billvoss

Anyone want to join me this Wednesday on Walden Pond? (Note: Jane is traveling this week.) I could get there as early as 4pm, or as late as 5pm.

Is this on for tomorrow? I think I can probably attend.

Full neoprene skirt is the most popular around here. My first year I bought a neoprene deck with nylon tunnel skirt for my sea kayak. It came with suspenders to help hold up the nylon tunnel. Suspenders are not needed with a neoprene tunnel. I found the suspenders annoying. A year or two later in a white water kayak I did a wet exit where I couldn't pop the skirt because of shallow water and ended up pulling and kicking myself out of the tunnel leaving the skirt attached to the kayak. I remember being very glad I was not wearing a skirt with suspenders that day. Wet exit review (roughly best to worst options): Grab pull loop, straighten arms, lean forward, then pull up. (Skipping the lean forward step and just pulling is harder, but also usually works). Grab emergency release strap if skirt is so equipped. Grab side of skirt and release that way. (Practice a few times while upright, wonderful on some skirts, horrible on others). Lift your knee to pop skirt. (Practice a few times while upright, wonderful on some skirts, horrible on others). Grab skirt behind you to release edge. (Nice option on skirts with a rear bungee knot. Practice a few times while upright...) Leave skirt on kayak pull out of tunnel instead leaving skirt and kayak behind. (Not an option with suspenders). When I purchased my white water kayak used off Craigslist it came with a skirt. I took everything home and sat in my first white water kayak wearing my first full neoprene skirt and I could not get the skirt on the kayak! I called the seller certain I had been given the wrong skirt. He instead gave me some quick instruction on how to put on a tight skirt. The full procedure goes something like this: Optional: If you have a very tight neoprene skirt, dunk the skirt under water first. A wet skirt is slightly more relaxed than a dry skirt. Hook the back of the skirt on the coaming. Run your hands forward on both sides making sure the skirt is over the lip of the coaming on both sides as you run your hands forward. When you get roughly a third of the way forward instead of hooking more skirt over the lip, just maintain gentle tension so that what is already hooked stays hooked. Maintaining that tension slide your hands to the front of the skirt near the grab loop. Lock your arms straight. Using your core muscles with your arms locked, lean forward to stretch the skirt past the front of the coaming and get the skirt to hook over the lip at the front of your coaming. Pull each of the sides individually over the sides of the coaming. Check all around the coaming to make sure the skirt is firmly over the lip everywhere. Make sure the grab loop is out and accessible. Have fun. Good luck.

"The Walrus" said the temperature was between 76 and 77 degrees, the heat wave brought it up about 10 degrees since last week! We definitely had a good evening on the water.

It will be good to see you again Peter. I purchased a year long pass with a credit card from the automatic machine now installed at the lower boat ramp lot. It also sells day passes. I received a slip of paper which said to exchange it within 2 weeks at the park office (I believe for a hang tag). The ranger who usually works the boat ramps on Wednesdays told me that she would not ticket me this summer if that slip of paper was on my dash, and that I did not have to exchange it within 2 weeks. If I wanted to exchange it, I should go to the visitor center in the new building at main parking. However, the visitor center closes at 5pm and she told me this around 7pm last week as we were getting off the water. Unless I am running really late, my plan is to visit the visitor center today. I would rather have a durable hang tag than a fading slip of fragile paper.

Lets target to arrive at the boat ramp around 4:30pm today. I'll actually try to get there earlier, but that is to deal with my parking pass. Not sure how long that will take.

The forecast looks good for this Wednesday. My default arrival time is 5pm, but I'm also open to arriving around 4pm if others prefer. 4pm certainly worked well last week. I plan to be there if someone else posts they will be joining me.

Especially in a hard-chine kayak like I paddle Cathy, if you temporarily create a curved keel your path will curve. A good page for background describing with pictures the difference between hard-chine and soft-chine among many other kayak traits is http://topkayaker.net/Articles/Instruction/HullDesign.htm P.S. If you build a kayak with an actual curved keel, the kayak will always want to turn in one direction when you are not leaning.

Pru and Dave, you realize that I come down from NH? I'll warn you that traffic heading north starts getting heavy by around 4pm, and is pretty much insane by NH standards from at least 4:30pm till at least 6:00pm northbound. Good luck with your 2pm plan, but that time frame has never worked for me traffic wise on a normal weekday.

Looks like the day will start cloudy but gradually clear off. So I plan to be there Wednesday afternoon/evening if someone else will join me. From a traffic perspective I want to arrive by 5pm, and depart after 6:30pm. So I would be open to arriving at say 4pm instead of 5pm if that would work for someone.

My car is packed!

This Wednesday cancelled. The forecast has shifted the chance of thunderstorms from 9pm to 5pm. Jane and I have discussed, and decided not to attend this week.

Sorry, I don't think I can make it that early this week Pru. I'm aiming to arrive a little before 5pm for a roughly 5:30pm launch.

I plan to attend Walden this Wednesday assuming someone else also posts that they are going. As of Tuesday 8am, the Walden forecast is not perfect, but the odds look acceptable:

Hi Jeff, I hope to make some of these sessions. Thanks for starting a new practice session. -Bill

Congratulations!

Pond rolling resumes at Walden! If you haven’t attended before, see the calendar entry for logistical details. Last fall we adopted the policy that unless at least two people post their intention to attend, the session will be considered canceled. That way hopefully no one will show up and find themselves alone. I hope to attend the vast majority of sessions, and I certainly hope to see lots of old and new faces there again this year. Come have some fun! If you are attending the 5/31/2017 session, please reply to this thread. (Weather forecast permitting, I hope to post GOING next Tuesday.)

Get one that FITS your head. That is the most important aspect. There are many helmets I would like to own that simply don't fit my head. I happen to use the Strutter. It does not have vents which means I do not get sunburn stripes on my head, and in the summer I sometimes use it as an impromptu pail to poor a little water over myself on those rare occasions I don't feel like rolling instead.

I think I got an adrenaline fix just reading about it. :-)

Wish I wasn't on the injured list. Have fun.

I periodically need to clean corrosion off the battery contacts used for recharging on my old Standard Horizon DSC+GPS radio (their first DCS handheld I believe), and I'm on my second battery. Other than that I haven't had any issues. Of course they don't sell that radio anymore, so your mileage may vary. Mine floats, but it is physically LARGE for a VHF radio. I think you will find that is true for all floating handhelds. Though I still use VHS tapes occasionally at home, I haven't tried one on the water yet.

Glad you didn't encounter any T-storms.

I plan to attend.

I'm committed to teach rolling in Nashua with NH AMC Paddlers on Saturday evening. The precise put-in may tweak my answer a little. However, Google Maps worst case estimates from Marblehead or Rockport suggest I need to be off the water loading my car about 3:00pm to safely meet my teaching commitment. BIB 10am would be a nice start time (I try to arrive an hour before BIB), but I could handle a little earlier start if necessary.

How long has the trip run in past years?