rylevine

Concerning a community kayak shop, on Friday Mike and I met with the manager of the building we are considering on Western Avenue in Lynn. We’ve established that there is a ground level space available that can exit an 18ft kayak. It is a large basement space, about 1100 square feet. With proper layout of the space, there is enough room for six or seven boats to be built simultaneously. Considering the various options on the North Shore, this space is a “good deal†($500/month with a 6 month lease). The shop location is in the Lydia Pinkham building which was an old manufacturing site but has evolved into an artist colony of sorts and also houses some light manufacturing. The web site for the building is http://www.lydia-pinkham.com/. The building is open 24/7. Street parking is adequate, and it is on a bus line. For anyone wishing to sign on at this time, it looks like a maximum of $125/month/participant is required - but this figure could be less depending on the number of participants. Right now we have three definite users. Obviously the lease agreements and budgets would be shared with and agreed on by everyone (CAM style!). In addition to the monthly rent there are some minor extra communal costs (eg. ventilation equipment, a table, etc), and there is the standard up-front expenses with leasing (first,last,deposit). Depending on participant response, we may try to formulate a mechanism for people to rotate in and out of the shop instead of being obligated to the full terms of the lease (although fabrication of a kayak from scratch can easily take up to six months for part-time work around normal paddling and pool schedules). A modest boat will require about 150 hours of work in the shop. As to the building of cedar strip kayaks, Mike has outlined some information and details of what is actually involved. This is as follows: > The reference texts I've been using are Nick Schades two books > (The Strip-Built Sea Kayak: Three Rugged, Beautiful Boats > You Can Build; and Building Strip-Planked Boats). Lots of > useful background information can be freely accessed at > Nick's Web page (http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/guillemot). From this > site you can order full sized plans for all the Guillemot > Kayak designs. You can also watch short You-Tube videos of > Nick doing various aspects of the projects. RedFish kayaks > also has some very nice boat designs. > Chesapeake Light Craft offers complete kits containing all > the materials you will need for a boat. My preference is to > obtain large cedar boards from a specialty lumber yard, and > order other materials (epoxy, fiberglass, carbon fiber, > varnish) from various sources. This requires more work but > saves significantly in cost, and allows the most flexibility > in materials. > Large power tools I'd be willing to share include a table > saw for ripping strips, router which is part of the table > saw assembly, a thickness planer to get all strips to > uniform thickness, 6" Band saw for cutting various curved > pieces, shop Vac, Random Orbital Sander, battery powered > drill, battery powered jig saw. In addition to raw materials > (wood, glue, epoxy, fiberglass, glass reinforced adhesive > tape, drywall screws, sandpaper..) each builder will want to > have some of his/her own equipment including a 6" block > plane, jack knife, Japanese pull saw, air filtration mask > with removable/replaceable canisters, latex gloves, lots of > wood clamps, and perhaps a few other things I'm forgetting. > You will need a pair of sturdy work horses, with adjustable > height so as to save your back from working for too many > hours bent over. These can be built cheaply from 2x4 stock > and some 1/2" wood dowels; you can model yours after the > ones I use. You may want to invest in an IKEA type track light > with 5-6 halogen spots to be > hung right over work area. You might also want an overhead > rack for storing strips and other materials. > Each project should take ~ 150 hours in the shop of real > work (reading, thinking, fixing mistakes not included). We could get together before the lease begins (the manager has offered to let us in early) to build sawhorses, set up benches, ventilation and extra lighting,etc. Bob

It was a lovely evening - water relatively calm and temperature/humidity perfect. It was fun to talk with Barry, and have Leon show up to set the pace. Thanks to Les and Lorrie for leading the groups, especially Les for testing the premise that (if we really focus) we could count to eight! Thanks to Christopher for calling it. Bob

I'm in. Bob

Hi Chris, Welcome to NSPN! As of a few weeks ago, Chebacco sessions were still going on. I plan on attending tonight. Forest River has not been well-attended due to traffic and/or the timing of low tide. I've been there most Fridays to practice, and (traffic-willing) plan to be there tomorrow. Also, plenty of water tomorrow at 6 or so since high tide is around 9. Bob

I'm in. Bob

Ditto that, and especially the cliff cove. Thanks for arranging the trip Doug. Bob

