gyork
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Posts posted by gyork
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Many corporate policies nowadays restrict posting such events. I struck out @ BBLeans and Dicks's in Concord, NH, but both locations agreed to post in employee lounges, where there ?might be aspiring paddlers!
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Consider promoting this event by printing the attached flyer, and posting @ your local outdoor sporting goods store, or the like (?ywca, ymca, fitness club).
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Bump-tomorrow nite
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PLEASE DO NOT RSVP ON NSPN CALENDAR UNTIL YOU HAVE SENT YOUR PAYMENT.
Come out and camp/paddle during prime time! Home Base will be Lobster Buoy Campsites in S. Thomaston, Maine, gathered at the Group Site. Arrive Friday, leave Sunday. Paddling options abound: NE to Owls Head, SE to Muscle Ridge, or SW to Port Clyde. These trips are not appropriate for beginners. Minimal skills to participate include wet exit, self and assisted rescue, and previous experience in ocean paddling with conditions of wind up to 15K, waves to 2 feet, and crossings up to 2.0M. I will set the limit to 16 FOR THE GROUP SITE ONLY. Your spot will be secured when I receive payment ([$10 per person + $6 per car]/NITE) X 1.09 (tax) via paypal (PREFERRED; gyork at tdsdotnet) or check (private message me).
If you prefer a private site, contact campground directly, not before mid-May (280 Waterman Beach Rd, South Thomaston, ME 04858 Phone: (207) 594-7546).
PLEASE DO NOT RSVP ON NSPN calendar UNTIL YOU HAVE SENT YOUR PAYMENT.
IN THE EVENT THAT AN ACT OF MOTHER NATURE PROHIBITS THIS TRIP, FULL REFUNDS RETURNED IMMEDIATELY, OR CHOOSE TO DONATE (ANY AMOUNT) TO ELLIE /LOBSTER BUOY CAMPSITES.
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Whether you are a newish (< 5 years) or salt-crusted Member, please join us for a Zoom video conference on 3.23.22 @ 7PM. We will discuss how the Club works and plays, and leave plenty of time for general discussion and questions. A bonus feature for those attending will be a raffle for two MITA annual memberships, and two subscriptions to an online resource for sea kayaking skills (link). Please join us for this event, and RSVP on the club calendar HERE. A link to join the meeting has been added to the posting in the NSPN Business forum.
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The trip is now full; please send me a PM if you would like to be included on the waitlist.
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I've forwarded the article to our MITA friends for consideration.
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As a one-time Colby student, do you think they will extend an invite to me and 9 of my artistic friends to camp there for 3 nites?
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Level 3 trip that especially welcomes new kayak campers, and a reunion for those of us who don't see each other often enough. Here's a great opportunity for you paddlers who would like to try kayak-camping without the pesky bugs (beware of ticks!). This will be the 14th (almost) annual trip to Jewell, which has multiple campsite options and latrines. We typically have 10 or more (2016=record of 19!) paddlers, but an upper limit has not been established.
The Common Adventure Model (CAM) will be adoptedThe SUGGESTED itinerary is as follows:
THURSDAY or FRIDAY: Arrive at _____ (multiple launch site options, with each pod working out details privately or on NSPN Message Board under "trips") on Thursday or Friday, May 19 or 20, in plenty of time for a ______am launch (HT is @ 1432 and 1531, respectively). If you are new to kayak camping, you may need extra time packing your boat, so plan on arriving no later than _______.
SATURDAY: Agenda TBD-bring your ideas for a day paddle or island activities. Prior trips have included Whaleboat/Little Whaleboat, Potts Harbor (food), Greens, Eagle, Great Diamond geocaching, Jewell's WW1 and WW2 military installations, and general camaraderie/gourmet foods around the camp fire.
SUNDAY: Back to cars via ????.
If you would like to join this group of friendly paddlers, or have any questions about this trip or camping in general, Private Message (PM) me. When you can commit, please RSVP on the calendar HERE and add your info to the group's trip spreadsheet, closer to the start of the event. The trip is now full; please send me a PM if you would like to be included on the waitlist.
gary
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Yes, you have my vote too, Shari.
Bonus points for guessing sunrise v. set and exact location.
