spider

https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=78afc8e644&view=att&th=13da38328897edbf&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=file0&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P9CHbCdh8pLJJ6MlJH5PU-f&sadet=1364253940304&sads=Ssl_p-2cLnGcWg6EIQqx9BqSCYM&sadssc=1 Here's a pic my wife took while I was setting up...that's the poggies hanging on the paddle in the back ground... and another https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=78afc8e644&view=att&th=13da37b0baf7310d&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=file0&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P9CHbCdh8pLJJ6MlJH5PU-f&sadet=1364254585552&sads=8pT8ZIn2tDgacZA5WnNVTP4H_pE

...and the telling of the tale... I had signed on with some others (Warren et al) for a winter camping trip for March 23,24. As fate would have it big winds were forecast for launch day and a small craft warning put that prospect to rest. I realized if I were patient I would get my "window of opportunity" if I waited a day and waited for the winds to modify a bit. Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day, I have a picture or two I hope to post showing the set for the trip. I made a kit of a pair of snowshoes and a hikers snow shovel and lashed the kit to the boat. In a moment of inspiration I remembered to also bring the plastic sled I use for hauling wood to the house. Snow is our friend. At the launch I unloaded the kayak put it on the snow and walked it down to the water with a leash. It worked great..next I took out the sled loaded all my gear onto it and slid that also down to the water. I loved it... wish it was always that easy !! Sundays paddle was fine the wind was picking up just as I launched but it was moderate and the seas were friendly for the most part. The water was a bit "jittery" passing Chebeague Point but nothing to traumatic. Crow Island Ever friendly, I could tell winter was rough on it, looked like I had been the 1st in a while, patches of snow but not enough for the snowshoes, which was fine I pitched the tent on a nice grassy spot under the Oak trees. Spent a leisurely day soaking up the sun and staying out of the wind. It's almost a full moon. I love moonlight in the winter. The moon rose just as the sun set fulling the evening with soft moonlight shadows and light. Gorgeous sunset and moonrise, I was a spoiled puppy indeed. Monday morn and I was awake at 4 am procrastinated till 5 am. Up and at it.. I shoved off at 6:30 am. Headed down to Little Chebeague, which I had only seen as a sand bar a few years back. Only made a brief visit saving my time and energy for the rest of the paddle. All and all an excellent outing !!

Glad you made out ok... ...when I"m paddling hard and my attention is quite focused the song/mantra that I use to keep going is that ad from planet fitness "the paddle.... I pick it up "...".I put it down"... I pick it up.... I put it down... I pick it up... I put it down...etc etc. right or wrong I'll know I'm in a situation where I need my maximum 'Lunkability' to get me through... probably have used it a time or two to often though... Don't know the waters in Portsmouth, though I have paddled there with others, I find it pretty confusing with the various currents..so can't really comment..but I know you "play for keeps" when you play out there. Bonne chance..happy padddling

Aside from the shared camaraderie with those you are travelling with, you also make friends with others who might be out and about. Maybe not life time friends but friends for the day or the activity. Last fall a group of us landed at one island where a zodiac style boat was already.. when we landed it turned out they were having a little treasure hunt for one of the little ones birthday..nice stuff. First thing we did was ask if we were going to spoil it for them,, but they were all smiles and the young one was all excited to tell us about the treasure and we of course shared his awe at how exciting and special it was. Very cool, I think we made friends that day though we may never know who they are.

I wouldn't want to feel guilted to spend money every time I paddle. I'm sure we wouldn't want to appear to be all negative and money oriented to paddle these waters. What ever happened to friendly New England, with friendly people who enjoy the outdoors. with other friendly folks? I always have positive experiences with the people I meet when paddling. I like the idea some floated for a thread about the nice things we like about camping or the pleasant people we meet. I'm hoping we are encouraging people to paddle and ask questions ...on a lighter note ..glad whales don't do the same as the gulls... ..Is it a total embarrassment to run out of water and get stuck in the mud flats...? might be one question one answer might be..." no not at all if you wish to meet the clammers they do it all the time", perhaps shoot the breeze with them when they are done their work they have a perspecive few of us have and have been known to smile from time to time as well.

