billvoss

The strength and weakness of AMC sea kayaking, at least in NH, is all trips are led, and while the leader can screen participants, most participants are in NSPN terms L2 paddlers. There are relatively few people qualified to lead trips who want to lead a bunch of AMC L2 trips. However, for those that do, AMC membership and AMC leader status is a very inexpensive way to get liability insurance for the free trips you lead. Lack of leaders seems to be the main constraint on AMC NH sea kayak trips. I wrapped myself in the AMC liability umbrella to teach some beginners rolling this summer, and all it cost me was my annual AMC membership fee plus following the AMC process for trip approval and liability waivers. For me that was a lot easier and cheaper than getting an ACA rolling certification and paying for ACA insurance. Of course as an AMC volunteer leader you must volunteer your time, not try to make money. If you want to make money as an independent, as far as I know ACA and maybe BCU are the only viable games around here.

Snap Dragon support told me aqua seal might work for "temporary" repairs. They warned me to stretch the spray skirt over the coaming before applying the aqua seal because unlike the neoprene the aqua seal would NOT stretch. I ended up replacing my skirt before trying the aqua seal approach.

I've only ordered a suit with CG gaskets, but it has not arrived yet. Some people swear by them, so I thought I would try one of my replacement suits with them.

I plan to join you.

Is this Saturday, September 24th, or Sunday, September 25th?

The kayak is back on the car roof. I should be there around 3:30 today.

Some paddlers are planning to meet at Walden this Wednesday arriving at 3:30pm for rolling, rescues, etc. Everyone is welcome. I'm not sure yet if I personally will be there, I'm recovering from a sprained wrist. I believe the boat ramp gate is now closing at 7pm, which pretty much means off the water by 6:30pm. Though there is a good chance the 3:30pm group won't last quite that long.

This Wednesday is the final 2016 after work summer session I put on the calendar. Hope to see you there. I'm also open to joining Walden afternoon sessions in September. Post or PM me if you want to set something up.

I'll probably pull into the lot around 4:30pm. Some people arrive later (work is a four letter word).

I just finished repairing my kayak's coaming, so I'll be there tonight testing the repair. Pru, remind me to work on Bomb Proofing your roll. Dan, sorry you expect to miss next week's Walden Wednesday. You will be missed.

I plan to attend Walden as usual August 17th.

Pond session popularity certainly varies from year to year. Chebacco almost died from lack of attendance last year, but this year is booming. I've made a point of going to Walden every day I could this year. Attendance has been light, but if I had also skipped two rainy days, I would only have been at Walden once without company this year. We have been missing a bunch of the usual faces this year. Apparently lots of people didn't even realize the sessions started June 1st, I know at least one former regular used to work near Walden but now works much farther away, Leslie has posted about being chained to her desk this summer, Pru has been adventuring, multiple paddlers have been dealing with injuries, and lots of people have been discouraged by the closures. Ironically, I think only two evenings have actually been impacted by Walden closures. General parking has been restricted by the construction which began in 2015 and is scheduled to finish this year. That has certainly contributed to the July and August closures. Hopefully closures will not be as big an issue next year. I do not know how the new facility will impact us, but the new parking ticket machine at the boat ramp will certainly make life simpler for people who don't buy an annual pass. I hope the restored parking will also reduce closures to the rare inconvenience they were years ago. I'm not sure a Walden Meetup makes sense. Mainly because Meetup charges fees these days. I could imagine occasionally cross-posting the Walden pond sessions to existing Meetup groups for greater publicity. However I'm not a Meetup event organizer except with AMC. As a New Hampshire AMC Sea Kayak Leader I could schedule AMC trips to Walden. However a Boston AMC White-Water leader has been hosting a Wednesday night “Pond Social For Paddlers” event at a pond near Walden since before I joined NSPN. Though her event is mostly attended by WW paddlers, sea kayakers are also invited. In fact that is my normal plan B if Walden closes some Wednesday. Having two pond events in Concord, MA every Wednesday provides redundancy, but having two AMC pond events every Wednesday seems fraught with political issues. An AMC Walden event might be practical if we moved the Walden session to another day. However, if I hosted it as an AMC event I would have to make everyone sign the AMC liability waiver every week, and since I do occasionally miss some weeks it would be better if I had at least one other AMC leader backing me up to prevent canceling the trips I miss. Any volunteers? Signing waivers can also be especially awkward when paddlers show up late. So I guess my first choice would be for Walden to remain an NSPN event (though before that I believe it was actually a pure Greenland “Walden Pond Scum” event). I would like to see more people commit to coming regularly. If we have at least three people who commit to attending, I could see adding a “cancel” clause to the calendar announcement, though it would have to be earlier than 4pm to do me any good. Because many potential Walden regulars are not reading the NSPN forum in April/May when Walden Wednesdays are usually posted to the calendar, it might make sense to start soliciting regulars this fall. Especially since I would like to start May 31st next year! Any thoughts?

I had a great time last night. You definitely have a good group there this year. If only Chebacco was a little closer to Hollis, NH and didn't conflict with my normal surfing night - sigh.

Three Walden sessions to go this summer. I drove the hour to Walden. There was plenty of parking, beach open with guards, bathrooms open again, a bit of drizzle, but would have been a wonderful evening if a 2nd person had shown up.

Looking forward to seeing you Jane! I'm going as usual.

Doug, you know you can make a custom wooden kayak don't you?

