bazzert

Yes, it's a great guide and I am glad the state is publishing something like this. I wonder if they plan to cover the rest of the coast. There seems to be renewed interest in public access to the coast. Steve Bailey in his recent column (http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2006/06/30/take_back_our_beaches/) described the law granting private ownership of the shoreline as the "greatest land give away in history", which is an interesting way to think of it.

Interesting article in todays Globe about access to the shore.

http://tinyurl.com/mqsod

You can order the guide mentioned here

http://www.mass.gov/czm/coastguide/order/order.htm

Michael:

Thanks for the response on this. $1200 would definitely be in my budget ($3500 would not!). I contacted the person selling the Kajak-Sport so will see where that goes. Any other suggestions on where to find listings ? Also, in terms of evaluating a used fiberglass boat what are the things to look out for ? Finally, are there any outfitters who stock these types of boats that I could take a trip on or rent to try them out ?

thanks again for all the information; it has been very helpful. (I promise as soon as I have a boat my membership form will be on its way!).

Barry.

I must admit I was dreading the 'wet exit'; the idea of being upside down, under water and still in the boat. But it really was not bad at all; the instructor had me pound on the upturned hull and this really helped me squelch the panic, collect my thoughts and recall the sequence of the steps.

The water temp on the westport river was a bit shocking; but I guess that will get better as the summer progresses.

Barry.

Michael,Kevin & Gillian,

Thanks for all the advice. I'll definitely try out some other boats in different conditions and see if I can figure this out. Joining NSPN is a no-brainer; I live about a mile from the boat launch at Mystic lakes.

Barry.

Michael, thanks for the list and the link. very useful! On the topic of rudders I rented an eclipse on the Charles on sunday and initially went out without the rudder deployed. It may have been a factor of the current (which was quite strong sunday after the heavy rain) and/or wind and it may have been my inexperience, but I found that I would paddle for a bit and then it would skew to the left mostly and then no matter how hard I swept on the left it would skew around almost broadside. This was really frustrating. Only when I deployed the rudder could I get it to track straight. I would appreciate your thougths/advice on this. I plan to take another class or two and go on some guided tours.

thanks,

Barry.

D'oh! .. just discovered the section on skill levels (awesome site btw) ... would appreciate advice on kayaks though.

thanks,

Barry.

Hi

I'm a total newbie; just took a class at Osprey kayak in Westport saturday; and then tooled around on a rented kayak on sunday at Charles river canoe. Totally hooked!

I would appreciate some suggestions on boats for a tall person (I'm 6'5", 250lbs). On sunday I had a perception eclipse 17 which seemed very comfortable (although difficult to track without the rudder, but I'll put that down to inexperience).

thanks,

Barry.