Gillian

oh christopher, i love it when you whisper sweet nothings to me . . .

HAHAHAHAHAHA. NIBS. Need I say more? Seriously though I think you will have made Kevin's day with such a nice offer . . . he is crazy about Pens! We can't make Mystic this week but if you're offering up Pens, I'll definitely bring in some good sausage for you at the pppo at our place this Friday!

Agreed it was an awesome day!! It was great to get out there and get some really nice conditions within the safe confines of Cranes Beach. It eggs you on to try a bit more when you know worst case scenario you capsize, don't roll up, and stand up instead and get back in your boat I will say the sandbars created some really cool conditions. I was surfing down one wave and another wave hit me from the side (probably one of the sources of the loud giggles Kevin referred to) Almost everyone I could see played in the waves. I missed the clapotis that apparently made Kevin's bow look like it was erupting from a geiser (okay a little exaggeration there) but he did an awesome recovery roll in the middle of a rescue in the surf. One minute I was watching him give instructions then he was over, back up, and still talking - I'm not sure he actually stopped giving orders under water It was one of my favorite paddles from a standpoint of the group, conditions, length, and variety of scenery - I had a day that ranged from getting really sweet and touching words from Gene on marriage, to playing in waves, to paddling with a few new folks that I hadn't met before, to some choice jokes about a tootsie roll pop that Ernie gave me. By the time we rounded the point of Cranes and landed for lunch I'll be honest that I was TIRED AND SORE. It's been a couple of weeks since I've done a decent paddle and it makes a big difference. The gin and wine have helped though All in all it was a wonderful day with hugs and even a little man love (well okay not really maybe next time (I keep trying to get Rob and Kevin to hug in a friendly macho manley way but it's not working)) I hope to see you guys on the water again soon!

QUOTE(Kevin B @ Sep 25 2007, 02:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Ern, You do remember that Gillian posts on this site, right? I HAVE A LARGE TUB OF IT IF ANYONE NEEDS SOME.

QUOTE(Kevin B @ Sep 23 2007, 08:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Come one, come all to Forest River the next two days at 5pm. We'll be covering a bunch of different things those two days, so come on down. and by "different things" you'll have to come if you want to find out - we don't want to reveal the surprise . . . . just kidding - it'll be strokes and such as usual

QUOTE(Kevin B @ Sep 21 2007, 07:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Once again, a paddle designed to move self-described L2 paddlers towards L3 trips. Put in at Riverhead at 10am on Sunday and paddle out to the Misery, Bakers, Gooseberries, etc. Good practice for rock play, channel crossings, dealing with boat traffic, etc. Considered an L3 trip for ocean exposure, distance, and size of the channel crossings. Usual SNG rules apply. Please post interest here or email so that we have an idea of how many people to expect. Kev and I are going to have to cancel - we have some injuries we thought would be better by tomorrow that just haven't gotten better yet -

thanks everyone!!!!! we're looking at triton colors as we speak that will be the true test of our marriage!

yeah this rocks!!! thank you to everyone who worked so hard on it, bill, jason, heidi and the rest of the board!

The Ipswich River Watershed Association has asked me to invite NSPN members to paddle the Ipswich this weekend. The route paddled will be the same one where some members tracked herring this spring. I'm posting here because the message board is down. There will also be a trip on the lower river on September 8th. For more information on the Ipswich River and the IRWA please see: http://www.ipswichr iver.org/ index.htm. Anne 2007 Source to Sea Canoe Trips ~ Great Wenham Swamp 9:00 a.m., Saturday, August 11, 2007 (no rain date) Put in: Route 97 canoe launch, Topsfield Take out: Bradley Palmer State Park, Topsfield Trip leaders: Brian and Kate Hone This beautiful 8-9 mile paddle winds through the Great Wenham Swamp. We will explore Ipswich River as it meanders through silver maple swamps and past pine-covered islands, keeping watch for egrets, great blue herons, and painted turtles. The trip begins at the Route 97 canoe launch along the Ipswich River in Topsfield, east of Route 1, and ends in lovely Bradley Palmer State Park. We will stop for lunch at one of the islands in the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary. IRWA will provide a shuttle from take out to put in. The trip is BYOB (bring your own boat), PFD, and lunch. Pre- registration is required. Please contact IRWA at irwainfo@ipswichriv er.org or 978-887-2313 for more information or to reserve a spot, or call Brian directly at 617-216-1061 for last minute questions. Rain cancels the trip. Emily Levin

Despite Kevin's injured hand and us having to rearrange our schedules, our other NSPN trip leaders have graciously agreed to lead the trip tomorrow!!!! Thanks Deb, Bob, Bill, Jason, Walter and the gang for running the trip for us tomorrow - we owe you one! For anyone who hasn't registered with me directly we've got tons of great leaders for tomorrow so feel free to show up at the beach tomorrow - remember to bring your ACA numbers and emergency information. For non-members there's a $10 fee for the ACA and a waiver to sign. Thanks again everyone! Gilly

cool see you guys there! bring some light - not white though, we generally use a soft green glo stick that we'll put in our pfds on the back and then have a headlamp or flashlight in case you need it. i think we have some extra glo sticks of anyone needs them.