EEL .... guess I missed the question part, I just got the rant part. on a lighter note one of the of the most freguently asked question was .......What scat is that ?... " ...kind of lets you know if a flock of geese are expected back for the eve... or why do those cliffs look white washed ? or is that bird really trying to poop on me ? ...I'm on the lighter side today esp after such a nice uplifting presentation by Suz and Kate the other night

Yes excellent presentations and quite nice to meet such friendly folks. Quite a pleasure to finally meet some of those that I only knew through their writings. Thanks Happy paddling.

I'll ad question that might come up,esp in chilly weather... Can I use a candle lantern for extra heat in the tent ? there might be a surprising array of answers

Yes, don't want to accent the negs, but no surprise from me that it's all about ticks... I like to head north 'above the tick line" (which also keeps expanding northward). Still the population densities are less in some locations and seasons. I would say try to keep the bushwhacking to an absolute minimum even for calls of nature..hide behind some rocks for example rather than slog through brush or overgrown trails to secluded areas. ....so maybe visions of running naked through flowering meadows might need a little tweaking...;-)

Looks like you might have quite a full house after all. Just got an update saying there were 4 registered spots left (there were something like 22 spots left when I signed up a few days ago). Looking forward to attending, and seeing some familiar faces as well.

Tides have been running high since the storm. Yesterday (Sunday) opted not to launch from Pavilion Ipswich. Looking over to Sandy Point I counted about 5 different bands of current, some looking pretty pushy that I didn't want to deal with. Off to the right the roar of the breakers which were as far as the eye could see. Opted instead to drive over to Newburyport and head onto Plum Island and over to the refuge. The refuge was closed from Hell's Gate to Sandy point but you could hike it. Hiking a shore line section at high tide the ROAR was deafening...awesome! Today launched from Plum Island refuge with sunny skies . One of the highest tides of the month. The "backside" of the refuge and the sound... every thing was submersed so you could paddle over most of the marsh, and needed to remind myself there are all sorts of confusing dead ends and side channels when the water subsides. Used the GPS to seek out the different invisible currents to get the most glide for the effort. Sometimes I may think things are really cruising along, then realize there may be all sorts of motion in the water, but I'm actually going slower. Kind of a trick of the eyes I suppose. Lot's of Canada Geese, must be their time of year..other assorted ducks seem to be on the increase. Spring is surely in the air.......

I thought I would mention that testing out boats even on a calm day or protected waters you can tell pretty quick which boats tend to weathercock with a little wind. We have one beautiful boat that I love to look at, beautiful lines and chine, but on the water its all about pointing into the wind with or without the skeg deployed...think we bought that beauty a little to quickly.

Much like Peter says,many of us are middle age and then some. When we bought our kayaks we try for a 55 lb weight limit. So hard to find just the right boat we found ourselves with several.(I had to promise I wouldn't get as many kayaks as snowshoes) I look forward to paddling much lighter kayaks over the years...right now I love the tandem, at 76lbs that's only about 38 lbs apiece when transporting. I enjoy seeing all the various beautiful kayaks out there that people have. A few things I have noticed that I look for in a boat other than weight.... .... large tethered one piece hatches..big enough to put in a pair of large pruning loppers would be an example. ...large enough to accept a small bear barrel is also ideal. I like a boat where the hatches strap down ....for camping I like a ruddered boat, I begrudge the room taken up by a skeg, though it's not a deal breaker. ...for getting tossed in surf a rudder is about the last thing I want. I find some of the high end plastic boats to be pretty indestructible..if all options fail you can always just drag them over rocks etc. I like the flex of some of the kevlar,but the last thing you want to hear is cracking noise if you sit on the back deck. Hard chine or rounded are all considerations as well Coaming (sp)... I didn't realize till recently that the coaming can be a separate part of the boat. Often we put a lot of torque on it when lifting or getting in and out of the boat,,so it's worth a good look. Some boats come with built in locations for a compass, if so you might want to see if you can read a compass there or will need to have your compass much closer to read.. though perhaps not the best analogy... when buying back packs with an ice axe loop...you have to stop and ask do I own an ice axe... kind of the same with the yaks and some of the features they might offer good luck,.. you can't go wrong with so many good choices out there !

