bazzert

Funny! I launch at that boat ramp pretty much every week and never knew it had a name. I'd love to join the trip, but can't afford to take the time off work. I may go out after work that day to see what I can see. If they are really doing some kind of staggered entrance I might still get to see something.

Hi Marc:

I'd join you after work that day. What time would you launch ?

Barry.

I know that Google Earth has a distance function ("ruler"), but recently I saw a hack that also gives bearing from point to point but didn't bookmark it and can't locate it.

Anyone know it?

Tom

Hi Tom,

I dont think it is quite what you are looking for but at the bottom of this page is a kmz which puts a compass rose on google earth which can be used in conjunction with the Ruler path tool to give you a bearing.

For google maps (not earth) this site has a pretty good route planning tool.

Barry.

I'm not normally a fan of 'Parade' but I liked this article.

We will post more details about the trip soon.

Any details? launch time? expected time of return?

I might be able to join you.

Liz

I'm interested in the day paddle on saturday.

Barry.

http://www.fannation.com/si_blogs/nfl_trac...ued?eref=fromSI

We should invite them (especially Giselle!) to our next skills session.

OTOH, what kind of morons put PFDs on kids, but not on themselves, knowing that they can't swim or re-enter their boat?

This is ridiculously common. Last year the Vermon tourist authority ran a newspaper ad with a picture of a happy family in a canoe on a vermont lake, with only the kids wearing pfd's.

It seems that I didn't get the interest that I was hoping for. I will re-post the trip later in the year on a weekend not full of other trips.

-Jason

How about this weekend (sunday) ?

Barry

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions. Ronan is still too young to paddle solo, but the "umiak" looks like a great option in a couple of years. I have a neighbor who has offered to lend us his canoe so we'll give it a shot. I have only camped with him once so far and he loved it, so that is something we are planning to do more of. Bob, any particular tandems you would recommend?

thanks again,

Barry.

As much as it pains me, I am considering buying a rec boat so I can introduce my 4 year old to the joys of kayaking. It would primarily be for sheltered inland waters and lakes, and should fit either 1 or 2 adults plus the little guy. I was considering the WS Pamlico 160T; any other suggestions/advice ?

many thanks,

Barry.

Thanks everyone for a varied and interesting paddle today. Below is the track. Total distance 15.1 miles.

Barry.

looking forward to it...

Barry.

I just need to figure out which day I can sneak away.

Barry.

...What about tomoorow? Tom H and I are putting in at Tuck's or Lane's at 11AM.

Leme know.

Ern

PS Gillian and Kevin are invited if they bring leftovers.

Sadly, I am on a 7:15am Acela to NYC. Will try to make at least one of the trips this weekend.

Barry.

Is this club phenomenal or what ? 4 great trips to choose from this weekend. I just need to figure out which day I can sneak away.

Barry.

amongst the other things you can get in canada that you can only imagine in the US....fries with cheese gravy (potain? is that what it's called? in US english i think it's pronouned yuck)

It's called Poutine and it's awesome!

Guess Celebrating Mom takes precedence. No trip.

Hi Al,

We ended up going down to fan pier to watch the Volvo Ocean in-port racing. The wind was really wild with whitecaps on the harbor so it would probably have been pretty hairy for a shake out paddle!

However, I did checkout the Blessing of the Bay boathouse at 32 Shore Drive, Somerville. This is a public DCR ramp with parking for about 30 cars. It is a concrete ramp (consider yourself warned!).

It would be a good launch spot if you were interested in exploring upper Boston harbor. You will have to negotiate the Amelia Earhardt dam which is probably a portage (never done it, so would be interested in the experience of others).

Barry.

Understood. I'll let you know what I find out about the boat house and we can plan a future trip from there.

Barry.

An early season paddle to get the cobwebs out

Where have you been ?

Seriously, I am interested but it's pending some delicate negotiations (it's Mothers day after all!).

Another option might be to launch from the Blessing of the Bay Boathouse at 32 Shore Drive, Somerville, Massachusetts. A 10 mile paddle from there would put us under the Tobin into the upper reaches of Boston harbor, allowing a spin past the USS Cassin Young and USS Constitution. I'll try and stop by the boathouse today or tomorrow to make sure we can in fact launch from there.

Barry.

David,

Are you planning on doing the Minot light trip again ? That looks like a great trip.

I like the MapSource software for planning, what is probably most useful is the ability to create a route and then send it to the gps as a set of waypoints. In general creating and managing a set of way points on the computer is much more convenient than on the device. I dont find the map display on the gps to be much use on the water as the display is too small (and although it is supposedly water resistant I keep it in a clear dry bag); instead I like to know speed, distance covered and distance and bearing to next waypoint.

Barry.

I would also like to do this paddle. Hope there will be enough interested to make it happen.

Norm

I am going to take my four year old to go see "the racing sailboats" so we'll be watching from Winthrop. The event facebook page has a lot of information for on water spectators. There is also a chart showing the course (Broad Sound so a launch from the north side of Deer Island would work).

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=47877862526

Barry.

Actually too tired to post a full trip report, but wanted to get the track and numbers up there as some people expressed an interest in them. More importantly I wanted to thank everyone (David, Phil, Lori, Leslie, Kevin, Alex, Bill, Glen, Christopher, Bob & Leon) for making this a great day, and particularly Leslie for great planning (+1 knot north bound, +>1 in the river) and running a tight ship.

~ 21 miles, pavillion beach to pavillion beach (thanks Alex for giving me the courage to run our version of deception pass). ~ 50% @ 4mph, ~ 31% @ 5mph (these are my numbers, add 25% for Leon!).

Barry

Looking at the buoy data it looks like you made the right call. Gusts were +20 knots after 1pm.

I'd be interested in David's second option (partial circumnavigation). I estimate Pavilion to Lanes as being ~ 15 miles.

Barry.

Some people unload their boats at Pavilion Beach then park their car at the High School--then walk back to Pavilion Beach--not a long walk: 10-15 minutes max, if I remember correctly--

Then if you don't go through the canal your car is at GHS--or someone can give you a ride to your car if you parked at Pavilion--

This map from the Mass Coastal Zone management shows both the put-in at GHS (Dunfudgin landing) and Pavilion beach.

I'm interested, but you should specify your definition of slow! ;-)

Good point! Sadly the Cape Ann Transportation Authority doesnt run on sundays which would have provided a useful bail out option.

Hi Les,

I'd be interested. What time were you planning to launch ?

Barry.