PeterB

Seabrook marshes are very nice: As to whether its worth the longer drive: I think the marshes behind Cranes Beach in Ipswich, or the Parker River behind Plum Island would be my preferred venue if looking for a salt marsh paddle not far from home.

Yes, this has come up in conversation in the last couple of years. This year and last , on a 4- day NSPN trip to Stonington in mid - July, we noticed how few kayakers there there seemed to be in the area , which has long been considered one of the country's sea kayak hot spots. As near as I can make out, sea kayaking was at its peak around the late 1990's , maybe @1998- to 2003. , before my time. When I first got into sea kayaking , @ 2004 or 2005 , I read Atlantic Sea Kayaker a lot and got the inkling that that spots like Stonington had been thriving sea kayaking areas ; I think Hells Half Acre ( an idyllic and accessible kayak camping island ) might have been closed to campers for some period after 2005 due to overuse, and when we stopped there this year and last ; no campers or kayakers. It seems to me there is a small but steady trickle of paddlers entering the sport seriously, otherwise most people you will see on the water are casual dabblers in general outdoor watersports/ outdoor pursuits.

I don't recommend or not recommend this , but it does seem to fit your requirements 4'10" peak

I'll be there, will arrive 5:00 or after so I'll catch up to the rest of you. Will be stopping at Street on the way home (Islington st., not far from Odiorne) for Singapore Salad, shrimp tacos or felafel if anyone would like to join.

I plan to be at Walden early today, 3:30 to 3:45. I have to leave early- 5PM- ish. If there's a parking problem like last week I'll probably move on and not go to plan B as I've much stuff to do this evening. Peter

What about Horn Pond in Woburn? I was there years ago when NSPN assisted REI's demo kayak day but don't remember much about the place other than a bunch of paddlers could use it and it's in Woburn, which looks like a reasonable alternative location to Walden Pond.

%#¥£~^#!!! Walden is closed. I think Jane and Sue arrived early enough to get in but Yong, Les and I were unable to get in, and exchanged expletives from our cars in the choking traffic and 91degree heat. #}%¥•€~<>€%#!!!!

I plan to attend if the forecast is okay. Not likely to make a 5PM launch, but if not I will paddle out and find you all. Peter

sounds like the sprayskirt has just had wear and tear , unlikely they would do any kind of warranty repair for that. But in my experience, it never hurts to inquire: Ive gotten free replacements a few times when they weren't technically warranted, just by asking. I had a Seals spray skirt repaired or replaced forth holes that I later realized were not a . they dat have to So Snapdragon may or may not have similar customer service. It seems that in general suppliers are being very about rpeacmnts and repairs these days, I imagine because its a competitive market. and customer service is a pressing need.

That was a fun and refreshing time last night. Few better places to spend a weekday summer evening. Thanks, Jeff for setting this up.

The Trinity is a real dry top (hence more $$) with drysuit -type neck and arm gaskets,and the Knappster is a semi -dry top. Yes, the Knappster is awesome as the go-to warm weather paddling top; that's if you're looking for a warm weather paddling top that won't keep you bone dry but comfortable enough for the vast majority of our warm weather paddling. .If you require that extra protection, the Trinity would be good. I've found that I'm fine in either a drysuit or the Knappster, and go right from drysuit to the semi dry top when weather turns warmer. : the only exception is summer season rough -water paddling like tide race play where theres a very good chance of capsizing or being in the water , or on unusually raw summer days: then a drytop might be preferable to the semi dry top.

Bill, are they being strict about parking permits in the lower lot (down by the water) this year? I doubt I can get there by 4:30 but I'll be along not too long thereafter Peter

Yes, this sounds terrific. Since Jeff Charrette is hosting some after- work paddle sessions from Odiorne soon, these would be a great "next step" for attendees to consider: an opportunity to paddle in Little Harbor (nice protected area, perfect for practice ) with the option to venture out a bit , conditions allowing, beyond the jetty to the more open outer harbor.

