Nancy Hill

I would stay away from any of the PFDs with the mesh in the back and small piece of foam up near the top. They are supposed to avoid interference with the seat back, but in fact, they make it just about impossible to balance brace because of the lack of flotation where you need it most. When I am practicing and don't want to wear my tuilik (too hot with hood), I wear a thin wet suit jacket and no PFD. You'll have to find what works for you based on what you have available. -Nancy

I have no experience with that product, but have practiced with an avataq. http://www.greenlandpaddle.com/index.php?o...&Itemid=102 Someone's idea of putting a spare Greenland paddle on deck to grab is not a bad idea. It is not difficult to free it from the deck rigging, as long as you keep your cool and can hold your breath long enough. Rolling with the Greenland paddle is far easier than using any other type of paddle. The only problem is that you would have to relinquish control of the other paddle and then retrieve it after you were up. That could be difficult if conditions were rough. -Nancy

If you launch from Pavilion Beach, you'll want to go clockwise since you'll want to go through the Fox Creek last, on the highest tide possible so you can see power boats coming and they can see you. It is a well used cut-through on weekends. It is not that difficult to find the entrance if you hug the back side of Crane Beach, past a few homes. Keep on going until you see the bridge on Argilla Road that goes over the creek. It is not hard to see the bridge. Do not turn down anything on your right if you do not see the bridge. At the start of your trip, as you paddle on the outside, heading toward the entrance to the bay you may see waves starting to built, far ahead of you. They can get pretty big, but as the tide gets higher they start to disappear. Depending on your timing you may or may not have waves. It is a great trip around and may take between 4-5 hours depending on your pace and how long you stop for a break. Hugging the shore the whole way is only about 10 miles, so you might be able to do the loop at lot faster. The longest part for me always seems to be the crossing from Pavilion over to Crane Beach. The water can be like a washing machine there, impeding your progress. If you take a look at the area on google earth it will give you an idea of where the Fox creek comes out into the bay. It is behind a grassy island. Have a great trip. -Nancy

Please add me to your weekday paddle list: nchill@charter.net Even though the ocean is my preferred place to paddle, I am in the greater Worcester area and would not mind meeting at a local lake on occasion in addition to meeting on the North Shore. Cochituate, Whitehall, and Quinsigamond are places that come to mind. Thanks. -Nancy

If you don't mind a drive to the middle of Massachusetts on the NH border, Tully Lake in Royalston is nice. There are no big motorboats, only fishermen in small boats and there are lots of little coves and islands to explore. It is a popular spot for kayaks and canoes. There is a river (Tully River) at the north end of the lake that leads to a smaller lake. If you like waterfalls, Doane's Falls is nice. You can walk the trail that starts across the street from the boat launch area at the Tully River on Doane Hill Road and walk from the bottom to the top of a trail that goes along a series of falls until you reach the large one at the top of the hill. There is also a boat launch at the dam (south) end. Royalston and Spirit Falls are also nearby. Swimming is allowed in the Lake, but there are no beaches or public swimming areas. The perimeter of the lake is tree lined with mostly conifers and it is very pretty. If you go in mid July to early August you'll find lots of blueberries. If you launch on Doane Hill Road into the Tully River, go left to get to the big lake and watch for big rocks just barely submerged in the river. Just before you get to the big lake you will see foam from the stream outlet of Doane's Falls and perhaps hear the roar of the water fall. -Nancy

Is there legal parking on Cow Yard Lane? I used to launch my kayak from Claflin Landing off Shore Rd and today I noticed new signs "No Parking on Either Side". It seems as though it gets harder and harder to find parking near the water as time passes, even with local knowledge. The break in the barrier island is getting wider and it is shallow. There were large breaking waves there today at high tide and a line of surf from the far end of the island over to South Beach off the lighthouse. The outlet from the harbor near the lighthouse is shoaling up, too, hence the messy water, a bit like a washing machine with breaking waves. It looks like it might be hard for boats to get out of the harbor this year if it keeps shoaling up. Interesting to see the changes over the years. A trip around the new island would be interesting, but the currents are swiftly moving there and the surf can be treacherous. It would not be a trip for the faint of heart or less experienced paddler. -Nancy

Roger said: "And if there were a "private trip" calendar, one could even post a standard day trip, say, a month in advance, giving people a much longer look at it and more time to reserve space on their own calendars and look forward. I think this is a big advantage of the "official trip". Of course, if conditions were a blow out, you call if off and post something the night before. If conditions are marginal, it's each individuals call." That is a great idea. Much easier to look at a calender than try to find an old message. If I knew of something ahead of time that interested me, I would make sure I did not make other plans for that/those day(s). It is also nice, as Roger says, to have something to look forward to. -Nancy