Hello all! So far we have only 1 participant and 1 who's doing a one way trip with us. Please register directly with me by Thursday of this week to see if it's worth it to run the trip! Email me directly at gilliankirstel2003@yahoo.com! Thanks!

I will say the lobsterboat was the most steadfast - I really didn't think he was going to bother to get out of our way - definitley a unique perspecitve being the one that other people had to get out of the way of!!

that is impressive - he probably would have beat me

I think we were more surprised because we had a great turn out last year in volunteering - generally increasing membership means that we can assist new kayakers with the same great foundation that you mentioned for the REI Demo Day - one way we can get the word out to new kayakers is through events like this. I thought Salem Coast Watch was kind of obvious with regards to the purpose of helping our environment, but you're rigt, perhaps we should have pointed that out - maybe that would have gotten more volunteer work? Thanks so much for the folks who have volunteered this weekend so far and I'm sorry I can't make this weekend to help out!

ha! that was awesome, that thing was BARELY a bivy!!!!!!!! it was like two sardines squeezed into a tin meant for half a sardine the best part is our friends started taking bets when we got back from LLBean on how long it would be before we started yelling at each other about how to properly put up a new tent other than putting the rain fly on backwards i think it went okay. good thing we had the vaccuum cleaner pole to hold the middle up joan also, one time when i was up there while kevin was doing some training i went on a trip with mel rice at aquaterra and that was perfect as i was unfamiliar with the area and wanted some company to paddle with. there were only a couple other people with us on the trip and they had an awesome paddle and i got to talk to her about navigation, paddling and all sorts of fun stuff.

way to go guys!

Peter, Sounds like a great time...glad you were able to get out (Whoops, here we go again, it's Kevin posting under G's name )

Brian, great trip report and I'm so glad you had such a blast up there. It was great to see you and Lisa up there and I'm only sorry we could only stay up there 2 nights! It sounds like the other trainings you attended were amazing! I'd like to see you practice the Mark Schoon trademark hula hoop, loosey goosey hips in your boat move next time we paddle

So the plan of the day was a one way from Gloucester to Rockport, with all hands on board (myself, Kevin, Rob H., Sir Christopher, Ross, Jim, and Kevin F.). After a bit of a kerfuffle with getting the cars in place and some sprayskirt issues we got off in our boats, and then we got in our boats and paddled under the drawbridge against some current into Gloucester Harbor. Having not as much experience as I'd like, I felt like I'd put in a full days paddle after making it under the bridge We carried on through some fantastic boat wake across Gloucester having to drag Christopher out of the rocks, and got a chance shout out a few yippees over a couple 2 ft. wakes we got to ride. Rounding the corner into the wide open sea we found great chop and lots of ups and downs while paddling along and playing in the rocks. About a mile from Good Harbor, I went from having a blast to all of a sudden feeling dizzy and queasy . . . having never been sea sick in my life I wasn't quite sure what was wrong but it continued to get a bit worse so I told Kevin and we headed into Good Harbor with somewhat luckily following seas, which helped with the paddling but not the churney stomach. Finally we made it into the harbor where we kept way out the way of the swimmers and pulled over across from the beach onto some grass and rocks where I chided Rob for giving me his sea sickness Luckily the extremely friendly life guards at the beach yelled at us for paddling near swimmers (we were no where near them and purposely tried to minimize our impact), and when we told them we had a sick paddler, they yelled louder. Without even an offer of help they huffed off down the beach. Yikes. I'm only sorry I didn't get sea sick enough to leave a present at their expensively manicured feet We decided as a group that I was done for the day and that Kevin would stay with me and the rest of the group would head back to Gloucester Harbor and pick us up if we didn't find a cab to get back to Gloucester High School they'd come pick us up. Kevin and I found a very nice woman at a guest house across the street who let us leave our boats on her lawn and as I started feeling better we walked back to the high school (which revealed a lot of great looking bistros in Gloucester that I'd never noticed; funny what you miss by car) and stopped in at a local drug store for some Advil. While we were paying, we both noticed the strong smell of neoprene, and keen funk and tried to expedite our way out of the nice clean CVS . . . We got back to the car and noticed that the other paddlers had not arrived, so we took our binoculars out to the main beach and scanned the horizon. Not seeing them, I got a bit worried with the winds increasing and storm clouds approaching but felt confident that those guys would be okay with the wealth of knowledge and experience that was out there on the water. We picked up our boats at Good Harbor, drove back to Gloucester in time to see our paddlers about to go back under the bridge safely, and then headed home feeling relieved. So the paddle was a bit of a bust, but we worked well as a team and everyone got home safely. It was a fantastic day for paddling and before Rob made me sea sick, I had a lovely time! Thanks to Kevin for organizing and looking after me, singing me into Good Harbor with funny songs to keep my mind off of not feeling great, and thanks to the group for getting each other back to shore . . .

well actually it was nigel dennis explorer - i was trying to mix it up

cathy i'm so glad this went so well!!!! did bill bring his rubber chickens to the class!?

sweet!!! where we going!!!!!! come on man, where, where i ask!?

"TDNBW" Is this one of those, "SWF seeks NDCWM with a great NDE?"

good point, she is a joy to paddle and a fun boat - reminded me of our puppy kind of, without the fur. i did also really like the romany hv though . . . thoughts?