PeterB

Exciting; yummy, too. Is shipping your food an option rather than checking it in as luggage? Seems that if you have a set destination (like where you would be renting or otherwise acquiring your kayak ) you could ship a box there in advance? Possibly the same as some paddling gear that's straightforward to ship but a hassle to travel with as luggage?

I've enjoyed reading this thread; thanks for posting. Sid, my wife has taken to Dr. Fuhrman's diet (about 1 1/2 years now), with great results. Warren, what is your plan for using dehydrated/ vacuum sealed foods while camping? : do you prepare a whole meal or entree (whatever) , then dehydrate/vacuum seal it, and then it's rehydrated and ready to go while camping, or do you dehydrate/vacuum bag various ingredients and staples,(vegetables, potatoes whatever) rehydrate, then prepare a meal while camping? Peter

Kevin, weather is crappy. i'llassume its a no go unless i ear from you. my cell is 617-877-582 four Peter

Kevin, I'll be free by @ 1PM , so I'll try to join you. Peter

Most rescue practise is done in the calm waters of pools and ponds or otherwise sheltered areas, so relatively fewer rescues get practised on the ocean in real conditions. I think it might actually be easier to mount ones back deck in conditions as the boat and the swimmer are rising up and down, and there are moments when the swimmer rises higher in relation to the boat, at which times its easier to move from water to back deck. The action of the waves and moving water can also help propel the swimmer on to the back deck. In perfectly calm water you always have to propel upward.

No replies, so this trip is cancelled and I wil paddle locally .

It's late autumn but there is still colorful foliage and Sunday's weather forecast looks okay for a last hurrah autumn foliage outing, so; meet at the Squam Lakes Association Boat Launch at Pipers Cove for a 10:30 launch. There's a 5$ fee to park there for the day . Proposed route will be: Pipers Cove to Bowman or Moon Island, thence to the Yards Islands ( a pleasant spot even by Squam Lake standards , with a shallow sandy bottom) and up to Rattlesnake Cove , return via Long Island. Total mileage should be 10-12 miles. There shouldn't be much boat traffic, winds can be harsh, so I would consider this an L3 paddle. With temperatures in the 50's, drysuits would be comfortable and advised, otherwise immersion wear needed. If you are interested, post here or PM me. Thanks, Peter

load heavy stuff ( water, etc ) low in the boat and towards the middle( not in the ends) and light stuff ( down jackets , etc) higher and towards the ends. the finer points of boat trim or what you put where can be discussed at length but this is a general rule of thumb

I'm trying to think of universally accepted tips for kayak camping: advise that could apply to everyone while kayak camping. We all know that there a a lot of ways to do things; what tent or speeping bag to use, how to pack your boat, what to bring and where to put it in your boat, food and camp kitchen, etc. but in thinking of an introducton to a kayak camping workshop and advise or tips that one could be confident would apply to everyone ("this is just they way to do things") what would be on your list? I'm sure there are many, but for me, these three quickly came to mind; wear synthetic fiber clothes. Not cotton. Separate the tent poles from your tent. The tent poles can be stored up in near the skeg box and the tent then can be compressed and stored by itself, taking up less room Be especially careful & methodical managing your boat and gear when packing/ launching and unpacking/ landing : most kayak injuries occur on land, not at sea. I know there are others. What would you include?

NSPN is a pretty open organization; In the way our website is set up and the way we operate, its fairly easy for non members or unpaid members to participate in many club activities; (our message board, club events and paddles) If, on one extreme, every club activity and every bit of our website is only available to members , we then have too many “gates” between ourselves and the community of kayakers outside ourselves, and we risk becoming insular and in danger of stagnation. If, on the other extreme, all of our paddles & activities are open and there is unlimited access to our website and message boards, there is no incentive or reason for anyone to be a paying member. For instance, if you don’t have to be a member to sign up for a pool session, or attend a workshop or club training or pool session , or post a trip on the website, then there is really no reason to be a club member, other than your personal motivation to do so. We try to strike a balance between these two extremes, and I think we lean more in the direction of openness than exclusivity. So, as a fairly “open” club, with many past and present members, we really are dependent on the voluntary membership of those of you who involve yourselves with the club by whatever degree you choose. I think the amount of money that is in question here is quite insignificant; for instance, members of church denominations are often expected to contribute money in the hundreds and even thousands of dollars, our membership fee is $15 at this time, so its unlikely that in most instances a decision to renew or not is about the money. But it is significant in what it means to NSPN and its ability to operate.