I was on a trip headed by Kevin B to see the fireworks from the water at Lynch Park in Beverly, and may have seen these flares. Somebody shot off three parachute flares as a seemingly endless flotilla of boats was returning to the Danvers River. If I recall correctly, we reported seeing them but the Coast Guard/Harbormasters were already involved in the search. The CG asked boaters to turn off all but running lights, possibly to avoid stray lights during the search(?). If this was the perp, $180 seems rather lenient. Bob

I'm in. Bob

I'm interested. Will confirm tomorrow. Bob

Forest River/Willows is very difficult for people from the western suburbs to get to on Friday evening. While traffic is generally lighter on Friday, the afternoon escapees heading North make 128N impassable. Walden/White are great, but they are ponds....no conditions, no salt!. Perhaps we should try Boston Harbor practice sessions? I've paddled out of Winthrop in the winter, but am not sure of parking during the season there - or anywhere around Boston for that matter. Are there reasonable put-ins and practice areas in the Harbor? Bob

Mike, That is an interesting rule concerning the paddle and the ball, and I'm unsure whether that was enforced. We did allow blocking shots with the paddle. All the helmets had substantial wire face masks. I'm pretty sure full face coverage is required. One of the times that I was knocked over, I looked up and saw the surface covered with kayak hulls. I just sort of forced the paddle up through a gap and ignored the clutter in doing the sweep roll. In the lake there was no pool wall to get pinned against. The game is a lot of fun; and (lucky for me) there is a low skill threshold for having a good time..... even if you are not scoring a lot of points for your team! Bob

Al, I plan on making it. Bob

At the invitation of a friend from Salem, I tried kayak polo on Thursday night at Spy Pond in Arlington. The sport is described at the web site http://bostonkayakpolo.com/ The light kevlar/carbon boats are about 9 feet, square-ish, low to the water, and have bumpers on the ends. They are tippy, but much easier to roll than a sea kayak - as I found out multiple times during the scrimmages. The paddles have a wider face and are thicker - the latter probably for safety as they tend to get swung around quite a bit. The rules are similar to soccer. Most important is a 5 sec rule for passing off the ball or to begin "dribbling". Dribbling consists of placing the ball out of the immediate proximity of the player and then paddling up to control it - which I found immediately triggers a mad convergence of opponents into your space to steal. Each team consists of five paddlers. Scoring is by throwing the ball into a high net. Swatting the ball with the paddle is not allowed, although the paddle is necessary on defense for blocking the high shot from the kayak. Bumping, pushing, and purposeful tipping are part of the game which took some getting used to; coming from the genteel sport of sea kayaking where, except for rescues and rafting up, kayak-to-kayak contact is frowned upon. Ball passing and shooting was for me awkward because you are of course also handling the paddle, but I was beginning to get the hang of it towards the end of the evening. After three hours of play I was pretty well spent, but had a great time. Very welcoming group, similar in spirit to NSPN. Bob

Beautiful evening. Very high tide and cool, clear water (no warnings at Forest River despite high bacteria counts at Marblehead beaches). Went over towing a pirouette white water kayak to practice off (other)-side roll, but ended up working on it in the Impex Assateague. After an hour or so, my wife and I were joined by David and BillyD. Very pleasant session. Bob

Phil, A nice mild trip, but with a little bump on the way over to Rockport to make it interesting. Meetings with new friends Kate and Christopher (back on the beach) were also fun. Finally, very much appreciated Glen's demonstration of the new sport of kayak rock climbing! Thanks for calling it. Bob

Phil, I'm in. Will check early am for changes. Thanks. Bob

The L2+ split into two pods, one with Leslie at the helm and the other with Peter. Peter's pod was going for more bump (L2++). Starting out from Riverhead about 10:30, we pretty much shadowed each other around Children's Island for lunch on the western shore. The conditions were very mild, 1-2 ft waves and less than 10mph winds, so we were able noodle around in the rocks without incident. After a leisurely lunch with the recombined L2+ group, we headed south to Tinkers Island. The eastern ledges of Tinkers did provide some excitement for L2++ as we progressed around to meet up with L2+ on the western side. It was then decided to go around Tinkers again (counterclockwise) as a recombined L2+ for more rock play; and then head north to the Marblehead Neck tip and then down to Riverhead. I think the L2+ probably morphed into L3- along the way, but the water and company were so delightful that the longer trip was welcome by all. Thanks to all the organizers of the Solstice paddle! Bob

