PeterB

I paddled Great Wass two years ago, in October, and it is a great destination . One of the first things one notices about this area is that the ratio of working boats to pleasure craft is inverse to that of Mount Desert Island and points south. One can launch from Jonesport, or , to avoid the boat traffic in Moosabec reach, cross a bridge from Jonesport to Beals Is. and thence to Great Wass, where theres a launch site on the NE corner of the island. I launched from there, paddled out through Pig Gut, and over to Head Harbor Island, (about a 1 mil crossing with shoals, islets & ledges on the way,) poked around between Head Harbor Is. and Steel Harbor Is. (beautiful) and returned the way I came. I caught good weather and calm conditions, otherwise wouldn't have ventured as far (or gone out at all) My route was about as conservative as one could manage there, and I left feeling that I had only scratched the surface of this great area. The skilled & enterprising paddler can explore the outer reaches of Great Wass , where boomers, big seas etc are commonplace. Venturing out to Red Head at the southern tip of Great Wass is not for the squeamish or unprepared. Some day, under the right conditions ... I was in that general area (Lubec, Machias etc) for several days, and the general pattern I experienced was dense early morning fog burning off by late morning or mid day. I was lucky & caught mild conditions, but the area is is (in)famous for fog, big seas, more fog, and general rough stuff.

A bit of advice on respirators with organic vapor cartridges: The typical repirator mask itself is long lasting , but the removable cartridges/ filters need to be periodically replaced. They are usually activated charcoal filters, meaning that they are passively absorbing organic vapors, whether on your face or sitting in your garage or workshop. Although 40 hours a reasonable lifetime for an organic vapor cartridge/filter , it is entirely dependent on the amount of vapors being absorbed (e.g. working in an enclosed & unventilated area filled with acetone fumes or solvents will use up a cartridge very fast, working outside will use them up slower) SO, If you have a respirator, and its been sitting around for a few months , the filters might well be used up, so make sure to have fresh cartridges/filters. Also, the dust/mist prefilter is what filters out particles (from grindng, sanding etc) which tend not to smell bad but which can be as hazardous, perhaps more so, than organic vapors. If you are getting a respirator, try to get one with separate changable cartridges and dust/mist prefilters. The best way to store a respirator is in a ziploc bag or a tupperware container.

I'm interested in paddling this weekend, so I will try to join you Sat.AM Peter

I would like to be informed who was playing in the rocks without a helmet? You would know more about it than I, but what I saw was perhaps three of the seven participants navigating between some rocks in virtually no surf, with others electing not to as their prudence dictated, and observing . I seem to remember wearing a helmet myself .No one did anything in or near rocks which wasn’t practiced to a significantly greater degree in the Nigel Foster intermediate class this summer, a fully sponsored NSPN event in which not one helmet was worn. The outing was safe, had an eminently sensible float plan, and the wooden boats were every bit as outfitted and seaworthy relative to the conditions and trip level to as any other boats there.

Gotta love it, and love it is exactly what the group did. It was a fine day in great conditions with a fine group of prudent, well-equipped paddlers. Mr. Lawson deserves credit for initiating this fine outing, rather rather than the snide , haughty and entirely unhelpful remarks of someone who wasn’t even there.

Sorry, I meant Jim, not Greg.

Could Greg's idea be combined with some sort of gear swap/flea market? I could easily envision showing up at Gould Barn with a paddle, PFD and pogies that I no longer need and leaving with a used VHF radio, tow line, something to that effect. i imagine there are others who would be in the same position.

I am ready for some winter paddling, with roughly the same preconditions as for others who have responded to this post (not too cold or windy etc). My favorite outings are Plum Island area from Pavilion Beach and Portsmouth area/Gerrish island from Pepperrell Cove. Ice (lack thereof) permitting, I would enjoy a York or Salmon River outing, preferably catching the flooding tide up and the ebbing tide back.

This is a thread from paddling.net message board that might be helpful: http://www.paddling.net/message/showThread...vice&tid=414701

Lovely, lyrical trip report. Definitely helps one appreciate the unique flavor of winter paddling. I have heard that there are those who have sledded a fair distance through snow right down into the water in the right conditions. Seabirds are definitely a great part of off-season padding. My last time out a few weeks ago (Portsmouth/Gerrish island) I saw many surf scoters and a flock of maybe nine pintail ( ducks, not boats).