The Strutter and the Gath helmets are very well regarded you see them a lot on the heads of experienced sea kayakers. They are "high end", meaning pricey compared with NRS or Protec helmets, which are also popular and well used. I have an old Strutter that was getting beat up, chin straps wearing out , and now have a Sweet Protection Wanderer . Its very well cushioned and comfy, and so it is also is a good cold weather helmet as it insulates my head., but in the summer it might be hot (I wear a helmet almost all the time when paddling ) so I'd rather wear a less padded helmet then . Yes, get what comfortably fits your head : heads , like hands or feet, are unique to each person, so what works for one person might not apply to another .

Sorry, the correct dates are Friday-Monday September 8-11 i will fix the heading as soon as i can. Peter

This will be the Downeast Paddle Retreat for NSPN This 4 day event will span the weekend after Labor Day, with group a paddles each day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday , and shorter trips winding down on early Monday afternoon. Since this retreat has been a success for three years - it's a perfect location to paddle at a perfect time of year (and with a perfect group of paddlers!) - it will be run roughly the same as in past years. Our base of operations will be at Llangolan Inn on Rte 3 near Hadley Point , on the north side of the island between the Narrows and Bar Harbor. We can meet at Llangolan every morning and around dinner time to create and confirm paddling plans each day. Most people arrive on Thursday and depart on Monday afternoon though participants are of course free to arrive and leave earlier or later. Each day we will organize paddles ( likely two or three) around Mount Desert Island, based on group desires, weather and conditions that day. Popular destinations are the Porcupine Islands in Frenchmans Bay, the Cranberry Islands on the south side of MDI, Bartlett Island and Sound on the West Side, and the dramatic eastern lshore of the island. And anywhere else that folks would like to explore ( Swan Island to the southwest has been mentioned) This is a rain or shine event. This event has been a success becasue there is paddling to be had somewhere around the island in all but very harsh conditions, and if the weather is too crummy lto paddle on the ocean we can paddle the inland ponds and lakes like Long Pond or Eagle Lake, or folks can explore Acadia National Park or play tourist around Bar Harbor. Accomodations and food are on your own. Most people do some mix of dining out around the Island or dining in at Llangolan ( the cottages have kitchenettes) recommended lodging: Llangolan Inn: Our base of operations and gathering spot. The bungalows are already reserved by NSPNers, but there may be rooms in the main Inn. Hadley Point Campground: for those who prefer to camp, this campground is adjacent to Llangolan on Hadley Point Road Robbins Motel: not far from Llangolan on Rte 3 for those looking for the most economical lodging. Eden Village: A cottage resort similar to Llangolan, a short ways away on Rte 3. There are many other options for lodging in the earea, including fine ( but less conveniently located) campgrounds and cheaper motels off of MDI betwen Trenton and Ellswworth. if you are interested in attending, please RSVP ( " I,m going") in the calendar posting , and send a PM to PeterB on the message board. I,ll get a group PM going pfor planning and communication in advance of the event. I

This will be a repeat of a successful trip to Lake George last time last year. The goal will be to explore the islands in the middle of the lake amidst peak autumn foliage , hike to some peaks and ledges overlooking the lake, and camp at one or more of the many campsites in the area of Lake George Narrows (uninhabited at this time of year) , the Mother Bunch Islands , or on the shores of Tongue Mountain. The put in will be on the Eastern side of the Lake, From here there is access to the best spots to explore: The Mother Bunch and Narrows Island groups, hiking trail heads to the Black Mountain, and Tongue Mountain , Paradise and Red rock Bay. Put in is a three hour drive from Concord NH area) This will be about an L3 paddling trip: Mileage per day is flexible, Paddling will be moderate, ambling and relaxed, focused on exploration and stops to explore and walk on foot.(This is a beautiful wilderness area in Adirondack Park) Camping options are innumerable, as the islands have many campsites ,now uninhabited, we'll have the choice of dozens of islands to ourselves. The main requirement for this trip to be equipped for autumn camping, being able to say warm and dry ; (suitable tent, sleeping bag, shelter, and cold /wet weather clothing and outerwear. Weather might just be Indian summer warm to hot , but also may also be wet and cold. Drysuits highly recommended , as staying warm and dry while off the water will be required . We can get off the water at any time quickly no tides or currents, but wind waves can be significant , especially at the middle of the day. Water temperatures will be in the low 50"s, air temps anywhere from mid-40's to 60's or higher. If you are interested , please contact PeterB PM on the message board and we will plan details by group PM .