..and I thought you were soaking up the sun, seaside in some tropical location. Best of luck, with the new hip...getting the new turbo charged "paddlers special" mood reflecting, wifi friendly, edition I hope. Three weeks, quite amazing, may you have the most charming of physical therapists :-> I'll be heading to the Sound pretty frequently esp this spring, it's one of my favorite places as you can access so much from there, open ocean or the maze of back channels and their intricacies. I'll look forward to catching up with you as soon as you get the okay. Bonne chance !

Went back today (tue). This time heading over to Cranes Beach on the last of the ebb tide. This was a low tide launching and when I looked over to Sandy Point there was a line of breakers extending off the point for at least a mile or more. Pretty sure this is a fairly new arrangement. The usual sandbar was there and this was almost as if a new barrier sand bar was created parallel to that extending way out toward Cranes. Others might have a better idea but that's how it looked to me. Sunshine was a bit shy today, but finally made an appearance. Seals were lounging at the base of the day marker in the channel, also nice to see some Loons... still in winter plumage. Seems we are also photogenic... an enthusiastic lady asked if she could take my picture dry suit et al. Made for a fun end of the day.

I'm pretty much a lite weight, esp on the distance per day traveled.. I'm more of a how many hrs a day paddled and still have energy to make camp etc. Usually paddling 6 hrs in a day that's fine for me, give or take this that and the other thing. Though I often paddle alone, when I paddle with another person I can find it calming at times to have a visual reference on how the boats are handling esp in chop or current. I try to be, my best by the time I paddle with others during the season, or at least get the kinks out, know how much paddling I can handle and things like that, Paddling with others I do make a conscious effort to stay together. One thing I do like about the solo trips...I become both the strongest and also the weakest link in the journey...after a few days it could get a bit humorous if someone were to hear the two versions having conversation/disagreement...okay maybe they just call it talking to yourself.... I'm sure there are many here who have done much more paddling trips they are just a bit quite for now. I'll mention Reinhard Zollitsch, he is a strong believer in doing his 20 miles a day and be done by early afternoon. http://www.zollitschcanoeadventures.com/ He has paddled all the Maine coast and much more up into Canada. I usually reference his stuff when planning a trip, and of course Kate's writings. A treasure trove of information. the wilderness question gets the mind going...the Ocean is always wild, but the camping not so much. So in some ways we have wild days but at night you see lights and what not. Sound is another factor, hard to think wilderness while listening to the chug of a lobster boat, yet that is also some of the charm. For myself I tend to think of wilderness in terms of wildlife. Mostly I could say I have seen semi wilderness trips. Basically being from here in the east, I'm ok with black bear. moose and coyote/wolf....but when i think of wildnerness I think of British Columbia, Alaska the Territories,Great Slave Lake places like that. A wild trip for me would be kayaking the back waters of Yellowstone..don't know if I would have the nerve for it. ...happy paddling to all....

Great list, nice topic. I also do many of those things. I like to bring laminated pages from the Maine Gazette Atlas. when possible I like to scout the areas from land before hand, learn the area...hiked the Bold Coast for example, (though later did not paddle that section). During the trip talked with the fishermen and the clammers, they know all sorts of stuff, including where you might be more welcome than perhaps other places etc. GPS I mark them differently I try to make them more exactly to the shore line,but that's minor you can always do both. Well thought out you put some work into it

They are harmless and kind of fun if watching them spring about. I always think of them as an early sign of spring. (we had the hardest time convincing a couple from Tennessee that we weren't making it up one year...) Sometimes in the winter you start to notice the darnest things...

