Phil Allen

David- I might be interested. But I've got Max currents at 9:40a/10a (Woods Hole versus 0.1 off of Devils) and at 5p? Phil

I use J cradles for my boat and a regular 6' bike cable/lock through the roof rack and through the seat hanger of the boat. IMO the only potential disadvantage to the lasso lock systems is if you get sloppy and lock it in such a way that it can be slipped off the end of the boat. But you can always rig the lasso loops around the rack (or pole, fence etc) and run the cable through the seat hanger or other solid part of the boat. Phil

Techno geek speaking here, but you're not going to get high ISO quality without: A) a camera with bigger pixels. not gonna happen in a P&S. _ using "less pixels" (binning in CCD talk) by summing up the signal on several pixels and treating them as one super pixel. Implementing that in camera software is a challenge with your average color Bayer masked camera chip; plus you lose spatial resolution/ fine details. C) perfect noise reduction software. But when the number of electrons a pixel can hold keeps getting smaller due to the size issue (see A), the difference between signal and noise can be small. So real signal gets smudged out as noise. Geek hat off; I am actually quite impressed by what the cheap P&S cameras can do. In the review you site, I think the Canon won mostly because of the quality implementation of its anti-shake technology. Phil (and yes, I worry about some of this for a living)

Marc- My crack was in the water well at the base of the coaming where it joined the deck, and had spread to ~10-18 inches around before I got to repairing it. I reinforced from the inside with probably 2"-3" strips of glass. So I sanded inside the cockpit a bit to get things to stick. Also, I drilled small holes at the end of the existing crack to try and prevent it from spreading more before repairing both the crack and the holes with epoxy. Epoxy alone was not sufficient to close the leak and prevent further cracking, though I no problems with epoxy sticking in the crack. I presume the flexing of the deck was greater than the flexibility of the epoxy. Adding the strips of glass and resin seemed to stiffen the deck enough that things have been holding tight for the last year. Phil

Marc- I had a similar problem on my currituck. I reinforced the deck and coaming with maybe 2 layers of glass & epoxy (done one after the other); filled the remaining cracks and small hole with epoxy and then added a layer of gel coat to clean it all up. Most difficult part was working the gel coat on the curve; I had lots of sanding to do when done. Hasn't leaked or broken again. Phil

Barry- Just saw this (8am Sunday) and are thinking of rushing to join you. If we're not there by 10, monitor 72 and we'll see if we can connnect. Phil and Lorrie.

I carry sea snips. For those of you needing knives to clear skeg boxes, have you drilled a hole in your skeg and attached a short cord yet? Very easy to clear with an assist from another paddler. Phil

I think I'll have to come play. Nothing like dodging rocks and lightning at the same time. Phil

Channel 5 news says they hit a jetty.

I'm planning on coming. Email sent. Phil

Rick- Sounds like fun, but I can't join you. Also, you might want to move or repost this in the trips (not trip report) section. Phil

