prudenceb

Lovely....but rattlesnakes....? Looks as though you had a pretty spectacular day! pru

HOLIDAY PARTY!! Saturday, December 6, 2014 Gould Barn, Topsfield Yes, folks, it’s that time of year again! Time to start planning for this year’s NSPN Holiday Party blowout! Please mark the date in your calendars NOW! As those of you who attended last year know, some changes were instituted (thank you former Party Tsarinas, Cathy Folster and Katherine Ryan!) that greatly contributed to an awesome party: a raffle with some Really Good Stuff (eg carbon fiber paddle etc) and a trivia quiz with prizes that challenged our group knowledge of paddling related topics. Add to this the usual splendid array of food and drink, the company of your good paddling buddies, a slideshow covering some of the past year’s paddles, and the presentation of the NSPN awards and you have a failsafe formula for a Good Time to be Had by All. The only thing missing last year was all of you who weren’t there! We would really like to encourage all members to attend this fun and convivial event, and would like to extend a special invitation to our newest members! Please join us! Pru and Janice ps…be forewarned: this is just the beginning! More posts will follow!

Josko, I might be interested in that...although are good boats available for rental? pru

Newfoundland Wales Outer Hebrides (inspired by my father, who loved the area, I did a multi island walking trip there 30+ years ago before I knew there was such a thing as a kayak and was positively mesmerized by the ocean) AK Baja And more and more Maine...Downeast: Roque Islands, Bold Coast and back to crazy Cobscook Bay in hopes that each time will be a bit less intimidating. And most importantly, anywhere my paddling buddies want to go as long as there are NO ALLIGATORS, CROCODILES, SNAKES or other creepy crawly primeval scary creatures. Bears OK! pru oh, and number one fantasy: Antarctica...

Nice! pru

As soon as my thumb is healed, I'm in, Rob. I am happy to be your guinea pig for further destruction of important body parts - a skill at which I seem to be excelling of late! On a more serious note, though, I'm very impressed by your willingness to be so open about your experience of the assessment. It's great that you are not framing this as a "failure" ( even though of course you would have loved to have passed - a most human response) but as a valuable learning opportunity. You know that you are surrounded by quite a crowd of paddling buddies that is eager to help you in whatever way possible. Thanks for having the courage to take the journey...and sharing it! pru

I don't want a review.... I want a demo! .....Julie? pru

And you'd nest be a skinnie minnie to be using this system. Otherwise, not a pretty sight! pru

Really nice trip report and photos. I only wish I could have had the opportunity to write it myself. But for this #%^!?# thumb injury, I would've had the chance. I was really looking forward to revisiting all of these places - almost all of which I've paddled before. I wanted the experience of linking them all together into this one wonderful long trip. Thank you for finding the perfect rock for me, Gary! What a beauty! I hope you left it somewhere convenient and easily findable so that I can go some time to retrieve it. I assume Rob left it behind because he made no mention of it in his comments! My only question: what's up with 99.4929 miles!? You needed to do a few extra little circles by the WBS boat launch to get that extra .5071 miles! pru

Having spent time in challenging (for me!) waters this year with both Dave and Caroline, I am not the least bit surprised to hear that both passed. Congratulations to both for jobs well done! pru

Thanks to both of you, Warren and David, for doing the presentation. It was really terrific! And thanks also to Cathy for organizing, and Dave Merriman for suggesting! It was a full three hours of information - photos, narration, anecdotes, a power point presentation (!) on concepts and lessons learned...as well as demos of David's fully loaded boat (which as he unpacked it seemed like an endless Christmas stocking of goodies) and of various items that we don't generally have to deal with on our local trips - water filters, group shelters and an attention to detail to ensure the trip was safe and not totally soaked! Maps, charts, books to peruse. Prizes for the audience for correct answers to obscure and not so obscure questions. And I shouldn't forget to mention the audience's insistence that Warren model his new waterproof bib overalls. Tres chic! Clearly a lot of thought went into Warren's and David's presentation, and it was greatly appreciated by all. I am sure that if our Gould Barn time hadn't run out at 9 pm, we could easily have continued into the wee hours. Thanks, guys! pru

Wow! Fantastic! pru

Really great photos, Kurt! Especially the beautiful yoga position on the foggy beach... pru

Me too...

Wow!

Love the Cadillac Mt sunrise photo! Wish I could have been with you all, but sure nice to see photos of familiar places. I am getting very tired settling for vicarious pleasure! pru

No. 9 is very cool! pru

Hope you like 'em. I've found they're complete gravel magnets... Gravel and sand in shoes less of an issue with the Astrals... pru

I think they were in two singles, not a tandem. At least they had pfd's on, and had a cell phone. More than many rec boaters we see... And I'm not sure self rescue skills would necessarily have helped....had it been me, I'm sure I would just have had a heart attack on the spot! The End! But this sure is an object lesson in not harassing seals by getting too close, altho in this case, I don't think they even saw a seal. pru

Go North, all paddlers! But seriously, this is one scary story! pru

Hope to be able to join you! pru

After wearing teva sneaker shoes that were gravel magnets and retainers for the past year, I switched to astral water shoes... http://www.astraldesigns.com/products/brewer.php and have found them comfortable and much more impervious to gravel. REI has limited sizes on sale, but there are other cool colors available - or at least used to be. pru

That is very unhappy news for those of us Greater Bostonians who have bought gear and boats at the shop over the years... pru

Polar bear possibly?! But I don't think I'd be wanting to bully one, not to mention that I wouldn't have a clue as to how to do so. And thus we will all be at your presentation, Josko, to get answers to all these pressing questions! pru

Lorrie, It really was a special day for those of us who have felt intimidated by these conditions, and now there are two more of us who want to go back again and again to play in it. Amazing! The only damper on the day was hearing about that great white in Duxbury the same afternoon. Imagine doing a combat roll and coming face to face with THAT! pru