prudenceb

Many thanks to Scott, Rick C, Peter as well as Rob, Rob, Bob, Sherri, Cathy, Warren, and Bill for a beautiful and instructive day out on the water today. Those of you who haven't done a CAM session in a while, or those who have never done one, think about it for next year. The skill and communication building offered over different sessions was really great - and fun to boot. While we probably wished that Tropical Storm Andrea had left more in her wake to challenge us, we found some bump, some currents, and some imposingly large vessels to challenge us or give us pause. A beautiful day out on the water, for sure. (And some of us did think about our sisters out on the Ladies' Paddle, wishing that there weren't conflicts over what to do on any given day...) pru

Actually, I think that everywhere in Rockport is now metered parking - even on Sunday! Even blocks and blocks away from Bearskin Neck and all that. Or at least this was the case last fall when I was there being a tourist on a Sunday. Rockport people, is this still the case? pru

Hey, phil, isn't that hat one that is generally permanently attached??

Can't make it today. Aargh! pru

and sorry for misspelling Rick's last name as "K" not "C"!

After an online discussion of clothing appropriate to a hot day on cool water - where lots of immersion was planned - nine of us (eventually joined by a tenth on the water) set out, mostly in dry suits, for a fun day of rescue and towing practice, as well as experiencing the challenges of keeping a group together on a day that became increasingly windy and choppy. We practiced trying to stay together to do a crossing at the head of Marblehead Harbor with a fair amount of boat traffic and a southerly wind roaring up from our launch spot. We pretty much didn't succeed at this endeavor (communication challenges in conditions, varying speeds of paddlers, boat control issues, unclear understanding at outset of exactly where we were heading, large group size etc etc) - but had a really good de-briefing once we had made it across - without getting run over by any boats, although some of us (me) came closer than others. It really was very instructive in this CAM session to experience in real-time and real conditions some of the challenges of paddling as a group. I'm sure all of us will be aware of lessons learned as we set out on future trips. Thanks to Scott for organizing, Rick K for showing up to help out, and everyone else who shared the day, pulling each other out of the drink and towing and being towed. pru

Very nice report, Ed. (And may I never go have to go to three different islands, when all are deserted, to find a campsite on a 90 degree day!) I hope Casco bay remains deserted this upcoming wknd, when the New to Kayak Camping group paddles there! pru

and of course it will be complicated dressing for conditions the next few days as the air temp gets up into the 80's-90's, but the water bumps up only a bit... pru

Fabulous! As one member of the party that dwindled, you both were in my thoughts the whole time, and I knew that you would have a great time, and you did. The only thing that sounded No Fun at All to me was the eight mile hike into Vinalhaven. My knees would never have allowed that little stroll! It was fun to see your photos of places I remember from a circumnav I did of Vinalhaven many years ago, before I knew how to paddle at all, and when I was stupidly ignorant of the challenges that such a trip presented. Bravo to two thoughtful, competent paddlers! pru

I wouldn't be able to make it tonight anyway - boat still in the shop - and the prospect of thunderstorms not enticing - hope next week is better and I'll plan to be there (assuming boat is!) pru

They absolutely do charge at the boat launch, and they do ticket! pru

There are old fogey breaks. If you are 62 or older, you can get a free pass to almost all DCR properties (including Walden). pru

Wonderful book! Why didn't they have classes like this when I was an undergraduate?? pru

