Pintail

Since  manufacturers of drysuits offer Goretex socks for the feet, one wonders why they cannot design and offer a (sized for the customer) Goretex mitt as another option?  Imagine the luxury of having totally <dry> hands, in woollen gloves inside your drysuit!

Now you all know why I more-or-less gave up on bl**dy winter paddling!  There used to be a very regular core group of seasonal paddlers and the concensus was, as Mr. Nystrom wrote above, the Nordic blue gloves with liners...

Additionally, for me, the challenge was usually the strapping back onto the roof-rack of the boat with now-freezing hands -- no, thanks. 

<Were you at Squam October 2000? Believe you were in Sirius? Red/white?>

Shoot!  Yes, you are so right, Sylvester-san!  Correct on the boat, too -- oh, lots familiar faces there; but names?  Some...

<Probably a record # of NSPN paddlers captured on (and near) the water...>

Come on, Gary: there were at least that number of paddlers caught on film, being towed by the Leon-machine, years back when we presented our founder with his Explorer, just before he left for foreign climes!  Were you not there?  And then there were plenty more <not> being towed by him, but merely watching the proceedings from their boats in Marblehead harbour...now <that> day would have been some sort of NSPN record!  Good try, though... 

Joe, I have actually heard (or witnessed) <two> real Mayday calls on VHF, back in my aviation days -- and I tell you what: it <really> makes you sit bolt upright and listen with bated breath!  Hope you never hear one for real...

Well, Gary, I think you'll find that not much is there, except for rather <silly> or lame interpretations -- in <my> experience, it is a rather charming, even affectionate address, meaning "Oh, you clever thing"!  It is an amusing one, quite common back when I was a schoolboy (that's a long time ago) and always seems to arouse mirth when heard by Americans (that's you lot!) -- I do use it at work sometimes...

Gary...you clever sausage, you...!  ?

<Imagine getting caught in a hard west wind and being unable to turn your boat back into it. Nothing to stop you before Portugal>

In that case, Jim, may I suggest the sculling-for-support manoevre?  One stroke is invariably stronger than the other (direction-wise, I mean) and whilst you are lying down on your side, deep in the water, sculling over your head, your boat will then gradually turn <away> from Portugal (or France) and thereafter you may continue on your pleasant way...!!  Oh, and may I also suggest cutting out the entire skeg-box and throwing it all away -- result: no more problem with jamming rope or stones catching in the slot after you have glassed the resulting open hole over...perhaps you will even gain an extra 1/4 knot to your average speed due to your now-improved drag coefficient!  ;^))

Yours, eternally in jest (or am I?), CG (who also doesn't need no stinking skeg, in any case!)

<Usefulness of red light for night nav>

<Other good ideas for night nav>

First off, Mike, I do not know why people think red light so useful for night-time activities: Cessna stopped using red cockpit lighting almost sixty years ago!  That should tell you something...?  White lighting with rheostats turned down is far preferable and, by the way, how might you discern details in red on your charts if using red light?

Secondly (and here I have firm ideas that are not always agreed with by others), it is my belief that showing nav lights on a kayak gives a false sense of <traffic> to other boats.  I would far rather remove myself from traffic situations and be aware of where the <others> are -- and keep my own night-vision sharp.  Of course, "glow-lamp-thingies" (chemical sticks) may be useful when paddling in a group; but they can still disrupt the vision of others in the group when they are fresh.

Any kayaker needs to be aware of other boaters at all times, even in broad daylight, so why change anything at night?  The laws require that we carry a white light that <may be showed> to traffic if necessary, I think you will find...

One of the tiniest chemical sticks (about 1" long) is a good idea for illuminating the compass, if you really need to navigate.  (The <only> time I have ever needed to navigate properly at night was during BCU training operations.  If I circumnavigate Cape Ann at night, I don't need a compass or light with which to read: I keep the shoreline on one side or the other, depending on which direction I am paddling -- I wouldn't likely be out in night-time fog!)  ?

Great news, Joe: congratulations!  (Sorry we haven't paddled this season; but, then, it has been...strange?)