Mine: rise and Bold Coast (or somewhere DownEast)
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Working remotely today, and guess where my mind wanders to? Some eye candy from years gone by, and anticipation/hope of what's ahead. Add your pix from past trips here. 3 of my favs:
Cross I. sunset
Sunrise, Lubec
Bangs I., sunset, Deflategate
Link to some others: https://photos.app.goo.gl/JPbe8af6FwboiKhr6
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The Last Traverse by Ty Gagne.
The Newbie and the Pro plan the ever-popular Franconia Ridge traverse, mid winter, unaware what awaits them as they start their traverse. Ty is a Master at telling the whole tale, including the important back-story. For those who were lucky to attend his presentation last May, he gives an excellent talk, incorporating the heuristics that kayakers, mountaineers, and all adventurers share.
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I think WIFI will transfer/sync the route/track automatically?
For GAIA, ROUTE is pre-programmed, while TRACK records your trip.
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Heat, no food, deadly weather
Climate change is killing seabirds
By PATRICK WHITTLE
Associated Press
The warming of the planet is taking a deadly toll on seabirds that are suffering population declines from starvation, inability to reproduce, heat waves and extreme weather.
Climate-related losses have hit albatrosses off the Hawaiian islands, northern gannets near the British Isles and puffins off the Maine coast. Some birds are less able to build nests and raise young as sea levels rise, while others are unable to find fish to eat as the ocean heats up, researchers have found.
Common murres and Cassin’s auklets that live off the West Coast have also died in large numbers from conditions scientists directly tied to global warming.
With less food, rising seas that encroach on islands where birds roost and increasingly frequent hurricanes that wipe away nests, many seabirds have been producing fewer chicks, researchers say.
And tern species that live off New England have died during increasing rain and hailstorms scientists link to climate change. Some species, including endangered roseate terns, also can’t fledge chicks because more frequent severe weather kills their young, said Linda Welch, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The warming world is increasingly inhospitable to many seabirds, Welch said. “In the last couple years, they’ve experienced widespread nesting failure,” she said. “I definitely think there’s large ramifications of what we’re seeing.”
It’s difficult to precisely determine the population loss to wide-ranging seabirds and how much is attributable to climate change. But one estimate by researchers from University of British Columbia stated that seabird populations have fallen 70% since the mid-20th century.
Reproductive success also decreased over the last half century for fish-eating seabirds, especially those that live north of the equator, according to a study earlier this year in the journal Science.
Researchers from the University of Washington and other institutions who studied dozens of worldwide seabird species found some were having success breeding at only 10% of historical levels. They also found that in the southern hemisphere, difficulty finding fish has prevented species such as the Magellanic penguin from successfully feeding chicks.
Worldwide, seabirds are in jeopardy largely because of warming ocean temperatures, scientists say. Over the past five decades, more than 90% of the extra heat on the planet from global warming has been absorbed by the ocean, according to U.S. government scientists.
Warming seas, coupled with die-off events that kill thousands of birds by starvation, are making it harder for some species to maintain stable populations, said P. Dee Boersma, a University of Washington biology professor and an author of the Science study.
The seabirds, such as penguins that have declined by nearly three-quarters in South Africa since 1991, are a harbinger of what will happen to wildlife with global warming, Boersma said.
“These ecosystem sentinels are important because they’re not only enjoyable for us to be able to see them, but they’re important as a signal that we’ve gone too far,” she said.
One of the most serious threats to seabirds is a reduction of plankton and small fish in cold northern waters. Forage fish and plankton loss has led to mass die-offs of birds such as the Cassin’s auklets that washed up by the tens of thousands on the Pacific Coast in recent years.
One of the most visible examples of global warming’s seabird toll was the die-off of tens of thousands of common murres along the West Coast in the mid-2010s. Nearly 8,000 dead birds washed up on a single beach near Chugach National Forest in Alaska.
Scientists later determined that warming waters deprived the birds of the abundant sardines and anchovies they gorge on, and the birds starved. The deaths came amid a marine heat wave known as “the blob.”
Thousands of miles away in the North Sea, a similar problem has forced northern gannets to search farther away for food, leaving chicks unattended and vulnerable to predators, University of Leeds researchers have found.
Rising sea levels are another concern. Albatross colonies in the central Pacific and Hawaiian islands depend on low-lying areas that face inundation and bigger storms, said Don Lyons, director of conservation science at Audubon Society’s Seabird Institute.