Wonderful Proustian trip report,Pru! Thank you. I've attached two charts showing the route we took on Friday and then on Saturday. It was a great trip with fine companions, with finely honed paddling, conversational and gastronomic skills.

NSPN General Meeting & Post-General Meeting Paddle Sunday Sept.29th 9:30AM Gould Barn and Pavilion Beach, Ipswich All NSPN members are welcome to gather at Gould Barn in Topsfield for our annual NSPN General Meeting. As is our tradition , in the autumn , we have a group event which gives the entire cub the opportunity to get together , talk about things, and paddle together afterwards. . The meeting will start at 9:30AM for @ 30-40 minutes, we will give an informational update on such topics as: Club finances (how much money we have what we spend it on) review of 2013 events , the NSPN year in review. Afterwards, we can answer questions and talk about most anything people want to talk about. This is a great opportunity for member input and discussion about what we have done, what we would like to do in the coming year etc. . As you an imagine, there have been some lively discussions in the past. .. after the meeting, we will... paddle together. The meeting will end around noon , and we will relocate to Pavilion beach in Ipswich (about 20 minutes away), aiming to arrive at @ 12:30PM , for a 1:00Pm-ish launch. Float plan can be determined by the group size , weather & conditions that day . There will be L2 and L3 trips Trips running from Pavilion beach . Check for details and weather updates on the trips in the Trips forum to RSVP send PM to Peter Brady

Brenda There are some standard things you can do to deal with wind and weathercocking, you can load your boat a bit stern heavy (most of your stuff in the day and rear hatch, but not too far astern; just behind the cockpit in the day hatch or in the middle to front of the rear compartment is fine) ; Edge into the wind. Sweep strokes. Skeg. And practice! Sweep strokes and edging are actually finely tuned and with more practice you dial in the amount and kind of sweep strokes that work for you, You can't expect to go out and immediately paddle easily in strong wind. 10-15 knots is a good strong wind to paddle against or across. Your boat turning into the wind is classic weathercocking, common to most boats,some more than others.The Tempest is known as a well balanced boat, neither too much or too little rocker and should paddle in the wind well . Your bow is under pressure from, and pinned in place by, the parting bow wave but your stern isnt ; that laminar pressure of the bow wave releases as it moves from bow to stern, so the wind is pushing your loose stern more than your tight bow, so the bow feels like its then pointing towards the wind. . if you paddle backwards you'll immediately do the opposite; your stern rather than your bow will turn into the wind.

Pru! Thats not a strange fungi, thats rock tripe, a classic edible lichen. You boil it up into a big mush, I guess. It may not be very good but, on everybody's list of stay-alive-in-the-woods foods.

I did a canoe kayak camping trip in Georgian Bay (north of Toronto, adjoins Lake Huron ) with my cousin and family: two of us in a tandem kayak, the rest in two canoes. We outdistanced the canoes in open water by a big margin, but the canoes were much easier to portage. The canoes carried way more stuff in big Duluth bags. I did a canoe trip in the Boundary Waters with a college friend: The portages we did would have been very long and difficult with a kayak, and , in his view, the quality of a canoe trip is related to how many and how long portages you can do , as you then can get to more remote areas others would be less likely to explore. However , we were stuck for a whole day at a campsite on a lake due to strong wind. we could not have ventured out in our canoe, but we could have been across that lake in 10 minutes in a kayak.

I often think paddling about around the outside of Great Wass with you. When we disappeared from each others view while in the troughs of swells, I knew you were close by from the hoops and hollers you issued as you surfed down swells that went on to ride up the face of Red Head.

Warren, Rocky topography along the New England coast,including this area, is so varied that one rocky ledge may be good for rock play at high tide but then the next rocky ledge may be entirely different, and only good for rock play at low or mid tide. If you can open the attached illustration, : the slot between two rocky ledges at top is only good to pass through at mid tide: : at high tide the entire rocky feature is under water, at low tide , the entire slot between the two ledges is above water . In the lower illustration: at high tide there is a nice slot between two rocky pinnacles/ledges, but at mid tide that slot is then entirely above water. so one cannot generalize about an area, , but nevertheless I will. I think along the rocky stretch between Odiorne point and Wallis Sands, it is in the mid tide range that affords the most rock play: at high tide, many ledges are entirely underwater, at low tide, much exposed rock and seaweed. rocks and tides .pdf

It's mostly semantics, but I would consider an expedition a kayak camping trip that is more extended than a "camping trip" , so that one is more than a few days from one's starting point , and without support beyond ones own resources. I wouldn't say breaking camp every day would be a requirement, but moving from place to place as a significant feature of the trip would be. I think that one could e..g. do the exact same trip as the previous year and still consider it an expedition so I wouldn't consider previously unpaddled territory a requirement to call a trip an expedition. I wouldn't assign a length of time or number of days to an expedition, but as a general guideline, maybe about a week minimum, or more than two- three days from launch spot and/or land support sounds about right to me.

