bbjorn

Everything is looking good for our paddle tomorrow -- calm seas, light wind, no thunderstorms, and even overcast skies to help encourage power boaters to just stay home. Should be a great paddle! See you there.

Blaine

Come join me for an exploration of the beautiful rocky coast of Gloucester, Magnolia, and Manchester on Saturday, 7/13. This is in my opinion the finest stretch of rocky coastline south of Maine. This area is primarily rock but with a number of beaches along the way for rest or in case we need to escape an approaching thunderstorm.

In order to ensure adequate parking near the launch, we'll meet at 9AM at Stage Fort Park on Rt. 127 at the SE corner of Gloucester. Launch by 9:30. This will be a moderately leisurely paddle, allowing time (if the NOAA forecast of 1-2 ft. seas holds) for poking into nooks and crannies with some gentle rockplay for those inclined. If seas are bigger, we'll spend less time poking and more time covering distance. Our activities along the way will be tailored to the interests of the group.

Our turnaround point will be determined by our speed, the weather, and wishes of the group. From Stage Fort Park to Singing Beach in Manchester is approx. 5 nautical miles. Overall length of the trip will be about 10 - 14 miles depending on conditions, activities and energy.

Dress appropriately for chilly water. Either a neoprene shortie or farmer john wetsuit or shortie wetsuit are recommended as the water is still fairly cold. Also, if you plan to venture into the rocks, a helmet is strongly advised.

We'll plan to return to our start by 4 - 4:30 PM.

Note that parking at Stage Fort is $15, a small price to pay these days for access to prime paddling.

Please RSVP here if interested or email me at sunblaine@sunblaine.net.

Also, please be sure to check this posting for any changes or updates.

This is a CAM (Common Adventure Model) trip. I am the organizer but we are all equally leaders and decisions will be made by the group as a whole.

Blaine

Wish I could make this trip, but me and the missus have decided to drive to NJ to watch our son play in the regional collegiate ultimate frisbee tournament. He's on the Syracuse team. Please tell me I'm not nuts. Lessee, which do I want -- driving six hours to New Jersey or paddling?

Blaine

Robin, you made my day. Thank you for your feedback. I hope we'll be seeing both you AND your mom on the water.

Blaine

Have you been wanting to expand your non-existent or very rudimentary skills using chart and compass?

Come join us at the Gould Barn in downtown Topsfield, Mass. for this free workshop on sea kayaking navigation.

The purpose of this workshop is to help us gain an intuitive understanding of the basic concepts of sea kayak navigation, as well as an in-depth, practical understanding of a few advanced topics that will help us be ready to use the presented material right away.

The workshop will be co-instructed by Jon Kilroy and Peter Brady, each of whom has done significant expeditioning by sea kayak and knows a thing or two about using a chart and compass on the water to get to where they want to be.

Location: The Gould Barn is in downtown Topsfield Massachusetts, near the intersection of Rt. 97 and Howlett St.

Workshop Schedule: Sunday, April 7

9:30: Barn open

10:00: Workshop begins

12:00: LUNCH (bring your own or go across the street to either of two local shops)

12:30: Workshop continues until approximately 3PM

Please reply here AND RSVP your interest to Blaine at sunblaine@sunblaine.net

Please bring a compass and a couple pencils to the workshop. The compass can be a simple, no-frills hiking compass as long as it has a rotating bezel (dial) for setting a course heading. These can be purchased at any outdoor equipment store for about $20 - $35.

Optional: The instructors will be using the Portsmouth Harbor chart for examples and exercises. They will provide xerox copies of portions of the chart to anyone who needs them. However, you may want to use your own full-size chart instead. If so, the Maptech Chart #27 (Portsmouth, Great Bay, Isles of Shoals) is what you should bring. This can be purchased locally at West Marine (call first to be sure it's in stock), or buy online.

Hey Spider you old dog, next time you're in the area for a paddle and would like company, give me a ring. I'm 15 min. from Pavillion and could probably get free most any day. I'm going to be out of commission for a few weeks starting this Thurs., but the doc says the new hip should be good to go in three weeks, so on 3/28 I expect to be ready to roll.

Blaine

I think that's a great idea for NSPN to offer to co-sponsor this year's event. We could certainly help to spread the word and mobilize the paddling community. Thacher (note the correct spelling) is a wonderful destination that I for one would sorely miss. Not sure how I missed finding out about last year's event, but this year's is the important one.