Cathy said: Absolutely the #1 reason is lack of "official" trips by the club. Much of the membership has the expectation that in participating in such trips, they are being led by a competent leader who has had some training.> I am a new member and have not had the opportunity to paddle with any of you, yet. I am not really sure what the distinction is between an "official club trip" and a "private trip" other than the official trip has a trained (certified?) leader and is planned ahead of time. If that is correct, then is the "leader" of the private trip at some risk (not covered by ACA insurance)? The advantage of an "official trip" for me would be that it is planned ahead of time. Some of us cannot go on a (private) trip planned at the last minute. Couldn't we get around that by having some "private trips" that are planned ahead of time? The term "private trip" may put some people off. If you do not know people in the club, the use of the word "private" may be intimidating. As far as your view of people wanting to be on a trip with a competent leader, I care more about the capabilities of the people in the group as a whole and hope that they would be honest about their level of proficiency when choosing a "rated" trip. I do not see "private trips" with ratings. Why not? Lastly, I do not believe that a trained non-certified person is necessarily less competent to lead a trip than a trained certified person. -Nancy

We have tried just about every kayak carrier made. One nice thing about the J-type (any make) is that any kayak will fit into it, and it will not tend to oil-can a poly hull. Unfortunately the Thule (new ones) leave black marks on the side of my hull (f/g & poly) which are hard to remove. The other drawback to J-type carriers is that with the boat on its side, the stern and bow are quite high in the air. On our Subaru, I can not reach the bow or stern unless I move pretty close to the middle of the boat which makes it a little uncomfortable, as I am reaching over my head with my arms out to the side, and then I have to lift it up over the bottom of the J, putting my shoulders at some risk. This, of course, is not an issue if you are tall. The J-type would be my favorite if I were taller. There are lots of saddles and some will conform to the hull better than others, and this might be trial and error for you. Thule makes some that pivot and have a felt pad that will enable you to slide the boat, and it is intended to be used with a saddle in the front. I have not tried it, but it looks like it would conform to any hull type. Our original saddles conformed well to our rounded hull boats, but not at all to our new hard chined boats. You want to consider how easy they are to get on and off your rack, too, unless you want to drive around with them. You can also just buy the basic foam pads and see how you like them. I have driven to Canada and back on the highway with good foam blocks on the factory rack (with special eye-shaped cutouts) and found them to be as secure as any system I have used. There are foam blocks with cutouts to attach to a Thule or Yakima rack, too. I would not, however, recommend using the foam blocks directly on your roof without a rack. People do when they rent boats, but that setup makes me wonder.... Hope this helps. -Nancy

The proposed legislation makes me ill. It is a knee-jerk reaction to the drowning of those two women on the Cape a few years ago (even though they were violating the law as it was by not wearing PFDs after September 15). Very sad, yes, but the bill is not going to keep people from doing all sorts of stupid, potentially deadly things. I take this proposal as an insult. One cannot legislate common sense. I hate it when I see people doing stupid things while kayaking and I see them all the time. People paddling in 50*F water with shorts and flip flops, no PFDs...I could go on and on, but do we need the state to tell us we need to wear a PFD, while someone in a canoe or rowboat, or a rower in a shell does not need to do the same? Are these other boaters somehow smarter than us dumb kayakers who go out and drown ourselves? Oh wait, more people die from drowning after falling out a rowboats and canoes. Hmmm..... And the ones that do drown in kayaks are commonly in white water and get caught under a fallen tree _with_ their PFD on. I really feel that sea kayakers are being unfairly singled out as irresponsible nit-wits who need this law to protect us from our own stupidity. I do resent being singled out and I do not want to be obliged to wear a PFD when it is 95*F and I am paddling along the side of my local lake in water 1-foot deep picking blueberries. If I fall out of my kayak and swim, then I am a swimmer and there is no law making it illegal to swim without a PFD. Even though I wear my PFD 90% of the time, I still believe this would be a stupid law. I have already written to the sponsors of this bill and others, stating my objection. It would be good for others to do the same. -Nancy

Does anyone know what condition the road is into the Long Wharf Launch in Gloucester? I was not able to drive in last year due to huge potholes. Neither the Gloucester Harbormaster or DPW could tell me if it has been repaired. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help. Please send your reply to nchill@charter.net