<Maybe a small piece of rubber hose over the bar at the connection points?>

Or (as I have done for a few seasons, now) simply wrap swimming pool "noodles" around the bars: they are quite comfy for your boat, I think, Leon.  (Oh: I carry my boats upside-down, so this may not appeal to you -- or your aesthetic?)  ?

So sad that I wasn't with you, Joe!  It sounds as though you had entertainment aplenty.  <Many> moons ago, Suzanne (Hutchinson -- people haven't forgotten already?) and I played at that <exact> same spot under the bridge...and I know just the spot around the corner in Great Bay where you played, too.

Lee, I have had a number of Valley boats and never heard of any seat being that high off the hull (2"!) -- none of mine were (or are).  Why not consider cutting out or unbolting yours and replacing with a self-made foam seat which would be glued directly to the hull?  That would result in a seat made-to-measure, as it were, and likely placing your backside about 1/2 inch to 1 inch above the bottom of the hull?  (By the way, I don't see any evidence of John Dowd having lowered his seat?  What he <has> done is simply to have replaced the backrest with a shaped foam block...)

These are such seaworthy boats and so handsome!  (I used to have the LV version).   

Very much as I also want to join you, PS, I am unable to do so: cannot get motorcar attention until mid-week!  (My "man" is a one-man show and very heavily booked at present...alas!)

Hello, Barry!  Long-time, no hear or no see...

We have had this discussion previously, as Gary showed, above; but one of my favourite items is an ex-army, Goretex bivvy-bag, which not only makes for a great outer layer, but also serves as protection for your precious sleeping bag.  (I think I paid around $10 for mine!)  I think it has extended the temperature-rating of either of my bags quite considerably.

I'd love to participate, Joe; but am car-less for a few days, until I get it fixed (starter solenoid, I think).  Will let you know if I can make it...

I should like to know how one identifies a great white shark, merely from seeing a few inches of fin...?  Are they that obvious, then?

So...Lawson-san: who took the picture-evidence?  (Can you remember that?)?

I was thinking that that is Jason on the right...

Good!!! I can go back and play...

Thanks, Michael, for the update.

"Video unavailable: this video is private"...???

What about this, Dana?  https://www.nspn.org/forum/topic/12597-kokatat-men’s-goretex-semi-drysuit-red-590/

(Looking forwards to seeing you out on the briny again, one of these days...not that I seem to get out with club members at all nowadays!)

<If cyanobacteria is observed (even in an area that was previously cleared), both humans and pets should avoid contact with the water>

Of course, <we> all know (don't we?) that they <meant> to say "If cyanobacteria <are> observed..."

Language police ever on the alert!

<Good Harbor Beach is by reservation only for non-residents and residents-only most weekends>

Well, Bob, your summary is welcome enough; but Good Harbour has never <been> available to boaters whatsoever.  Try paddling anywhere close to it and you will get yelled at by the lifeguard, so putting-in or taking-out there is out of the question.

This one-man band got on the sea today for the first time in a week (rare for me, at this time of year, when I usually expect to paddle several times per week).  Turning left out of Lanes Cove, I was undecided where to head except in the general direction of the Annisquam mouth; but, on impulse, I decided that the ebb (I launched just after high water) might offer some fun across at Essex Bay estuary -- and so it did!  Whilst the waves were not regular and surfable, they were choppy enough to provide some fun and there were standing waves close to the southern side of the mouth, close by the northern end of Coffins.  I think I hit the area at max. ebb and after playing there for a while I paddled (and dragged my boat, briefly, in the area of Middle Ground) across to Conomo Point to see if the current there could give me some more play -- and so it did: nice current and eddies at the side and more fun when any motorboat came through, against the ebb tide.  A party of four or five recreational kayaks did not venture into the narrows, save to cross to Conomo, where they took out on the gravel beach.

Coming back, straight across Ipswich Bay, I had almost got back to Lanes Cove when I saw a fin in the water near me, about four hundred yards from the seawall.  I guessed immediately that I had found a sunfish (Mola mola) and there it was, basking and swimming slowly towards to northeast: it was the largest one I have yet seen -- I am guessing it was five feet long?  It dived once I got too close, whereas, in the past, I have found them very relaxed and accepting of a close encounter.  End of a perfect day, although I had half-expected to bump into a certain Mr. Granowitz somewhere in the area; but, then, the ocean is a big place!