lhunt

Yes, had a great time, under skies blue, then gray, then blue. Some (slightly water-spotted) pix here, track here.

Hi, John, I did my first wet exit on a cold spring day in a nice warm indoor swimming pool session, under the watchful eye of a very helpful NSPN'er. Hopefully there will be pool sessions this year as there were last year - watch the Calendar page for details. (Here is an example from last year.) Of course, not having a boat is still an issue. But this is a good time of year to pick up boats on sale... Oh, yes, perfectly reasonable to do it in Walden Pond also, although as you say it's getting pretty cold for that. Lisa

I think is worth a try. I hate the hype but I tried it anyway (different exercise) for Golfer's elbow and it did seem to help. I just got one, not the whole set. Not an instant answer but it might help avoid repeats. Lisa

3 knots, actually, I think, once you remove the rescue stop.

To quote Tyson: If that is true, probably you need to get past the "you should never have taken this trip with your skills" point, unless that's all you want to learn about. The towing question has been asked and answered. Weather, we're consulting on (with the basics already answered). What else? No, we didn't have tents. There is a hotel on Star Island. With ferries. And ice cream. (Yes, I brought a credit card.) I'm just kidding. But you see what I mean. We need to pare down to the relevant questions and stop beating people with sticks at least until the facts are known. The splendid abilities that some posters admittedly possess are not useful to the discussion if they weren't actually on the paddle. I might also point out that if you ask the question with a subtext of "How could you be so stupid as to..." you might not actually get an answer. I'm hoping to hear from Shari and Bob and Leon more about that splendid assisted rescue. I have questions about the second, unintended, pod separation (questions, not criticism), and I think there were some entanglement lessons we could learn from. That's the short list from my point of view. There were plenty of things I did wrong that I'm willing to share. I think we are going to need a post-mortem for the post-mortem. How should the group dynamics in a posting situation deal with hothead posters who are offensive or overly critical or just want to boast of their own abilities? Can you still learn from the paddlers even if you don't believe their posted reports about conditions? Should there be a CAM workshop on trip reports :-) ? I'll be out today and I've spent far too much time on this already. Believe me, the whole post-mortem thing has been far more harrowing than the paddle itself, which was a challenge I enjoyed and feel privileged to have experienced. Lisa (PS, some posters have been valiantly trying to drag this thread back into the sunlight - thanks! You guys rock.)

Hi, guys, I'm going to try too! Ladies' night out? Lisa

Thank you, kind Sir! Yes, we got the distance (almost), just not the speed this time. Speed being, as you know, inversely proportional to the number of pictures taken. This was "way more better", though. Lisa

No. Surf, yes. Swells, no.* First I think you guys need to decide if you believe the basic premise of the opening trip report post. You can't expect participation from the people who were there otherwise. If you really think that 7 experienced NSPN paddlers had trouble handling 3 foot swell, there is nothing to discuss, you know the answer already. We who were there will thrash it out in private and will learn from it. Lisa *some of the swells were breaking at the top, but Leon didn't get swamped because he braced and rode the swell up and over.

I just want to point something out, in case it hasn't been clear. The original plan was to stick together. The plan was changed because one person had to paddle slowly, and n people couldn't. As it fell out, those who felt more confident allied themselves with those who felt less so in both groups. It would have been nice to have a backup plan. But it's hard to believe that standing on the beach we would be able to assess the exact circumstances of who felt confident where any better than we did in the water. Now that we have all had this experience it will be easier next time. As to paddling slowly in rough water, it is clearly difficult. I had a mandate to stay with the slower pod, so I experimented with "slow paddling" techniques. (Reminds me of the old festival game of slow bicycle "races".) I noticed that the big 5-6 footers were coming in sets of 2 or 3 with "lulls" of 3-4' swells in between. So I paddled at a moderate speed over the big ones and came to a near stop in the lulls. Sometimes Gene was beside me, sometimes behind. Leon went ahead for a bit to communicate with the other pod, then dropped back to be with us. When they were both behind and talking I could keep back with them by ear. Otherwise I had to look back, also done during the lulls. With that boat (the Epic 18X I borrowed from Leon was on its best behavior) it worked out pretty well. I suspect it's different with other boats, though. And the wing paddle helps. If Gene had chosen to paddle downwind, I would have used some other technique, I'm sure. To correct the record about that, I kept my comments on the heading carefully neutral. I said to Gene, "you guys decide - I'm sticking with you", carefully not slanting one way or another (until after the paddle was over). After some thought, Gene explained that he would be more comfortable seeing what was coming at him. It's important to listen to the advice of the most experienced paddler in the group and it's important to listen to the gut instincts of the ones who are feeling the challenges, too. Sure, in a perfect world everybody is well practiced and comfortable in every imaginable situation. When your world is less than perfect you have to cope. Thank you all for a difficult but "learning full" day. Lisa (And PS - Bob and Leon, that was an awesome rescue!)