Thanks for the pictures, Doug. Our group led by Rick C and Jason and also had myself, Dave, Marc, and Adam. After launching at around 10:00, we first went to the bridge at the back of Little Harbor for some practice crossing and turning in current. Then we took advantage of the heavy fog to cross to the Whaleback lighthouse (?) by compass. I was amazing and wonderful to see it emerge from the fog as we hit it dead-on. As one of the compass-minders, I appreciated Jason's suggestion to find an object like a lobster pot in the bearing and paddle towards it rather than try to maintain the compass heading from the boat. The ~3 foot swells around the rocks and ledges east of the lighthouse were perfect for rescues. The swells were large enough to be nontrivial but not insane. We did contact tows, T-rescues, two-in rescues, and rolls (Adam's hand rolls are definitely impressive!). I found the two-in to be much more difficult and time-consuming around the rocks than I would have thought. Moving the kayaks together, grabbing the right lines, paddle storage and management (mine ended up floating away and had to be picked up later using my spare), and kayak drifting back to the rocks - all these 'fog of war' effects were daunting. Rick's suggestion to swim the boat out by wrapping the bow with your legs and back swimming was effective. Afterwards, it occurred to me that an important first step is to get far enough out so that the rescue is completely free of the rocks. In addition to rescues, we also paddled through rock passages and tried some surfing. For me these activities are useful for forcing attention to wave action, boat control, and for bracing against waves. Finally, we did some towing practice back towards the Little Harbor, found a nice ledge for some more surfing, paddled over to Odiorne point, and then headed back to Little Harbor. The conditions had calmed by the time we met up with other groups at around 4:00 at the put-in. There we practiced some balancing on the kayaks, cowboy re-entry, rolls, and general relaxing! I would like to thank the organizers and group leaders for the three CAM workshop meetings. They were perfect, and practice makes perfect - so if there is interest in more ocean practice sessions.... Bob

RSVP by posting here or RSVP to Peter Brady, (either by PM here on the message bioard or at pbrady at neaq dot org) I plan on attending. Bob

The CAM workshop was amazingly well planned and executed yesterday. The exercises were right on to what many of us could benefit from at this point. Thanks to all the group leaders and in particular to Rick C and Rob. Looking forward to Part 2! Bob

Doc's rec: "Gee, maybe you don't want to seakayak if you're sick. There'll be plenty of other opportunities later." doesn't prove totally convincing, as patient feels pretty good at this hour. Ernie, I won't say you didn't miss a fantastic training session, with rope tows, rescues, forward AND BACKWARD traversing of rock passages in conditions, contact tows in conditions, seal launches, and some sort of group grope in which we had to play musical kayaks on the ocean! But, come on....the ocean is not going anywhere (and you might go somewhere without necessary caution). The doc is right. Bob

QUOTE (Kevin B @ May 19 2010, 09:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>5 folks in the group set off counterclockwise around Gerrish at 10:30am. A little bit of wind pushing us along and then pushing against us for most of the way. Estimated sustained 15-20kt with gusts to 25. Not much else in the way of conditions as we made for Braveboat for a bit of a break. Followed the creek back at a nice relaxing pace. Many thanks to Glenn, Phil, Bob, and Doug for joining the trip. Kevin, It was a nice trip on Saturday. The wind gusts made the ocean side of Gerrish a useful exercise. I found my shore side paddle lifting in the wind, which was a little unnerving at times but easy to adjust to. The creek was a delight. I'm continually amazed to find beautiful wilderness so close to major cities. I think it is a distinctly East coast or New England phenomena. Great to meet Doug, and spend an afternoon with paddling friends. Bob

Had a good time yesterday. Five foot wave sets came in every ten minutes or so, but there were plenty of 2-3 footers in between to try to surf. When the five footers came in I went to the soup zone to practice bracing against them; so it was all useful. Kevin suggested not leaning back and depending less on the stern rudder since that tended to stall the boat at the worse time and led to broaching. Depending more on forward strokes and edging did help. Nevertheless, I spent a considerable amount of time investigating the bottom of King's beach! It was a still a lot of fun. Ed's comments on another thread about vulnerabilities of the neck have occurred to me as well. You need to be very careful in the surf. It was great to meet John. Will try to shake this North Shore provincialism and get down to the South Shore! Thanks for calling it Kevin. Bob