cfolster

It was a good day!  Thank you everyone for being so 'CAMable'.

and if people are checking buoy temps and getting reports for 68 or 70 degrees, trust me it does not feel that warm!  I was in for a few minutes with just a synthetic top and it was VERY cold.  Butt and legs in 0.5 hydro skin felt fine.

Weather and tides look good for the lobster roll trip and the timing is fine by me.

We've got quite a group going, so may want to travel in two pods.

A couple of us are looking at 4 star, so in addition to the cam discussions and practice, it would be great to run some scenarios.  Could be one and the same if folks are interested.  Could also just enjoy paddling!

I'll be there!

We've decided to go.

Anybody planning to go given the potential for weather? 

We're on the fence. . .

To be slightly more expansive, here are two quotes from the article:

"You need to be at the front of your group because the people behind you are in your care; it is your duty to be able to dynamically risk assess the waters and coastline ahead of you, which cannot be done effectively from any other position."

"The first serious headwind or tide race will split your group.  Besides, it is the leader's legal and moral responsibility to make the 'dynamic risk assessment' for the paddlers who are within the duty of care.  He or she can only do this from the front."

"Put your number two at the back of your group as your eyes, and turn your head frequently to look back over and assess your group. Always maintain line-of-sight with your number two or 'tail-end Charlie."

So so it seems he's assuming there's a 'number two'. 

7 minutes ago, Kevin B said:

Yes, I emailed Cathy asking her to change the calendar as she created the original post. 

Updated!

I am looking for a recent article (might have been a short interview) and it discussed how the whole idea of leading from anywhere but the front is WRONG.  This person, who apparently had lots of kayak leadership experience, said that you have to be at the front to lead.

I seem to have thrown the magazine out.  Does anyone have a copy - I'm not sure what magazine it was in.  I've check Ocean Paddler and Adventure Kayak and can't seem to find it.

Any help would be appreciated and if folks would like to discuss the merits of either style here, feel free!

Here are my thoughts:

the inner harbor area will be gradually emptying out, and we will be left with not as much area to practice and play.  Yes there is still water, but less, and much of it is shallow.

im worried we'll have difficulty paddling under the Wentworth bridge on the ebb (max is somewhere around 9), so we might have to futz around in little harbor until it slows down.  Then the flood will pick up (slack is around 1) and depending on how long we stay in the inner harbor, it might be hard to paddle against the flood to get back to the launch.

Has anyone considered a change of venue to provide better protection from the wind?  I was thinking Gloucester Harbor.  We could stay inside the harbor and on the western side to stay out of the western wind.  We can go out towards the harbor entrance as much as people are comfortable.  Then as winds start to shift northwest, do crossing over to the other side for protection from the northwest wind.  Tenpound island is a nice stop for lunch. 

Im open to trying to make either venue work.  Perhaps trying to park at Goat island and start from there, instead of Odiorne?

Does anyone have any pointers, suggestions, etc for this assessment or care to share what it was like for them?

What an annoyingly interesting day . . .

All week, the forecast was dropping hints of patchy fog.  Each day I checked, the time before which there would be fog got later and later, until on the day of the trip it said 'Patchy fog before 11am'.  So I expected there to be some mild fog in the area that would hopefully soon burn off.

When I arrived at the launch, I could clearly see the ocean beyond the harbor was blanketed in fog.  But I reasoned that it was early and it would go away by launch.  That was not to be the case - it looked no different when our 11am launch time arrived.

The group still wanted to attempt to paddle out to Minot Light even with the fog and a couple people suggested handrailing along the rocks/islands to get out there.  When we reached the last point of land on the east side of the harbor, I took a heading to Gull Island and off we went into the fog. After a short paddle we reached what I thought was Gull Island and I took another heading to East Shag and off we went.  We did not get very far when an island appeared in the fog to our right that should not have been there.  I called for everyone to stop and asked for assistance in determining where we were.  I realized my mistake in not timing the leg to Gull Island, and surmised that the newly appearing island was Gull and we were at Sheppard Ledges.  Bill Voss then pulls out a GPS and we verify our true location, and my new guess was correct (I'm pretty sure).  Folks were ready to keep paddling to the lighthouse, but I told them I was uncomfortable relying on my navigation even with the GPS to a tiny point 2 miles off shore.

So we made a decision to head south along the shore towards Scituate.  There wasn't much to see other than the nearby rocks, in which Dave Carroll had some fun.  There was small, but active clapotis, which made the paddle interesting.  Eventually, we came upon a sandy beach that looked suitable for lunch.