Christopher et al, if you can tolerate a late addition to your soiree , I'll join you. My cell phone is 617-877-5824 if you need to reach me. Peter

FYI Theres a nice article by John Huth in the Op-Ed/ Week in Review section of today's Sunday New York Times, titled "Losing Our Way in the World". It's tied to John's investigation into the world of primitive navigation that led to his book " The Lost Art of Finding Our Way" ( that's also featured on this message board) , but more of a personal reflection on John's own quest to become attuned to "navigation through environmental cues" as opposed to book learning and formal training. My favorite part: when twenty three Harvard alumni and graduating seniors were asked why it is hotter in the summer than than in the winter, all but two answered incorrectly that the earth was closer to the sun in summer than in winter (it is not) . Where a neolithic farmer would likely answer the question correctly (drawing from his own experience that the arc of the sun across the sky is lower in winter and higher in summer) , the modern student would more likely grasp for "disembodied" facts or information from the classroom , media, or formal training rather than observations extracted from their daily experience.

Brenda, Whether going on the L2 or the L2+ paddle, some sort of immersion wear is required, meaning; some outfit that will reasonably protect you from the cold if you are in the water.. The ocean is still cold at this time of year! if you have any questions, you can call me this morning at 627-877-5824 Peter

And .. its my responsibility to tell you all. NSPN has traditionally high culinary standards. Bring good pot luck food, and you will measure up to the high standards set by your predecessors. I'll bring avocado and cucumber sushi.

Come celebrate the beginning of summer with NSPN! This is our traditional summertime social event, and is held at Riverhead Beach in Marbehead, finishing with a pot luck party under the pavilion across the street at Devereux Beach Traditionally this event consists of three paddling trips of differing levels, all leaving in the morning from Riverhead Beach in Marblehead, breaking en route for packed lunches. Various trips will be posted by members on the Trips forum. We have have a L2, a L2+, and a L3 trips that day .... Postings for each trip are on the trips forum. Please RSVP with the Trip Initiator of the one you trip to attend. The L3 trip: beach briefing at 9:30,launch at 10::00: this trip leaves the earliest and goes the furthest: a traditional destination is Bakers Island. The L2+ trip : beach briefing at 10:00, launch at 10:30.. LIkely destination will be Salem Willows or Children's Island. the L2 trip : beach briefing at 10:00PM, launch at 10:30 AM.: This group and stays within Marblehead Harbor and Dolliber Cove. all trips return around 3-3:30PM Upon return in the afternoon (most likely 3 - 3:30PM ), all groups pack up their gear, change and collect under the pavilions at Devereaux Beach across the street, and enjoy a pot-luck BB-Q style beach party for dinner! Non paddling friends and family are of course also invited to meet up with us there for the food friends & fun! So bring your gear, your love of paddling, and a yummy dish to share , and help us kick-off the summer paddling season in style!!!

Solstice Paddle Level 2 Trip Saturday, June 22nd Beach Briefing 10:00 Launch 10:30 Meet at Riverhead Beach in Marblehead, 10:00 for beach briefing, and a 10:30 launch: we will initially meet, and probably launch with the L2+ group. We will proceed to the mouth of Marblehead Harbor and , depending on the weather, group size and preferences , continue around Marblehead tip to Salem Harbor. Likely areas for lunch include beaches along Marblehead coast. L2 is for people who prefer to stay in the protected areas around Marblehead and Salem Harbors. Wet exit capability is required. Conditions for an NSPN L2 trip are summarized at http://www.nspn.org/paddle_levels.htm. We'll return to Riverhead Beach by 3pm , to get our boats squared away and get changed for the grand potluck under the pavilion at Devereaux Beach. Devereaux beach is just across the road from Riverhead Beach. Please post interest here, and PM either Peter Brady or Rob Hazard if you have questions about the trip. Looking forward to seeing you!