cfolster

It looks like it is going to be a beautiful day - stop by to buy some gear!

Attached is a map of the yard sale locations - with Suz's address noted in Red.

No need to RSVP - just come by with kayaking gear to sell.

Her sale starts at 9am.

If you're coming to sell, you can arrive up to an hour ahead.  Park on the road, or if you don't mind being blocked in, you can pull in and park by the barn.

Looking forward to seeing lots of folks there - lots of great deals on used and NEW kayaking gear!

NSPN Yard Sale

April 28th 9am

31 Highland Road - Merrimac, MA

Periodically, we'll hold an informal yard sale at an NSPN event and a couple folks who have gear to sell, will bring their extra gear.  This year, one of NSPNs longtime members and a pillar in the paddling community, is having a yard sale and she's offered her expansive yard on that day for other NSPN members to come and sell their paddling gear (and maybe score a couple deals as well!).

Suz Hutchinson has been hoarding loads of Kokatat and North Water gear and will be selling loads of new and unused samples along with clearing out the closets of extra tents and camping supplies.

The yard sale is being held at her home and her town is doing a town-wide yard sale that weekend as well, so it's a great opportunity to have lots of buyers for your gear or lots of yard sales to haunt!

The town will be producing a map of all of the yard sales happening that weekend and I will publish it here when available.  We will also provide a start time when available.

In the meantime, if you are interested in selling your gear, here's what you need to do:

1. Gather your extra gear.
2. Price the gear and place your initials on the tag (just in case buyers mix up items).
3. Find a table or tarp to place your items on.
4. Show up on Saturday morning to sell your wares!

Hope to see you there!

Gear Sale Flyer.pdf

Just a reminder this workshop is tomorrow night at Newbury Canoe and Kayak - 6pm!

Come socialize and learn how to care for one of the most expensive pieces of kit we own so it will last longer and not fail you at a critical moment!

Learn how to repair a gasket or meet the folks at Newbury who can do it for you!

UPDATE - note this workshop has moved to Thursday evening April 5th!

Katherine loves dragonflies. . .might be hers.

I think I saw mackerel skies over Boston today, and when I checked radar, the leading cloud edge of the storm was over Boston.

was I correct?

More pics from the day

It was great to meet you!

It was a fun time.  See some hijinx from the session here: 

Robert says no problem

send your float plan info to him

Unfortunately, we have had to change the date for this workshop.  It has moved to Thursday evening, April 5th.  Still plenty of space and availability to get your gaskets repaired!!  Hope you can join us!

Dry Suit Maintenance and Gasket Repair

NEW DATE AND TIME:   Thursday April 5 6pm

Sunday March 18 – 9am to ~12pm

• Do you wash your dry suit in a top loader or front loader?

• What detergent should you use?

• Is it okay to use white vinegar?

• Can you bring back your dry suit’s DWR?

• What is DWR?

• Are your dry suit gaskets becoming worn, cracked, or do they have that ‘sticky’ feeling and the rubber sticks to itself? 

• Where do you get gaskets? 

• How do you replace them?

NSPN together with Newbury Kayak and Canoe and Suzanne Hutchinson, Kokatat Rep
will hold a dry suit maintenance and repair workshop to answer all of these questions and more!

During the workshop, Suz will explain how to take care of this important and expensive piece of equipment.  She’ll answer your questions about maintenance and repairs for the Kokatat dry suits most of us wear.

But wait, there’s more!

During the class, Suz will demonstrate how to replace a wrist and neck gasket and then we’ll break up into groups and 3 lucky NSPN members will get to repair their neck or wrist gaskets during the workshop – just for the cost of buying the gaskets from Newbury (more on this below). 

But what if you aren’t interested in buying the repair forms and getting your fingers sticky with Aquaseal?  That’s where Newbury Kayak and Canoe comes in!  They can quickly repair those gaskets for you!  Just drop off your suit, they’ll replace the gaskets and you can pick it up when done!  They will repair both Kokatat and Stohlquist.  For those that love the do-it-yourself process, they stock Kokatat as well as Stohlquist gaskets.

So, come join us to learn about dry suit repair, maybe get a gasket fixed, shop at Newbury, or just socialize with fellow kayakers.

Space is limited.  To attend the event – email info@nspn.org and let us know you’d like to attend the Dry Suit Maintenance workshop. 

The 4 (one by Suz, 3 hands on) onsite gasket repairs will be chosen by lottery.  You must be an NSPN member to participate.  If you’re interested in participating, let us know that when you RSVP.  When you RSVP, we need the following information:  Neck or Wrist (one or both) and size of gaskets to be replaced (if you’re not sure, we’ll help you figure it out). 

