

Thanks for that info, I never knew that both names were used for the same place.

Though I'm not around on the 21st, I'll mention the 1st time I ever saw somebody putting on a dry suit I quickly learned that they were much easier to put on...after you remove the coat hanger.

Good luck, I'll look forward to stories of suits a burpin...

After a day working in the yard, I realized that the good weather might not hold so I was hot to go paddling for a couple of hrs on a local fresh waterway.

Just as I was heading for the car my wife said "what's that on your neck?"

Sure enough it was a tick.

Perhaps i should say it was a... friggin ##**++%% TICK.

(A "Tick Magnet" that what she calls me these days..seems about right)

So the correlation I want to pass on to others is...if you hear the spring peepers a peepin...then it's also time to watch out for ticks.

Seems like a pretty good "rule of thumb"

Paddlin was great ..light shirt and pants..awesome. Not to worry most the water was 2 or 3 ft deep. It's an area only accessible in the spring. I used to canoe it... on a hot day like today I dress "canoe style" if there is such a thing.

So if anybody is out there hitting the local ponds and marshes while the water is high and cleaner than later summertime, watch out for the ticks esp at the launch areas. Even on the MITA islands you'll find me hugging the shoreline, (and dressed more appropriately) no bush whacking for me till winter time unless I'm north of the -tick line- up in Quebec somewhere.

The birds are arriving daily and the peepers were almost deafening in their chorus..Just the way I like it !!

... I'll let Doug and Greg hash it out...

but sure I rinse my boat, daily (spray skirt, pfd as well)

if I paddle daily.

no problem at all, I certainly don't look at it as a waste of water, I look at it as water put to good use and not watering some lawn for example.

The exceptions are of course on camping trips or portages from one body of water to another, then best I can do is wait till after the trip.

probably got in the habit coming up to kayaking from early days of renting, the outfitters always washed(rinsed) their gear when you returned, always thought that was a good habit and your gear last longer esp from abrasive salt.

If paddling fresh water the motivation to clean gear seems even greater so we don't spread invasives..but nothing to do with boat speed and what not

Very interesting. The whole thing with polymers dissolving in water to reduce friction etc, there's something I never would have realized even existed.

I see Greg Barton is all about a smooth surface, not waxes and stuff, but smooth and clean. He makes a point of saying a dirty boat, with crud and stuff on it will be slower because of increased drag.

Interesting also one of the boats he was racing could not be used because it had lengthwise grooves on it .

Also interesting that what may work in dry conditions, like 303 and sliding off the roof racks, might not be the same once in the water..then I would imagine more differences between how it reacts to fresh or salt water etc.

all and all it seems all about clean and smooth with wax an option to help with the smoothness but not really helping as far as slipperiness" goes..if I understand correctly.

I try to wash a kayak every time I take it for a paddle.

Every so often I will wax them (or 303 if that is what has always been used on them.)

So while waxing the hull of one the other day I'm saying to myself "oh she'll be gliding through the water in fine time now.

...Then I got to wondering... is that even true ?

You see a lot about what style boat and what type of paddle etc etc. Do racers wax up their boat just like skiers do their skies ? I know surfers use wax but I have no idea why..?

Or is waxing a fiberglass boat a moot point because it already has a glass like finish etc...

I know if I 303 a kayak and put it on the roof racks it's going to slide off in a blink...does that extra slipperiness translate to our advantage when paddling ?

Ptrish, that is a very nice offer. Hope it all goes well it and the info is put to good use. good luck

This ad just cracks me up for some reason...think we'll need to "buff up" a bit to compete...

...I also make free standing wooden J holders for some of our kayaks. You can either screw them to the house, wall, fence, barn or just free style on top of a picnic table etc etc.

I have some kicking around I can show you if you want. I pad them out with foam from the plumbing dept of a local hardware store it's just pipe insulation.. you can always shoot me an p m if you like (I might even have some pics somewhere)

Thanks it does help to clear up. It is only the... Private islands.... of concern. It is easy for folks to get confused.

With the public lands I'm sure we didn't want people to think they have to join yet another organisation to use what is already theirs.

I personally have zero problem identifying publicly owned islands.

I remember very clearly, esp in the early days, that some of the resistance to the whole concept of the "trail" were with people fearing public lands would become for members only. I think the dilemma still exist and we walk a fine line with "members only" approach.

One thing seldom gets mentioned but not every place to camp is listed in the guide book. Some people purposely did not want to list their islands as part of a trail which could indeed increase their usage.

On the other side of the coin not every camping spot in the guide is usable, some are simply well intentioned but not usable.

The more we know and learn the better our chances of being in the right place at the right time

...but...

Public Lands are Public..not just for us.

Well, I had no idea so much info was out there in web cam land. Quite remarkable. thanks

Enjoyed the photos...boy those boats tip over a lot :-)

We liked that 1st photo a lot and those with the bunny ears are awesome

..i know with a ruddered boat you can spend a bit of energy worrying if your gonna scratch your friends boat...funny how it all goes into the mix of things...

Nice to see some Easter fun !!

Rode the tide in and out of Exeter NH down to Great Bay and over to Moody Point the other day (Sat)

No snow or ice to speak of just an occasional small piece.

I was tempted to paddle some of the ponds and lakes in the high water anybody know how things are looking inland ? Lake Massabesic or Squam ..some of the others ?

almost true, but not quite, a good number of the islands are open to the public....it does get confusing sometimes though.