“People are really concerned about a couple decades out,” Lyons said.
Maine’s iconic seabird, the Atlantic puffin, suffered one of their worst years for reproduction in decades this summer due to a decline in the availability of the small fish they eat.
The Gulf of Maine, where puffins nest on tiny islands, is warming faster than most of the world’s oceans, and that has cut into forage fish populations, scientists say. Poor reproduction, which has persisted for several years among the puffins, is a “severe warning” about the future of the seabirds, Lyons said.
“Seabirds are one of the most visible indicators of the health of our oceans,” said Shaye Wolf climate science director of the Center for Biological Diversity. “These escalations of seabird die offs are big red flags that the rising temperature of the ocean is wreaking havoc.”
A puffin prepares to land with a bill full of fish on Eastern Egg Rock off the Maine coast.
ROBERT F. BUKATY / AP file
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Skills and Services (send me a PM):
1. Willing to offer private zoom sessions related to water/land navigation. Can also offer step-by-step tutorial for making custom charts, if you are having trouble:
2. Advice for kayaking in Maine, including camping and launch sites.
BTW, with the fleet of boats that many NSPNers have, this is a great forum to list some of your kayaks to loan out, among other gear.
gary
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4 hours ago, EEL said:
For those who contribute to their favorite charities/organizations this time of year, may I suggest considering a donation to MCHT.
Ed Lawson
Yes, please. Agree with Ed these islands are supreme camping destinations. My top 4 destinations for such are ALL MCHT!
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6 hours ago, Paul Sylvester said:
I have the free version on my phone and my battery went from 90% to 60% on a one hour hike. The map and pointer was active and I had a cell signal. Afterwards I found "battery saving settings" but some were already set so not sure what difference it might make? Do you carry a battery back up? I might be out on a hike for eight hours, what then?
Trail maps show on my free version and I could save hikes and do way points. What is the advantage of the paid upgrade?
I might have set layers that I don't need. Seems just a topo that sows trails is enough?
I seldom have a cell signal up in the mountains. The GPS will still work I assume? I assume that is because it is a true GPS and not using cell tower positioning?
Several questions mixed in here and thanks for the help.
Paul
First and foremost, enable airplane mode. The GPS function does not require cell tower service. Under settings, enable power (battery) saving mode. Close out all background apps.Enable Location Services for GAIA only, while in use.
If you find you are consuming too much battery life, consider using the phone for determining your position only, as in lost, off-trail, while hiking, or paddling in dense fog, rather than have it run continuously (recording your track).
I have only had issues with my phone shutting down while winter hiking, and now use a soft pouch that attaches to a lanyard around my neck, that suspends the pouched phone near my abdomen. Mike's link above answers a lot of your questions, and mentions using a chemical hand warmer that might solve this same problem (no experience).
I've not used the free version, but if you can download topo maps, record routes, etc., you probably don't need a paid subscription. Perhaps the free version doesn't allow publishing of tracks?
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The NSPN Board would like your input for sea kayaking-related workshops to be presented over the upcoming winter months. If you have a topic for in-person or videoconference workshop(s) that you would be willing to present, please send me a Private Message. If you have a topic(s) that you would like to see presented, please post those suggestions here. Thank you.
g
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Seemingly guaranteed solution, but who's volunteering to transport the critter back to the mainland????
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The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown captures the Washington (?State ?University) men's crew team from their humble beginnings to their quest for a medal @ the "36 Olympics in Berlin. Rower Joe Rantz, motherless @ 4, and abandoned as a teenager, becomes the hero of this true story.
Spoiler alert below:
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If you attended this Zoom, please send me a PM. Thank you.
gary
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25 minutes ago, Dan Foster said:
.........Ikea bags at night, ..........
These handy, but noisy bags are my vestibule "trip wire."
My really stinky stuff (fresh food, 3-day old trash) will go into Gary's vestibule at night.
I have a strict "no open container" policy for my vestibule, and will place extra (can you ever have too many?) Ikea bags, upside down, over the bottom, open bags. I'll gladly take your stinky stuff (what you mentioned) into my vestibule, to settle this "Great Racoon Challenge" once and forever!
Favorite type of dry bag or dry sack?
in General Message Board
Posted
Only use a dry bag for my sleeping bag, when on the water. Occasional use of a medium-to-large drybag for clothes, stowed inside my tent vestibule.