On March 24^th, we will randomly choose 4 people to have either a neck or one/two wrists repaired in the workshop.  We will notify the ‘winners’ by email that day and post here on the message forum.  You will need to bring your dry suit and pay for the gasket(s) when you arrive.  Gasket repairs must stay on the forms and cure overnight, so you will leave your suit there and be able to pick it up during their business hours the following week.

Any questions, please email info@nspn.org.  We look forward to seeing you there!

I’ll be there

It’s great to practice both roles: rescuer and rescuee.  But I like the idea of also practicing talking a person through a rescue they’ve never done before.  That helps make sure you’re ready for any situation, and allows you to comfortably paddle with a broader group of paddlers.

Reminder to all - this is a BYO party - meaning if you want a beverage adult or otherwise, you'll need to bring it.

That said, I am bringing coffee for the coffee maker for all to have.

I'm also bringing banana bread.

Robert and I will be there.

A&B is closed Monday.

23 hours ago, prudenceb said:

Well, maybe we don't have to starve.  Since everyone was thinking about paddling on Monday and that might not happen, how about  PPPO that day, minus the first two P s?

we like AB Burger in Beverly...  or anywhere...

Anyone interested?

Prudence

I was having the same thought Prudence.  I’m in for food.

15 hours ago, carpy said:

I believe I just successfully paid my renewal dues. It was a little confusing as there is no renewal in the Store, but I checked out the Managed Purchases section and found my pending renewal. I use PayPal, so it was just a couple of clicks to get it paid.

Glad you figured this out.

Everyone receives an email notice that their membership is up for renewal, and it will tell you that it will either automatically renew (if you have that set up), or that you can pay via PayPal.  If you miss that notice (sometimes it goes to spam) you can just go to Manage Purchases to find that invoice.  If you’ve waited a Long time (1 year), the invoice will expire and someone on the backend needs to re-generate it.

i have found it easiest to set up auto renewal with PayPal and it’s just taken care of.

9 hours ago, Inverseyourself said:

Great job ladies, well deserved. You have been sea leaders for a while, this just makes it official.

BTW, there are actually 3 new sea leaders in the picture, congrats also to Bruce from Canada.

Brenda Rashleigh and Bernie Graham also passed!

Robert and I have a 5:30 reservation at the Grog.  If anyone would like to join us, post here or email me.

Cathy

You'll need to go into NBPT for decent food

I like Leo's House of Pizza at the route 1 rotary.  It's just a pizza joint, but they have good cheesesteak subs.  

I'm a definite maybe. ?

This looks like a good opportunity to get coaching in conditions.  I am planning to attend - is anyone else interested?

What a delightful day it was for paddling on Saturday.  Very little wind, calm seas, hazy sun.  

Mike, Doug and I put in at a leisurely 10:30am from York Harbor and made our way out the harbor entrance.  We were paddling against the flood, but there were just a few ripples at the day marker and it wasn't very strong.  As we passed the rocks at the entrance and the beach by the cliff walk, there were just tiny waves.  It was nice to paddle up next to the rocks without worrying about incoming waves.

As we rounded the corner we made the decision to take the straight shot across the bay directly to Nubble - chatting along the way, until suddenly it was close and you could make out the colorful little ant people scrambling over the rocks.  I stopped to take the obligatory picture:

Lobster rolls and other yummy food was calling us, so we promptly landed on the north side and pulled the boats up to relative safety.  

My mom lives in York and had decided to meet us for lunch at Fox's and she was waiting up top for us.

We enjoyed a leisurely lunch of lobster rolls, fish sandwiches and chicken fingers.  Yum!  

After lunch, I scrambled down to check on the boats and the water was getting close!  Time to go!

I took a selfie to show I was there:

We decided to paddle around the outside of the island since the seas were so calm and none of us had ever been on the outside.  Sorry no pics, but it doesn't have a bad side.  Doug took a last picture before we left.

For the return trip we chose to take the scenic route and paddle in to Long Sands and along the beach.  It was close to high tide, so there wasn't much beach left, but not much surf at all.  Just one line of surf almost at the beach about 1 to 2 feet high.  We made it about half way down paddling just outside the surf line and Mike was hoping to do some side surfing until a zealous lifeguard yelled and yelled and yelled at us to paddle further out.  So we pointed our boats towards the far shore of East Point and left the beachgoers behind.  

On the way back in, we paddle along the rocks and were momentarily followed by a (hopefully friendly) drone.  It was still flooding and was a bit stronger now and we enjoyed a fun ride in.

So, boring trip report, but an absolutely delightful day with great company!  Wish all trips were like this.  Thanks Doug for the pics!