Dan, The idea of an on- the -water refresher/ revisit of classroom material is a good one. In addition to a Boston Harbor nav. paddle in April or thereabouts, it would be an interesting idea to have a navigation refresher component to the Squam Lake coming trip in October: ,maybe you maybe could lead one pod on a navigation- themed paddle. Squam Lake is a good place to pracitse nav., and after several years of the same trips, a variation on the day trips from the campsite would be interesting. Peter

I think it's entirely a personal thing. I prefer non shouldered but shouldered seems to be a bit more common so I assume more peoples personal preference is for shouldered. I don't think should/non- shouldered should affect cant of the blade in any technical way, but serious greenland padders could better moment on that.

Thanks for the group buy legwork Joe. I'll can pay and help divvy up or receive at your convenience

Joe, I'd be game for going in on some P&H light grey gel coat: I don't think I'd like to pay $65 for ha;f a quart , but maybe half that (ie. 1/4 of the product) so if you can find one or two others, I'm in. I can testify that using the exact P&H color (rather than hand mixing) for gel coat repairs results in a great final product. Peter

Awesome pictures, Pru, (I seem to lack the gift for taking good- on -the -water photos; yours are fabulous ) Thanks. In his report, Peter had us all ending at Bar Harbor one Day One. Not true! Bob, Beth and I soldiered on, another seven miles to Hadley Point. Hey thats not true! I duly mentioned the leg from Bar Harbor to Hadley point both in the trip report and in the map of Day1. Heres a bonus photo by Nick, which I was reluctant to include for obvious reasons . Nick suggested that this it have a competition for best caption: mine would be: "Peter's snarling, squinty- eyed, incomprehensible beach briefing elicits only vacant stares of disbelief."