I love that you got a picture of the eagle and the crow! pru

This really stinks! pru

NSPN New to Kayak Camping Trip Muscongus Bay May 4-5 There is a comforting symmetry to beginning a season's journey in the same place where it ended the year before, and ending it in the same place where it began. And so it was for me with Warren's and my first NSPN New to Kayak Camping trip to Muscongus Bay, where we had closed out our 2012 camping season last November. We mark the passage of each year in so many predictable ways over our lives: academic calendars, liturgical ones for some, and of course the changing of the seasons themselves. And now, we've added the paddling calendar and its increasingly predictable beginning and ending. A familiar symmetry indeed. And as had been the case last year when we began at Muscongus Bay, the drive north saw the seasonal calendar scrolling backwards, from full and lush spring when I departed at sunrise, to bare trees and vibrant yellow forsythia on the back roads nearing the launch. Unlike last year, though, this first journey occurred under bright blue cloudless skies from start to finish. When Warren, the first to arrive, pulled into the parking lot at Muscongus Harbor, the proprietor told him that he was the first to use the lot this year. As we waited for the full crew - Warren and me, Dave, Tom and Rogger - to gather, we saw a good omen for our weekend: a pair of bald eagles swooping about. One landed on a tree near us overlooking the tiny harbor. As he sat there, magisterially surveying the world around him, a crow repeatedly and unsuccessfully tried to harass him away. Dive bombing from above, approaching from either side, time after time; but the eagle sat still, head turned to the side, imperious and paying that persistent crow exactly the attention that he deserved - which is to say, none at all. We launched at about 10:30, pretty much on time. It was wonderful to be back on the water actually heading somewhere. Three years ago, I wouldn't have known that a group of islands off the coast of Maine could ever feel so familiar. The breeze, which freshened considerably as the day went on, was from the southeast, and as we rounded the southern tip of Hog Island for the ride up its eastern shore, the wind pushed us along. After a brief stop to investigate the platform tenting site halfway up the island, we continued on. We could see our destination, Crow Island, a good deal of the way. As we got closer to it, then rounded - as we always do - to its eastern side, an almost absurd thought - "coming home…" - came to mind. It was low tide, and we pulled the boats across the seaweed-covered rocks, an easy process, and unloaded and set up camp. I headed to my usual spot - where I know exactly where the tent goes so there won't be any roots digging into my back and the slope is very gently down from head to foot; and where to hang my water bag; and there, the downed tree where I'll lay out gear to dry - without thinking twice. Dave found that the site he'd chosen on a previous trip was now obliterated by a fallen tree, pretty much where his tent would have been had it been there when the tree fell. I don't know whether any one else had preceded us there in 2013, but MITA had not: the logbook secured in a plastic tub had not yet been put out for the season. We lunched - as we have before - on the rocks of a small and sweet island with an intimate camping site completely surrounded by bushes, not far from Crow. The low low tide made the approach to the island a bit difficult. We pulled the boats up and walked through muddy muck to get to solid land. While the Weather Gods never stopped smiling all weekend, life and fates really do require a balance: the Skeg Demon frowned. Mine didn't work at all; Warren and Dave's required two people to deploy. Tom attempted a surgical intervention on my boat after lunch, poking and prodding, increasing tension, releasing it - and finally diagnosing the problem as an unsolvable mystery. We launched again and set out to accomplish one of the weekend's goals - a circumnavigation of Bremen Long Island. We were the only ones out on the water - and, it seemed, the land, and we passed by closed up houses and ramps and docks stored on the shoreline. The wind, pretty negligible on the protected western side of the island, was at our backs, the tide had turned, and the water was very calm, and so we coasted and paddled along. The familiarity continued, as we passed a cove where we had stopped and lunched on a cold and raw day last November - thus christening it "Hand Warming Cove" - and continued on to the larger cove at the north of the island. The tide was still low enough that the big sandbar identified on the chart was exposed. Warren, Rogger and Dave headed there for a stretch out of their boats, while Tom and I meandered separately around the edge of the shallow cove. We gathered at the sandbar and conferred about whether to continue on around, into the Flying Passage where we would be heading right into the wind for the rest of the trip. Unanimously, Yes! And indeed, as soon as we made the turn to head south again, the wind was blowing right straight up Flying Passage, and for the first time, muscles (core and arms and shoulders) actually started doing some work. Whitecaps. The brims of our sunhats flattened up against our heads. On we went, a kind of joyful semi-slog because paddling into the wind when the sky above is blue and the sun is shining and the water is sparkling ahead of you is somehow easier than when it is cold and gray and raw. Tom led us into one protected area for a leg stretch, and then it was back in the boats to continue working down the island. As much work as it was, I couldn't stop smiling just because it was so wonderful to be back! Some laughing gulls sitting on a rocky outcropping laughed with (at?) us. This cheerful attitude was truly rewarded when we rounded the southern tip and headed into a protected passage between Bremen Long Island and Palmer Island to the east. The wind disappeared; the water flattened. We meandered along, working on strokes, and enjoying the ease of it all. The final crossing back to Crow was eventful only for the first appearance of seals popping their heads out of the water to check us out. We're back, guys! Landing this time at Crow was super easy with the tide higher. We pulled the boats up off the rocks and dressed for supper. Because we were a bit wet from the wind and waves, we put on layers of clothes, but as we sat for cocktails and snacks on the rocks at the sunny windless north end of Crow, we started peeling off those layers, soaking in the early May sun - a miracle after this completely wretched spring! Jet boils and a Pocket Rocket popped up on the rocks, and we talked and prepared supper. The minute the sun began to hit the treetops on the mainland, the temperature started the drop that would continue through the night. We all headed to our tents. It was such a beautiful clear evening, and the weather forecast was for more of the same, and I hoped to see a spectacular display of stars. As it happened, though, I slept right through. Other than being briefly awoken by the call of a loon at 3:40 am, I was toasty and comfortable through the night. Breakfast the next morning was on the warm rocks facing east. Warren, in his endless patrolling of every weather app known to man - now downloaded onto his handy iPhone - had discovered that a small craft warning had popped up unexpectedly the afternoon before. The wind we'd paddled in was therefore officially honest, and we imagined that conditions out at Black or other islands further out in the bay would have been…sporty. It was a peaceful quiet morning. But the water beckoned, inviting in the way that only early morning water can, the low light and the perfect reflections. We packed up and were back in our boats at 8:30, the wind beginning to riffle again from the south. We crossed over to the little harbor with the wrecked wooden boat. A few seals silently surveyed us as we passed, then slid back into the water. And then it was the final leg with Hog on our left and mainland to our right. It was an easy wind we paddled into. More work on strokes. I think that Warren traversed the entire last portion of the trip going sideways, working on one hanging draw after another. The beautiful spot with a corkscrew tree close to which last spring we had seen an alarmed osprey and then its nest was now nest and cormorant-free. Had its home been blown to the ground during this winter's storms? And was it the same osprey, with a new nest right across from there, on a dead tree on the mainland that greeted our approaching with alarmed cries? The osprey peeped at us, then flew off the nest and did a broad circle above us, displaying all the markings on the underside of his impressive wings. We didn't approach and were never close, but it wasn't until our backs were to the nest and we were heading away rather than toward it that the warning cries ceased. The sun continued to shine, and a few of the houses had lawn chairs set out, ready for the season. But still, no people other than the ones at the launch harbor. Over the weekend, we saw exactly two lobster boats (one of which passed by our island as Warren sat eating his breakfast before anyone else was up; he swore that the lobsterman knew that some of us were still abed, and slowed down to make less noise as he passed… a rather preposterous imagining on Warren's part!). We arrived at the asphalt launch, the high tide making landing easy. The trip was over. The participants will have to speak to their sense of its success, but from Warren's and mine, it was a great success. Perfect weather, good company, a favorite little island just right for when there is still a lot of rust to knock off, when the season is beginning...and when it is ending. And as with all trips, there were lessons learned: 1) If you're going on a kayak camping trip, don't forget to pack your tent! But if you happen to forget, Walmart will sell you one for $29 (twenty-nine dollars!) that at least in the outward appearance department will fit right in with its higher-priced neighbors. 2) If when you pitch your tent, you see the small dead branch of a live tree just about at face level exactly where you will stand up when you exit that tent, snap that branch off or fold it back before it bloodies your forehead, right above and below your left eye. Really! Get rid of that sucker now! before it does any damage that will alarm the people who love you when you get home! 3) It is possible to both fully enjoy a wonderful camping trip and also work on skills (Warren!). Thanks to Warren for doing the organizing, and to all the strong men who did the boat lifting, and to all of us for the good company. But no thanks to the Skeg Demon; my boat is now in the shop. pru