Blaine

I drove over to NESC today and talked to Joel. He seemed mildly amenable to having us there and even offered that the fumes shouldn't be a problem due to the very high ceiling, but for right now -- and for the past six months -- he's still organizing from the move and most of his floor space is filled with racks of boats. Some of these are on wheels and can be moved but others not. As it is right now, there would not be room for us. He asked how many boats we expected to have and I guessed six to ten. He asked when we're planning to hold the workshop and I told him maybe sometime in Feb. or March. Then his phone rang and I had to leave anyway so that's where we left it. If we haven't come up with something else in a couple weeks I can check back with him, although I'd be surprised to see much change as it looked about the same to me as it had last summer.

In the meantime, I think we need to explore other options.

Blaine

Blaine, can you check with Joel??

Sure. I'll check and see if NESC is a possibility. Do we know yet what day of the week it would be, and do we have an approximate date in mind?

Great idea, Deb!

We might consider offering a modest donation for the use of his space. Years ago NSPNers were among his best customers but that has changed I believe, probably because of his decision to stop carrying high-end kayaks, although he continues to stock kayaking gear. Asking Joel to clear a space for us and then put up with the inconvenience of our workshop may be asking a lot since I doubt he's making any money on us these days. A modest rental fee might make it worth his while.

Blaine

Unfortunately, I seriously doubt that the folks who manage the Gould Barn (Topsfield Historical Society) would allow us to use the barn for anything that involved glues, volatile sprays and other gooey or flammable stuff no matter how many drop cloths we promised to lay down. It's a historic building and they are, justifiably, very protective -- to the extent that our beautiful holiday party lumenaria lining the walk *outside* the building had to be extinguished as soon as the caretaker spotted them.

No problem Gene. Due to the resounding lack of enthusiasm for my previous suggestion -- understandable with the predicted conditions-- I'm withdrawing it and will be watching here for another that might attract more interest. I'm happy to go anywhere from S.Shore to Maine. Would prefer open ocean views at least, but at this point I won't be too picky. So come on you guys -- let's try to get a quorum for paddling somewhere.

In the meantime, here's another trip idea that is more protected with minimal exposure to open water (but not out of the wind) and quite beautiful. Pavillion Beach, Ipswich MA to Fox Creek, through narrow Fox Creek to Essex Bay, explore the back side of Crane Beach, Hog (aka Chote) Island, and other scenic areas in the bay. High tide is 1:38PM in Essex -- ideal for a trip through Fox Creek if we launch at 10:30 or 11 and return around 3:00. We would have the tides in our favor on both legs. Lunch on Hog Island -- a beautiful place and the location for much of the film "The Crucible". We would have no problem finding a sheltered lunch spot there out of the wind due to the high hill in the center and some buildings left over from the film. The only exposure to open water would be the short distance from the launch at Pavillion around Little Neck and into the mouth of the Ipswich R., about a half mile. But with tidal current in our favor, this would be quick both at the start and the return. Of course due to winter conditions and wind, this would be an L4 trip and everyone would be expected to have the full complement of winter gear and clothing, and the requisite experience in strong wind with steady winds around 15 and gusts up to 25 and temps 30-35.

Blaine

Are any of you up for a "show and go" Tuesday? I'm not familiar enough with this area to volunteer as "trip initiator" but I'd hate to miss a New Year's paddle this year. According to NOAA, coastal conditions off Portsmouth are looking a bit gnarly -- 2-3 ft seas, winds from the WSW at 13-24, temperature around 30. I am only casually familiar with this area, but could we launch from Kittery Point behind the general store and paddle in somewhat protected water counter-clockwise around New Castle? When we reached the breakwater off Fort Stark, we could either complete the circuit or retrace our route back to KIttery if conditions were not favorable. Looks like the complete loop would be only about 6 nautical miles, leaving plenty of time for either going back or poking around and side trips. Let me know if there is any interest, assuming this is a workable plan.

If you have local knowledge and objections to this route, please offer a better alternative.

Blaine

Wait!!! Keep that campfire going -- there are plenty of us red-blooded carnivores about and we'll be hankering for somethin other than veggies and sprouts.

I'm bringing what's modestly billed on the internet as the world's best vegetarian chili (800+ reviews, 4.5/5 stars). Normally I would make my chili spicy with chicken, but last time I made this veg. version it got rave reviews. A big macho kayaking buddy even asked for my recipe!

Blaine

Ross,

Wish I could join you but I'm up to my neck on a project here -- new antique floor in the master bedroom -- that I have to get finished before we fill up with family in a couple weeks.

Don't ever be tempted to use antique boards to make your floor!

See you at the party next week?

Have fun tomorrow.

What's a holiday party without tables of attractive dishes luring us to abandon, if only briefly, our normally abstemious behavior?