Our Downeast Retreat based out of Mount Desert Island turned out to be grand time * This year, some 20 NSPN'ers gathered in Bar Harbor for four days of sea kayaking and on-land togetherness. This is the third year of having this event on the weekend after Labor Day , and with many repeat participants and a now familiar location , we have pretty much established a good format for doing things here together. We hit almost all of the intended paddling hot spots in the area over the course of four days, : Some paddlers actually began to filter into Bar Harbor earlier in the week. By Wednesday before our "formal" start on Friday , there were already a handful paddlers in Bar Harbor, paddling with Nate Hanson of Pinniped Kayak with Carl Ladd, enjoying an ocean skills class on Wednesday along the rocks and ledges of MDI's eastern coast, and on Friday, for the second year, some 11 of us gathered for a moving water jamboree in the boisterous tidal currents of Sullivan Reversing Falls . By Friday night, most of us we were assembled on Mount Desert Island , with most staying at the LLangolan Inn near Hadley Point, some at the nearby Hadley Point campground, and yet a few more staying elsewhere on or off the island. On Friday night some of us ventured into Bar Harbor and were led by Mike to a good Italian restaurant , while others stayed at the LLangolan, rested (Sullivan Falls was quite a workout) and dined on the impressive stores of food supplies that had been assembled there. LLangolan has indeed become our MDI base of operations and home away from home while on Mount Desert Island . Friday Day 1. On Friday we formed two groups : 10 of us committed to a one-way trip along the east coast of MDI. We dropped off a few cars in Bar Harbor, then caravan'd down to Seal Harbor, where we set off for a journey along the spectacular east side of Mount Desert , about 13 miles up to to Bar Harbor; there we retrieved parked cars while Pru, Bob and Beth continued on another 6.5 miles to Hadley Point, where we picked them up them after retrieving cars down in Seal Harbor. This trip involved a bit of logistics, but was all worth it as we had a lovely tour along a ceaselessly lovely rocky cliffy coastline , in a nice meaty 2-3 foot sea state and in improving weather. On our return to Bar Harbor , we intersected with the other group returning from their tour of the Porcupines off of Bar Harbor, with reports of what sounded like a day every bit as enjoyable as ours Once we were back on land , a number of folks had a hankering for seafood , and set off for Thurstons Lobster Pound in Bass Harbor, while the rest of us languished in the barn ,behind the cottages at LLangolan, continuing to diminish the cottage food supplies. Saturday Day 2 Saturday was a perfect sunny mild day with calm seas so we had the option of paddling most anywhere, so we divided into three groups: two explored the Cranberries from Seal Harbor , and the third group toured the Porcupines and Ironbound Island , Group Ironbound set off from the sand bar in Bar Harbor, filtered out of the harbor and past Bald Porcupine island, then crossed to Ironbounds , on the other side of Frenchmans Bay. Ironbound is that "one step beyond" the Porcupines, sort of the Valhalla of Frenchmans Bay cliffside paddling. The group had a fun time among the ledges, cliffs, and rock gardens along Ironbounds dramatic south point , and returned to Bar Harbor via Long, Burnt, and Sheep Porcupine islands. Cranberry Group One and Cranberry Group Two set off from Seal Harbor for the Cranberries . We in Cranberry Group One had a most pleasant amble, circling Great Cranberry, and stopping at Crow Island for a lunch and rest, then explored " the Pool", a curious inlet set into Great Cranberry, and finally , with grand view of the Hills of MDI for a our return journey, crossed back to Seal Harbor fem the eastern corner of Little Cranberry . Cranberry Group 2 circled Sutton and then Bakers island, crossed past Bunker ledge south of Little Cranberry back to MDI , and followed the coast back to Seal Harbor. back at LLangoln, we all gathered in the barn for our scheduled potluck, further decimating our seemingly inexhaustible supplies of food and drink. Sunday Day 3 ( if you noticed an asterisk in the first paragraph next to Downeast Retreat was a grand time", Heres why:) On Sunday both the weather, and our on-land fortunes took a turn for the worse when John Monroe ,who had taken the day off from paddling to hike the Precipice Trails on MDI trails , took a sliding fall and broke his left ankle on their return to the trailhead, Fortunately he was in the company of Dan, Beth and Mike, all of whom are trained in winderness first aid , so they splinted and bundled John ,and ultimately he has able to be walked off the trail with the assistance of park rangers ,and was taken first to Mount Desert Hospital, where his injury was confirmed as a broken ankle, then taken by ambulance to Ellsworth,where he was operated on and casted. The experience was sobering for all of us as John's was a pretty unspectacular fall that could have happened to any one of us.This in turn revived the recently popular truism that "more kayak injuries occur on land":, , , Johns the experience was doubly painful as he was due to fly to the Grand Canyon for a hiking trip that would finish off his month long cross country journey that had begun in June . Back at Langolan, we sorted his belongings , Bob and Shari ferried Johns car, boats and gear back to Massachusetts, and Mike and Betsy, who were staying on at Langolan through the week, assumed the role of of Johns companions and valets, driving him back home to Massachusetts later in the week. For the rest of us, the water turned out to be the safer place to be. Four of us braved the worsening forecast and toured Bartlett sound, but, after a thunder squall that drove us off the water and into into the woods on Bartlett island for about 1/2 hour we were pleasantly surprised to discover improving conditions; the sun came out, the 20 kt winds, forecast for most of the day,diminished , and we had an nice ambling tour amidst islands and seaweed gardens for the rest of the day. The others had used this crummy weather day to practice and paddle in the fresh water at Long Pond, before the lightning squall that chased us off Bartlett sound prodded them off the water and back to LLangolan. ON our way back to Llangolan, Bob and I, still in our gear, drove past Long Pond on the way back to LLangolan and had the treat of washing off by lurching fully dressed right into the pond and freshening up . Monday Day 4 BY Monday, many were heading back home or had already left, and a remaining group of six of us used the last day to do the nickel tour of the Porcupines, jumping from one island to the next, stopping for lunch at the far end of Long Porcupine, and returning the way we came. Along Long Porcupine, we paddled past some enticing ledges that we made a note of, vowing to return next year for some more involved play and landing drills. Speaking of next year: this year's gathering was evidently a success, as by the time we had all left, we had all eight cottages and some of the rooms at LLangolan reserved for next year. I'm thinking of staying on a few days to combine some hiking with paddling next year. Mount Desert Island and Bar Harbor were busier this year than years past, perhaps due to the NationalPark centennial, or maybe because the area is just a good place to be at this time of year, something we all could readily agree with. It was indeed a perfect pace to gather and paddle with a prefect group of people at a perfect time of the year. Thanks Jane and Nick and Pru for photos in this report. Some are mine but they weren't very good. More photos welcome!