The animated feature is very cool! I'm making a note of what it's saying today to see if it holds for the wknd, when we'll have our first New to Sea Kayak Camping wknd. pru

A good crowd - most of those who had signed up - showed up for the NTSKW at Gould Barn. Because it was overcast and damp when we arrived, we set up in inside - except for the Camper's Corner, which met arrivees as they walked toward the barn. We had a lot of boats inside and out. The weather cleared so that we were able to have small groups inside and out. Bob and Katherine both did really nice jobs of presenting to the whole group; and a supporting cast of thousands (Cathy, Blaine, Rob, Warren, the Other Doug, Glenn, Lisa and I'm sure others that I'm not thinking of at the moment) presided over small groups, gear and clothing table, food, camping area and so on. We had a lot of good feedback and I think have enticed some new members. A really fun day following the horrors of this past week in Boston. Smiles, questions, enthusiasm. All good. pru

Looking at the weather forecast for the week, looks really nice...until Saturday, when rain is currently forecast for all day. We'll obviously need to keep an eye on the forecast, because we may have to have the formal - non-small group - presentations indoors. pru

I'm really happy you guys were finally able to get out, and that you had what sounds like a magical wknd! pru

The workshop really worked! Winter rust has been knocked off, and I'm ready once again to try and figure out where the heck I am and where the heck I'm going! Thanks to everyone, but particularly Jon and Peter (and Katherine and Cathy for the treats!)...and Blaine for organizing. pru

This looks perfect! And inspired me to look for more: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=kayak+wall+hanger Now it's just a matter of figuring out what will withstand the outdoor elements best - as they seem to be made for hanging inside... pru

Thanks everyone for all the good suggestions. I'm going to be checking out the setups of a few people who live nearby. Beth - N. Cambridge is very close to me. I will PM you re: setting up time to come over and see your hanging boats! pru

Thanks, Scott - Maybe some evening next week? I'm tied up this wknd (with NSPN and other things) - but would like to see a simple cheap system "in action." How shall I contact you directly to arrange? pru

Thanks for the photos - a nice document of a fun day! pru