Our party will begin Saturday, Dec. 8th at 6:00, with dinner starting around 6:30.

We are asking everyone to contribute a favorite dish to share with friends, either appetizer, entree, or dessert.

So that we don't end up with all desserts -- or worse, only entrees! -- this is an attempt to coordinate the contributions.

PLEASE RESPOND HERE with your preference (APPETIZER, ENTREE, or DESSERT) so we can make adjustments and get a rough head count.

We hope everyone we know from on the water will join us out of the water and find out what their paddling friends look like dressed normally.

Please do come !!! It wouldn't be the same without you!

Same here. Looking forward to it.

Blaine

Way to go Lorrie!! No surprise though after your cool, calm performance during our practice session. It was apparent to me, from my exceptional vantage point, that you knew your stuff and were ready.

Now, on to 5 * ??

Blaine

I wish I'd seen this thread when it was current. But here's my two cents anyway in case anyone is still paying attention.

Three years ago I bought one of the new DSC radios (Standard Horizons HX850S) as another way to increase my margin of safety, especially when paddling solo. The biggest obstacle for us kayakers in reaching the Coast Guard is the very short line-of-sight transmission distance due to our two-foot height above the water surface (and in rough conditions when a rescue is most likely to be required, effectively much less than that!). So the increase in potential transmission distance afforded by the Coast Guard's newly installed TALL receiving towers for DSC signals was somewhat reassuring, though of course no guarantee of safety.

I figure that if I can somehow hold the radio at arms length over my head while the DSC distress signal is being sent (automatically and repeatedly with my gps coordinates), I could double the height above water from about two feet to almost 4 feet (assuming I'm in my boat) and thereby double the transmission distance and hopefully reach one of their towers. But my arm is going to get tired. And if I'm out of my boat, the radio is going to be one foot or less above the water with almost no transmission range.

So at great risk to my reputation, I'm brainstorming out loud here about the possibility of carrying a compact, lightweight telescoping pole, maybe an old tripod leg 3-4 feet fully extended, with some way of quickly attaching the radio to one end, and with the other end maybe inside the front of my pfd to free up one hand. This could get the antenna far enough above the water to greatly increase the chances of reaching the Coast Guard. This may be unworkable but considering what's at stake, well worth considering.

From everything I've read about DSC, it's so far superior to the old system that I'm amazed at how few of us have switched to DSC radios. Mine stays in my pfd all all times when I'm on the water.

Blaine

It was great to finally get to paddle with this illustrious group. Sorry to hear about your scare Leon and Lisa. We can all learn something though from your report.

Here are a few pics I took of a couple of crazies out there trying to do their best to donate gelcoat to the rocks around the Dry Breakers.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=103213007401219998348&target=ALBUM&id=5775121574367334609&authkey=Gv1sRgCNr7uebEhvPexQE&feat=email

If anyone wants a copy of any photo files, let me know.

Blaine

Way to go, Sid!!

I'm canceling this trip due to insufficient interest. I may reschedule it sometime this summer if I can work out a better parking arrangement, maybe a shuttle to Lynch park from somewhere else in the area where we can park free.

Janice, you might want to consider Doug Mogill's trip out of Lanes Cove this Saturday, paddling around the tip of Rockport -- a really nice area. (http://www.nspn.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=8716).

Current NOAA predictions for Saturday are similar to last Saturday afternoon -- 10 -13 mph winds and fairly calm seas.

Blaine

Just to let everyone who does not know the fee for non-residents is $15 dollars on the weekend. I actually work at lynch and will be down there working on Saturday. I have done this paddle many time and it is great fun, however I have never been to Misery Island. I do believe there is also a $5 dollar fee get on Misery Island that a very hard to avoid park ranger collects.

Connor

egads!! It's been a while since I last parked at Lynch and was relying on online sources for the parking fee info. So much for accuracy online. The problem is there are no other publicly accessible launch points until you reach Stage Fort Park in Gloucester. I was not aware of a fee for visiting the MIserys. I have landed on both Great Misery and Little Misery many times in the past several years and have not seen a ranger. Maybe just luck.

Thanks for the info, Connor.

At this point the trip is still on, pending a couple more interested paddlers willing to pay the exhorbitant parking fee.

Blaine

I'm interested. I hope there'll be a rock gardening pod; Blaine told me to nibble and now I want to take a big bite!

Glad to hear you're psyched for more Cathy. Just keep in mind that the rocks sometimes like to bite back. But it's not the rocks that will get you -- it's that big wave you didn't see coming! Keep looking over your shoulder. Spoken from hard-won experience.

Blaine