mattdrayer

I attended Ben's forward stroke clinic at CRCK-Newton on 6/28 -- hand width measurement/setting is indeed 1 cubit + 1 palm width. We taped out the paddle shafts accordingly and removed our "uncool" drip rings, too . He was very specific about body mechanics -- the motion is primarily twisting and rotating lateral/oblique work, with very little shoulder/arm work ("pulling"), and no chest/pecs ("pushing"). The goal is to keep the paddle oriented vertically in the water from catch to exit. Pushing and pulling cause the paddle to angle, power is diverted up/down, and the boat yaws or pitches in response. The catch is close to the feet, exit begins at the knee and ends at the hip. If you have a chance to take a class with Ben I highly recommend it -- I've been really trying to stick to his methodology and have noticed a considerable improvement in my time trials over the past week.

Doug, what type of camera do you shoot with? I'm super impressed every time I look at the pics you post -- great colors, detail, etc.

Back safe and sound! What a great day -- the trip report is located here: http://www.nspn.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=8697

Weather forecast is currently looking fantastic, so at this time the excursion is still on -- conditions are predicted to be so good, actually, that the return crossing is a strong possibility as well (vs. the aforementioned ride home)..

I'm not a huge fan of announcing daring events publicly before they actually happen, but oh well, here goes: I'm *considering* making a crossing from Nahant to Hull on Friday, 6/22 and would love for an adventurous soul or two (or eight!) to join me. Current itinerary is a put-in at 8am at Swampscott Pier, heading straight across the bay to the end of Nahant, then off to Graves Light, pick up Outer Brewster, on to the tip of Hull and then down Nantasket Beach to the destination. Distance one-way is approximately 15 miles and the pace will be on the quick side (4.5-5.0mph, ~3h30m). I'm not sure at this time about making a return crossing -- it will depend on how the weather unfolds on Friday -- at this time my wife is planning to rendezvous with me @ the beach for a ride back to Marblehead. I've been keeping an eye on the wind/weather all week -- it's not looking like a 100% ideal day (how lucky would that be!), but conditions appear to be trending positively at this time. http://www.windfinder.com/forecast/marblehead_preston_beach:(better readings for Nahant Bay than Swampscott Pier, imho) http://www.windfinder.com/forecast/east_of_boston_buoy http://www.windfinder.com/forecast/hull I'm not concerned about the distance or pace, but this trip would be my first time paddling through the Graves and Brewster Islands areas. I have done several sailing races in the Outer Harbor, so I'm familiar with the landmarks, but the perspective is obviously a bit different from a sailboat. If you're interested let me know. I'm also open to people telling me this trip is totally crazy and that I shouldn't do it because of ships, sharks, the Kraken, etc. Would be quite an adventure, though Matt

Was out in Nahant Bay both mornings this weekend -- fantastic swell rolling into Long Beach especially today -- according to MSW it should continue through tomorrow. I'll be hitting the water again tomorrow around 5:15am -- likely will skirt the coast out to the end of Nahant and then depending on the wind/chop will either beeline back to the pier (~7mi) or cut across the bay and follow the coast back on the other side (8.5mi). I also might shortcut things and go straight to Nahant and back from the pier (6.2mi/10k). Feel free to join! Matt

I agree -- until someone looks at a particular accomplishment and says "I can improve on that" it's not really a "record", so to speak. Bringing back the comparison to the mountaineering world, a lot of the achievements aren't necessarily about being first or fastest, but more about completing a set of defined accomplishment(s), which can be done by anyone with enough skill, experience, and gumption (and also typically, money). For example, there are the aforementioned NH48, the Colorado 14ers, the 14 8000m peaks, the Seven Summits, and the lists go on and on. Might be fun to start up some lists for sea kayaking circumnavigations and crossings and see where it goes