If you're also a diver or snorkeler (or hanger-out- upside- down- in- kayak- with mask) I have heard that New Zealand has some very unique undersea life. Water is too cold for extensive coral reefs , but in places there are spectacular undersea rock formations covered with beautiful and exotic invertebrates, marine life, etc.

Plates and bowl are mine. Sorry to contribute to party backwash (sake and sugar-induced forgetfulness, no doubt ...) I'll grab them from you whenever convenient (pool session, whenever). Peter

I'd like to go out on Saturday. I was thinking of the Portsmouth area, launch from Pepperell Cove or Fort Foster, circumnavigate Gerrish Island (a favorite outing of mine), a semi-relaxed trip through Chauncy Creek , possible surf at the mouth of lovely Brave Boat harbor. Outing would have to be planned around high tide (@ 12:45PM) as the back side of Gerrish/Cutts Island is only navigable for @ 50 minutes on either side of high tide. Anyone else interested ?

From N.E. Aquarium Press Dept., Wednesday: Last night, a 350 pound, five foot long leatherback turtle was brought into the Rescue and Rehab area in the basement of the Aquarium. This is an historic event for us. I believe that we have not had a live leatherback turtle in the Aquarium building in over 30 years. This large turtle was rescued from a beach in Dennis on the north side of the Cape after stranding there two days in a row. She is very inactive and lethargic For those unfamiliar with leatherbacks, they are the world's largest turtle with some adults reaching over one ton. They are critically endangered, and their primary habitat is the open ocean. Given the distance that they are normally from coasts, strandings of even dead animals are rare. There have been about six live strandings on the Cape over the past 25 years and all of those animals but one were near death usually from injury due to boat strike or fishing gear entanglement. This animal does not have any obvious trauma. Animal Health and Rescue staff are caring for the animal by providing extensive fluids as well as antibiotics. Further evaluations and procedures are occurring throughout the day. This turtle is critically ill. The other great challenge in caring for this animal will be managing her behavior. Since these sea turtles are pelagic, they have a long history of having great difficulty adjusting to the concept of a barrier as in the edge of a tank. This turtle is currently being treated out of the water. Our fishes curator Steve Bailey has only seen one adult leatherback successfully kept in an aquarium setting and that was in a large Japanese facility. A Florida sea turtle biologist who is speaking at next Monday's Lowell Lecture has successfully rehabilitated a leatherback adult. Rescue & Rehab staff understand everyone's fascination with this animal, but they have requested that only staff who are dealing directly with the turtle come in to the rescue area to see it. The Communications Department has collected extensive still and video images of the turtle. We will be posting many of these on the web.

“A man who is not afraid of the sea will soon be drown’d, for he will be going out on a day that he shouldn’t, instead of lounging about inside, eating all day. But we do not be afraid of lounging about inside, eating all day, so we only do be drown’d now and again…” (vulgarization of well-worn) Irish proverb

It had been indicated that the Nigel foster surf classes will be in great demand, and also the wording of the post about the class seemed to indicate that one could sign up for both classes. (Possibly ambiguous wording, but): If there aren’t too many applicants or if everybody's only ssigning up for one or the other this would, of course, be a non-issue , but if there are too many applicants, it would seem that someone signing up for both classes would have an unfair advantage in getting a spot. IMHO Peter

For several weeks I had been having a bit of difficulty rolling my boat (Chatham 16); I could feel that I wasn’t initiating good hip and/or leg action for some some mysterious reason; hips felt strangely paralyzed . Well, last week I adjusted my foot pegs forward for a seemingly unrelated reason (although my legs felt comfortable in their knees-bent position, they were cramping and falling asleep on me) and, immediately , I was rolling much more easily. Nigel Foster had advised that that ones foot pegs should be positioned such that with knees bent and thighs braced against one’s boat, the balls of one’s feet have firm contact with the pegs, and with legs extended (as if to stretch them out) the heels will contact the pegs. I realized that my footpegs were positioned too far aft. Given this instant improvement upon adjusting my pegs, I must suspect that footpeg position plays a more significant role in rolling that I would have thought. If this is indeed the case (please chime in, you rolling gurus out there) it would suggest that attention to foot peg position (and general cockpit outfitting etc) would be an advisable as a matter of course to instructors and mentors involved in rolling practice, classes etc. If anyone responds to this, please try to leave out the second, third and twenty first letter of the alphabet, lest this innocent posting should metastasize into another endless thread featuring the airing of personal vendettas,, self-congratulatoory diatribes and cirriculum vitae, hand-wringing metaphysical musings, and general bad kharma…