Very nice ! There are many ways to sleep out but something about a tent is nice and cozy. Tents= portable caves. Kind of like a cat with boxes, something way back in the DNA perhaps..... i Surely the neighbors will notice the up grade. Today I noticed the 1st of the "snow fleas" for the season while out today. Still if you start talking to people about snow fleas you may notice that..... "they all moved away from me on the group W bench" So you may not want to broach the subject with them......

I hope this links to some photos of setting up the tent after the snow a week or so ago. https://picasaweb.google.com/102620973214188005944/Feb2013WinterFun?authkey=Gv1sRgCMmT4uOMufCyNw it shows us setting up the tent area while wearing the 'raquette de neige' I'm particularly fond of that particular pair as they are woven with fishing line of various strength from the Gaspe region of Quebec,fishing line because Cod fishing was the world there once upon a time. Hope people are figuring in the "fun factor" into the snow camping equations as well :>

Ahh ha...you do exist on these boards. Good advice all of it. the Conover's book.. Winter Wilderness Companion..I've taken many an idea from that as well. They did the opposite of winter coastal camping and traveled the frozen waterways instead, traveling the old ways, wise folk they are. Born a doubter I'll have to go back and check that video link :-> but I'm easy to convince. ( occasionally I tend to think of tents as portable caves). .... even dropped the "solo" part of my name here in deference to paddling with others....sometimes........

Had a chance to get some paddling in today, Launched from Pavilion Beach Ipswich so thought I would mention there was no snow or ice up in the Sound at least as far as the eye could see. Didn't go up to the Parker River, but everywhere I paddled looked fine, so was able to get in a few miles winter paddling. Quite nice today, missed all last winter's paddling so today was a bit like a "kid in candy store"...all smiles :->

the -40 degree sleeping bag is a big help. Different the last couple of times as my wife joined me. For that we use one sleeping bag with a zip in section shaped like a triangle for extra room. Thing is the bag is a "waterproof"-40 down bag but the zip section(primaloft) is rated for +20, so we try to keep that section under us. It's cozy, hard to say if it's any warmer than two separate bags but it is a lot "friendlier" I see from some of the other tenting links, still testing their tents from the storm, that one problem with rain in the winter is that, after they dig out it floods out the lowest spot which in that case is their tent. I hadn't ever thought of it that way, but yet another reason rain is about the last thing we want in the winter. Checked a couple of launch sites that I like, lot's of ice floes in the current (Plum Island Sound) another spot Salisbury State Park was closed altogether. Looks like lot's of ice in the Merrimack, so no big motivation to get on the water there.

ouch, Occasionally I wonder if people get into more situations by practicing for situations. though not kayak specific, years ago one of our friends was drowning a few feet from us as we stood on dry land. We all knew how to swim but our friend did not. We felt somewhat responsible for we had talked him into jumping in. It took a few seconds for us to realize he really was going to drown. One of our group jumped in the water and saved him, though the rescuer did get pretty banged up from the victim. Still we never wondered if we should try to save him we just gave it our best shot and everybody lived happily ever after. Of course it could have gone the other way and they could have both drowned..but they didn't. I read now from time to time where the rescued person, proceeds to sue the people who rescued them. Perhaps they got injured in the rescue or it could have been done better using the latest techniques etc. etc Are we protected from such lawsuits ?

That's great, usually you see the white water yaks doing it. They nailed it good with the long boats. Slept out again last night (Sat 9) I took the tent down for the snow storm and pitched it when it stopped snowing. Took a picture or two I might be able to post later. One friend thought that would be a lot of shoveling for the tent. In fact though it was no shoveling. The idea is to snowshoe out to the spot then starting in the center keep going in an ever increasing circle outward till all is nice and smooth....Then leave it for at least 20 min or so to firm up before pitching the tent. Excellent snowshoeing and skiing but I think the "window of opportunity" closes with rain Mon. Heading to the seashore today to see how it survived the storm.