Absolutely, that's my point -- who maintains Freya's record, and who validates/updates the record when it's broken? Seems like just a general community consensus sort of thing. Someone reports to the press or a website, etc. that they're going after a record, they beat the record and tell the press, maybe have a book published, maybe put it on Wikipedia, and then it's "official". In mountaineering, for example, there are all sorts of records being set and broken -- lots related to accomplishments in the Himalayans, first ascents, etc. Some of these are maintained in a specific register by Elizabeth Hawley, and even those who climb all 48 4000ft+ peaks in New Hampshire are recorded by the Appalachian Mountain Club, with a specific subset of those for winter ascents. If you say you summit Everest, for example, you can be assured that you'll have a meeting with Ms. Hawley the day you get back to Kathmandu and she'll grill you about the details. I'm not trying to be nitpicky, I was just looking around to see if anyone was keeping track of achievements in the sea kayaking world -- and even what has been achieved thus far -- and found the resources somewhat lacking. Matt

Kayaking records maintained by Guinness: http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/Search.aspx?q=kayak According to their FAQ, they only publish a subset of all records on the website, so there may be more.

Most Eskimo Rolls in one minute (10): http://recordsetter.com/search/kayak

I did find this page on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_world_records_in_canoeing

Does anyone know which organization that keeps track of "official" paddling records? ICF, USA Canoe/Kayak, Guinness, NECKRA, NSPN , etc. I did see on the Guinness website that they have some records for accomplishments like fastest crossing of the English Channel. I'm wondering who would keep track of a record like, say, the first/fastest circumnavigations of the Isles of Shoals -- probably not Guinness material, but would be fun to see all the same. Matt

Sounds like a great time -- count me in! Matt

Agreed -- it was a great outing -- I really enjoyed meeting everyone and thought the trip was run extremely well -- thanks very much to all of you for coordinating and participating! Looking forward to seeing some familiar faces (and new ones!) in Marblehead on the 23rd Matt

Absolutely brilliant: http://www.instructables.com/id/Print-Waterproof-Plastic-Maps/ Make your own Waterproof Maps by Printing directly on Plastic Film...garbage bag film. This is not simply laminating paper maps. The end result of this simple project is a 100% plastic map that is thinner, lighter, and more durable than paper. Sure, plastic paper can be purchased for printing water resistant maps however, it is expensive, and usually thicker and stiffer than regular paper; making it difficult to fold into a pocket sized, ready reference. This process produces a map that is only slightly thicker than a garbage bag; that is waterproof, and best of all, can be folded (or crumpled) without damage for stuffing in a pocket.

Found a nice article on forward stroke technique in the latest issue of the Journal of Paddlesport Education (SEI): http://issuu.com/_aca/docs/jpe_5.12?mode=window&backgroundColor=%23222222 Matt

No worries -- I did accidentally post to the same forum twice and reported the extra one -- the original post was in Events, where it makes sense to live -- just trying to get the word out. Hope to see you all @ the races, Matt

Cross-posting from the Events forum per Leon's recommendation: Registration for the 2012 Essex River Race and Blackburn Challenge events are open and can be found here: 2012 Essex River Race http://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1081354 2012 Blackburn Challenge http://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1097247 Matt

Registration for the 2012 Blackburn Challenge is now open! http://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1097247

Registration for the 2012 Essex River Race is still open! http://blackburnchallenge.com/ERR_Race_Info.html

Man, those portages were pretty rough! Overall I was pretty happy w/ my time for the 19 Mile course -- would have been nice to have a couple more people in the Open SK category -- I'm listed as coming in first out of one racer Looking forward to the Essex River Race and of course, the Blackburn Challenge is just 10 weeks away -- just enough time for one last training cycle -- also make sure the Nahant Bay Race (August) and Marblehead Rotary Great Race (Sept) are on your calendars, too! Matt

Registration is still open for the 30th Annual Run of the Charles! http://www.active.com/outdoors/needham-to-boston-ma/30th-run-of-the-charles-2012 Is anyone planning to compete this year? I'll be paddling the 19-mile course in the SK class. Would love to meet some NSPN people! Matt