Leon, I come down on your side. In good white-water kayaking groups it is always acceptable for any paddler to portage any rapid they are uncomfortable running. The cautious paddler should never be criticized, teased, or pressured before or afterwards to take more risk than they want to take at that time. Even if the cautious paddler planned to run every rapid at the put-in and portaging significantly inconveniences the group, the group should never pressure the cautious paddler to take more risk than they are comfortable with at that moment. The exception is if a paddler in the white-water group does get into trouble, then all the fellow paddlers are expected to help in the rescue to the best of their ability and training. Even though that may well involve the rescuers taking more risk than they would like. In fact, generally all white-water paddlers are expected to help any other paddler in distress they encounter on the river, not just the other paddlers in their own group. I think the same principles apply in sea kayaking. Certainly books like Sea Kayaker's Deep Trouble are full of stories where group pressure pushes the group into taking more risk than was prudent, or in some cases survivable. It can certainly be disappointing if an anticipated trip is cut short because another paddler judges the conditions too risky. However, in a CAM context, absent other prior agreement, even if every other member of the group disagrees with the risk assessment, I think it is the group's duty to get the cautious paddler back to safety. Once the cautious paddler is somewhere everyone agrees is safe (the take-out, the hospital, or perhaps just where the disagreement occurs), the bold paddlers can decide if they wish to form a new CAM group and take the risk. However, absent prior agreement to the contrary, no CAM paddler should force a fellow pod member to take risks they consider excessive. I personally subscribe to the "Three to Sea" minimum rule. Though the risk of paddling alone is obviously lower for more talented paddlers, I would still have felt compelled to accompany you back to the take-out based on the "Three to Sea" rule had I been a member of your CAM group. I might also have worried that you needed to turn back because you were experiencing some impairment and thus should be escorted, and were just claiming high risk because your impairment was mental or embarrassing. If the pod has enough strength, sending two or more experienced escorts might be sufficient. However, usually the entire pod will need to go. Even in a non-CAM leader based commercial trip, if some cautious paddler in the pod says this is too risky for the reward, I think the leader needs to get the cautious paddler off the water or into conditions the cautious paddler finds acceptable. I paid for a two day surfing class down in RI a few years ago, one of the students felt more challenged than the other students so the second day was less challenging than it otherwise would have been. I was disappointed, but thought it was appropriate, even though the trip had plenty of rescue strength. I do agree with Rob that sometimes CAM participants must be willing to do things they would prefer not to do. I also agree that willing participants should be allowed to learn near the border between challenging and reckless. However, absent prior explicit agreement to the contrary, I do not think CAM calls for or justifies forcing any paddler into an avoidable situation they consider too risky. Though if someone repeatedly aborts fun paddles, I might avoid potentially challenging paddles with them in the future. So my bottom line based on what I read in this thread is the other three should have honored your fears, even if they disagreed with your risk assessment. I don't think you broke CAM rules.

I'm hoping to arrive at Walden around 4:30pm today instead of my usual 5:00pm. Look for me at "We usually practice here" if you get there later. Currently https://twitter.com/waldenpondstate shows the pond is open today. Perhaps in part because two days ago they posted: If Walden does close before I get there, I'll join the AMC Boston paddlers at White's Pond instead.

Congratulations Dave and Mike.

Walden is warm now. I switched this week from drysuit to swimming suit! Four of us had a great time, but a fifth arrived late and never found us. Late arrivals look for us at "We usually practice here" on my custom Google map. Basically just paddle to the far side of the pond from the boat ramp. Leslie, where should I send the hack-saw to break that chain? We missed you.

Come to White Pond if Walden is closed at 5pm ( https://twitter.com/waldenpondstate ).

Christopher Crowhurst has taught "Bomb Proofing Your Roll" at Delmarva in the past. I'm scheduled to mentor it this year because Christopher is not certain he can attend, and I was his "unsinkable" student in 2014. I asked him to write up the key points to refresh my memory, and he produced this Bomb proofing your roll post. It describes what I plan to do with you Pru. For white-water paddlers, I should also mention that the AMC Boston Paddlers has been offering a River Rolling 202 session which I've attended three times as a student. It took me that long before I completed the course without a swim.

Would anyone care to join me this Wednesday for lunch and/or Star Trek and/or Kayak Rolling? I'm going to lunch around noon at http://bigfreshfood.com/dineinmenu.html at 50 Worcester Rd, Framingham, MA 01702 • (508) 879-7000. Then down the road to Jordan's to see Star Trek Beyond at Jordon's Natick IMAX the Star Trek Beyond 3D showing on Wednesday 7/27/2016 1:30 PM (Total Amount due is $14.75) at 1 Underprice Way, Natick, MA 01760 After the movie I'll head to Walden pond for some rolling. If Walden is closed when I get there ( https://twitter.com/waldenpondstate ) and not opening by 5pm, I'll head over and join the Boston AMC White Water paddlers social at White Pond ( drop kayak at boat ramp, park at school ) instead.

Pru, it is possible to significantly improve a roll beyond a "100% Walden Roll." Remind me next time we are both there, and we can practice some of the bomb proofing your roll exercises I'm scheduled to mentor at Delmarva this year. As the white water paddlers say, we are all just between swims. However, it is definitely possible to to make them far less frequent.

I had a great time with Dan last night, who seems to be catching the Greenland bug! Sorry nobody else made it, there were at least 7 free parking spaces at the boat ramp. DCR News: They have installed a parking pass machine at the boat ramp. It is no longer necessary to purchase your pass at the main gate! (Credit or Debit card only.)