Pictures are here (some by Leon) but, no, I didn't use my hands for taking pictures during the paddle out. Not that I didn't think of it! But I tried to imagine the conversation later... "So you capsized while trying to do what?!" By the way, thanks to DebM, Kate, and Doug chatting about cameras a little while back - I have a brand-new Panasonic TS2 and love it. You saved me a lot of research time. Trace for the trailing pod here.

Well, let's be honest. No one "keeps up" with Leon. He "keeps down", or he paddles alone. I've suggested a drift anchor, but he's not amenable. It's fun to try, though.

For what it's worth, I'd considering asking your contractor friend to help you bolt a simple 2x4 to the ceiling lengthwise. Then you can easily mount whatever you want to it with or without expert assistance. -Lisa

LeonG and I set out for a routine clockwise workout around Cape Ann. The plan was a hard fast paddle, so the start of the trip was pretty much nose-to-grindstone with only sporadic conversation along the lines of "where should we have lunch". (The lunch options for this paddle always seem to be either too early or, for lack of a better word, too "stark".) But 6-1/2 miles into it, we suddenly discovered that neither of us really wanted to work so hard. It was a beautiful day, clear as a bell down on earth and partly cloudy up above. So at Halibut Point we decided to abandon the whole cardio-vascular health thing. We turned around, and had lunch at the peerless Annisquam Lighthouse while the sky entertained (like this). Then, while the little squall finished mustering itself on our right, then rained itself out and disappeared again to nowhere, we meandered along the shore towards Essex Bay. There was brilliant sunshine on our left, and dark gray gloom on the right. The effect on the very white sand at the back side of Crane's Beach, it occurred to me later, was a little like a slow motion disco ball, brilliant one minute, dark the next. Put that together with the spikey little tidal race and there was a whole 70's dance thing going on. Well, as so often happens in kayaking, words fail to describe. You just "had to be there". But I thought I'd share the pictures, at least :-) Happy paddling! Lisa

Since Leon borrowed my GPS (for emergencies) and has now returned it, I can't resist posting his track to prove he was really there. There is a missing piece in the beginning because he was late turning the gadget on. -Lisa

Click here for real-time comments. They also might post "near real time" videos, hopefully of the start and maybe finish(?) Though I guess most of the coverage is of the surf skis, of course. Race starts around 12:15, I think. Good luck Leon! -Lisa

Hi, Steve or Jen :-) Welcome to NSPN. I wanted to pass along this link, to a web site I keep. Primarily it's for local walking trails, but I have a page on the Concord River. I've never been north of the Billerica dam, but you might be interested to know you can go from there south for miles and miles without a portage (I've done the first 21 miles a little at a time, the rest is up to you...) It will take you right through the North Bridge National Park, where the "shot heard 'round the world" was fired. It's very scenic, has lots of wildlife, is deep enough for an easy paddle and has a very gentle current. Happy paddling! Lisa

I just added some of Leon's photos into the mix.

No, no filter, unless you count the salt deposits :-). I will confess to hitting the "auto color" button sometimes in Picasa though. That seems to "warm up" the colors a little - I think this time it made them a little less vivid, maybe, because they tended to be so very, very blue when I started. Some of those photos are also severely cropped. My camera has no optical zoom, so sometimes I just catch whatever it is from too far away and do the best I can later with the computer. That gives you odd edges. Oh, well.

Thanks to Gene for calling a perfect day. We did a Gerrish Island circumnavigation exactly as described in Gene's post, and a good time was had by all 5 of us. Took lots of PICTURES, and paddled THIS TRACK. All in all, a great Wednesday. Lisa

Well, hmm, I double-checked on my Garmin and 406 is a little closer, so that's maybe a better bet. These numbers are always an estimate, anyway. Probably best to keep a sharp eye out for other cars with kayaks on top :-) Lisa

I'm definitely coming :-) BTW, the address 506 Ocean Blvd, Rye, NH seems to work if you're using a GPS to get there... Lisa

I'm a hopeful (and likely) maybe :-) Lisa

Yes, a fun race and extremely well managed by the volunteers. A red shirt everywhere you looked. The race goes "down river" (that is up river on a rising tide), so the 7 miles feels like 5. By the way, I'd like to get a thank-you message to Bev Barnard of the Wild Turkey Paddlers for helping me after the race. If anyone is a member, could you pass him my email: lisa underscore huntington at yahoo dot com? (or maybe just share his email address with me I promise not to spam him) - thanks! Lisa

Hi, guys, I might make it after all - Yay! But I'm really worried about the number of cars here. I count 7 or 8, right? There's no way we can put all those in the "other" lot. All you need is one resident complaining to the police, and all our parking at Tucks will be gone. And someone told Leon that the complaints are starting. If Leon comes I'll carpool with him, leaving a car at BK's on 128. Are there others of you who can do the same? I guess maybe Al and Tom are, right? Another possibility is the boat ramp near the Police Station, you can buy a parking placard for all year for $15 (in the police station). At least that was the case last year, I haven't checked this year. I would consider that but I don't think I'll have time that morning. Tom, at long last, I have your buckle and bungee hooks. Lisa

You also might find it interesting to run yourself through Epic's Paddle Wizard.