Then it was time to head off into the fog again to make our way over to Little Harbor to play in the current.  As we were just about there, the fog lifted somewhat from the land and there was a delightful rainbow over Cohasset.  We arrived at Little Harbor a little later than I had planned and the current was already running pretty good.  Mike and I took a couple passes at it, but never did much more than go through the messy wave train behind the front wave.  Dave Carroll was right in there and managed to get up on it a few times!  Another person showed up (John Martinsen) and was quite good at getting up on the wave.  After a while, though it got too big for anyone and we played with ferrying across the messiness, hanging out in the eddy, and just generally goofing off and talking. 

Around 3:30 or so, we called it a day and headed back to the launch.  We arrived just in time to see the beginning of a wedding at the function hall.  There's a motley crew of kayakers in the background of all of their photos!

So it was a good day and we made the best of it and someday we'll go back to paddle out to Minot and conquer the currents at Little Harbor. 

P.S.  Minot Light never appeared.  Even as we headed in around 4pm, it was still lost in the fog.

P.P.S.  If anyone took pictures of our little group and would like to share, feel free to post them.

Chuck, just sent the float plan to you via PM.

28 minutes ago, kate said:

My husband, who is very familiar with the currents in that area, tells me that Little Harbor runs about 10 knots at full flow. You definitely can't paddle up into Little Harbor at full ebb. Depending on the size of the tide, it can be quite a formidable current with a massive hydraulic mid-stream. Easy enough to pick around in the swirlies at the edges though, for play.

Kate

Um, I guess I underestimated it!  I wonder if people underestimate current like they  overestimate wave height?

And Kate makes 8!  Trip is full!

Looks to be a great day on the water - hopefully no sharks !

Thank you Phil! I was planning to do just that.

We now have a 5th paddler joining us on our mild adventure - Bill V. 

I'm going to cap the total at 8, so come on folks, work out those weekend plans!

Welcome to NSPN Chuck!  We now have enough for the trip - so it is a go  Others are still welcome to join.  Looking forward to paddling with everyone!  Please email your float plan information (name, cell, boat model and color, car model and plate, emergency contact name and phone) to me at:       cathy   folster    at    Verizon   dot net

I will finalize the float plan late Friday afternoon and email it to everyone.

A few more notes:

• This is a CAM trip, so we will paddle together and work together as a group.
• The buoys indicate 56 to 60 water temps in that area (I've not yet been down there this year), so it's not bad, but still cool.  It's going to be partly sunny in the low 70's, so dress accordingly. 
• Helmets are required in the current at little harbor.

Wear neoprene (saving the drysuit for your trip) and borrow a helmet and pfd (I can loan you the pfd).  That way there's nothing to wash (except footwear).

Launch from Cohasset Harbor 11am

Paddle to Minot Light

Paddle to Little Harbor and play in the ebb for a couple hours

Back to launch around 4 or so

Open to early dinner afterwards

Level 3/4 due to current and distance from landing location

Please post here if you're interested.  Need at least 2 other people to go.

Notes:

• High Tide Cohasset Harbor: 11:13am
• Be prepared to drop your gear at the launch and move your car a short distance away and walk back
• Playing in the ebb means approx. 3 or 4 knot current (does anyone know how fast it is?) with a small to medium wave(s)
• There is no landing at Minot light (approx. 1.8 miles offshore)

Janice,

thre is a red helmet at Newbury Kayak and Canoe that was left behind recently.

1 hour ago, Joseph Berkovitz said:

It was great to be a part of this Plunge, albeit totally unplanned, and I'm glad to be part of NPSN now -- this trip convinced me that many more fun adventures lie in store with all of you. Thanks again to all the Aquatic Bunnies for so generously absorbing me at a moment's notice!

Hi Joe,

Welcome to NSPN!  Sorry I missed meeting you at this paddle, but hope to see you on the water or at some of our upcoming training sessions!

Giving this a bump so folks see it.  Great opportunity to work on a valuable skill!

I'm always interested in reviewing navigation.

Two local scientists/kayakers have figured out that muscle cramps are caused by over-firing neurons and they're developing a product to treat.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/134738687

It's also an interesting scenario - clearly they made it back to shore, but I would love to know if they did something special to paddle back with the cramps.

I'm in!

The Gould Barn is at 1 Howlett Street in Topsfield, MA