Hi All; I was away when all the excitement that inspired this discussion happened, and have gotten to read the TR, incident analysis and then this thread in whole. I'll probably re-state some covered points but here's my limited two cents worth: A ) my feeling about leadership on CAM trips is that everyone should act as a "silent" leader. No one gets to sit back and give up responsibility to another. Just because I'm following a course set by someone else in the group doesn't mean I shouldn't be navigating on my own, watching for trouble to avoid and evaluating the condition of my fellow paddlers. Nothing stops EVERY member of the group from keeping a head count, for example. B ) mutual responsibility has implications about how we paddle as a group. For example, if one is off the front and can't see the other group members in a quick glance; one can't count heads and isn't acting as a silent leader. There are plenty of other examples, but I'm trying to keep this short. C ) communication needs to be clear, concise and confirmed. It doesn't matter that you use a radio, whispers, hand signals, smoke signals, sonar, etc. But the communicating parties need to confirm that they understand each other. This seems to be where things often go wrong. A good way to ensure that the information is conveyed accurately is to involve multiple parties. If I say something to a fellow paddler, and they misunderstand my intent, they may act on inaccurate information. If I say the same thing to multiple people within the same group, the odds are much better that they'll correctly get my information. Multiple people involved also increases the odds that someone will ask a clarifying question if confused. D ) Continuously evaluate the INTENT of the trip and the ability of your group to carry it out. The implication is that there's a clear intent at the beach (conditions expected, distance, rocks, surf etc), and that the members of the group are able and willing to work with that intent. Nothing says that the intent remains fixed. Conditions, group and individual performance and desires change within the day. E ) In general, I disagree with the idea that a member that choses to leave is no longer the responsibility of the group. In the crazy paddler situation, or confused aggressive person needing but refusing first aid, you dont walk away because they're resisting aid. You stay and observe until conditions change and aid either isn't needed or can be safely provided. Similarly, if someone wants or needs to leave the group I believe it's still the groups responsibility to insure that person arrives safely at the put-in. That may mean an end to the rest of the paddlers trip, or it could just mean observing their travel from a distance, but I feel the group has responsibility to its member from BIB to BOB (butts on beach). If someone can't do the full trip because they need to leave early, then either they shouldn't come or the trip should be modified in advance to put them on the beach as a member of the group. Inconvenient for the rest of the paddlers, but best IMHO for the safety of the group. So having said all this, there's nothing intrinsically wrong with the folks agreeing that they're paddling in the same place, but they're not a group. Some say, "there's no WE in surfing". Assisted rescues are hard and often unsafe in the surf zone, so one is on their own. That's fine, as long as I know in advance that that's the model we're using that day. Phil

Lorrie and I are planning on coming, traffic willing. Phil

Les- The price is pretty good, but talk with Suz or the retailer folks. If I've got this right, some of this years KKtat liner suits are difficult for women to use with the half-moon dropseat suits. Also, this may have changed, but it used to be that the expedition was only about 50$ (??? memory failing here) more than the women's meridian. It got you the same socks, tunnel plus the hood, and several more pockets. Lorrie loves hers. Phil

I'll be coming up from Salem way after dropping Lorrie of at 8:30 and will have room for 1 boat if some one wants a ride. Also, paddled out of Manchester today and the outside had 2-3 with the occasional 4' swell. Kinda close together but you get what you get. Phil

You know how they tell us to keep our head out of our boats? well I think we all should get our buts in the boats and our heads out of the interweb!! I like the musical theatre approach though. Phil

we should probably get a head count between now and Sunday? I'm planning on being there. I have a spare tow belt if any one wants to use it for practice. Phil

Deb- I was referring to the tow-ee cutting the tow-er's tow line should the tow-er become incapacitated (whew, I think I said that right). Ah never mind, its a "what -if, but 1000 paddlers have never come across this problem" discussion. Phil

I'm up for either day, but need to keep it pretty close to Salem (MA) to coord. with my wifes 2/3 class. Phil

All I have to add as a relative newbie compared to many that are posting is the observation that many of us have quick release disconnects on our short tow lines. Yet the idea of such on long tow lines really puts some folks brain in a twist. That said, at the extreme, I see the extra benefit of clipping into the deck lines as the rescuee could cut them to release the tow if necessary. But then again, if the tow-er is incapacitated and not towing, you could always cut the tow line. Phil

OK Christopher, help me out here. What's the plural of "one who tows"?? Tower = tall structure, often columnar in nature. Phil

Al- Except for the fact that the towee was paddling, this sounds like what one would do with seasick or injured paddler. One or more providing propulsion as tower(s), and someone interacting to calm, observe and or stabilize the debilitated paddler. Except in your description the towee was paddling, so I'm not sure. Also sounds like what a group of us did to KevinB when he was nice enough to tow the Mrs the last 100yrds to the putin (in fun). We all piled on G's boat in various connected contact tows such that Kevin was towing a raft of 6+ boats. Phil ps -Jason beat me too it!

David- I'd be up for it. Prefer somewhere on the NorthShore, as I have to shuttle Lorrie up there for L2-3 training this weekend. Phil

Lorrie and I are coming. Phil

Good point Gene. But to be clear, if you're calling for help of any sort do it on 16 first. Phil