mhabich

The Thacher/Straitsmouth Island Town Committee (Town of Rockport) and the Thacher Island Association are pleased to announce the reopening of both Thacher and Straitsmouth Islands effective immediately. However, while the ramps and trails will be open to the public, all buildings, including the towers, keeper houses and restrooms will be closed. Visitors arriving by personal watercraft, such as kayaks, should have a mask or face covering with them and endeavor to keep six foot social distancing from other visitors. We will maintain all CDC guidelines. The standard $5.00 landing fee will be waived for this season.

As well as the tidal considerations, parking at Island road is limited. Be respectful of locals. 133 around Farnham’s is a good place to get your car towed, as the signs suggest. There are significant currents between Pavilion Beach and the tip of Plum Island. You two would do well to practice rescues and basic strokes before venturing onto the ocean in your new boats.

Pavilion Beach in Gloucester at the greasy pole is open. Pavilion Beach in Ipswich between Great Neck and Little Neck is Ipswich residents only.

Hot as heck tomorrow. Come on down and join us.

Have a look at Island road.

Whatever you do, use non-magnetic hardware.

My experience is there’s nothing you can’t over engineer. Either way would work fine. 3M 5200 is great stuff.

I use machine screws and Nylok nuts rather than self-tapping screws so there won’t be pointy ends to rip dry bags. Could use a blob of silicone instead.

Gee. It’s like buying a lobster.

20 for powerboats, 10 for kayaks. https://www.cityofportsmouth.com/recreation/boat-launch

Peirce was $10. It was just that some of us only had twenties.

Peirce was open.

Last Thursday, May 28, things were about as usual at the boat ramp. Plenty of space, no crowds. We should be good for the season.

Come join us at Chebacco Lake in Hamilton on Thursdays at 5pm until sunset though the summer. Practice strokes, rolls, rescues, falling out of your boat, or just watching kingfishers. Dress for immersion. A wetsuit is warm enough in early season, and keeps down the bruises from climbing back into your boat ten times a night. We meet at the boat ramp at the south end of the lake, and hang out in the cove to the left of the ramp. You can either get off 128 at Pine st (exit 16) and head north on the dirt road, or find Chebacco road off Rt 22 in Essex and avoid the dirt. No entrance fees. No rangers to kick us out at the end of the evening, but the mosquitoes do the job just fine.

Werner says rinse thoroughly with hot water if stuck. Don’t use silicone or anything on it. It helps to rinse after every paddle on salt.

Didn’t see a paddle Thursday evening. Wasn’t crowded then.

Nope.

Jim, that’s the ideal evolution of this thread.

I’ll be at Chebacco tonight at 5. Announcement for season to follow.

Letter from Bill: ----------- Old Quarry Ocean Adventures Date: 5-5-20 From: Captain Bill To: All my wonderful campers, kayakers, sailors, etc. Dear Friends, I have retired to Greenville Maine. The campground and facility are now closed. The virus was part of the reason for the decision for this season. Mostly it is due to the fact I got completely burnt out last season. I had a headache EVERY single day until we closed in October. Apparently we can’t deal with stress as well as we age. I tried to find a management team but that did not work. Last fall I reached out to different agencies including the State of Maine, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, Island Heritage Trust, Maine Island Trail, Chewonki Foundation and several other agencies. We had a sit down meeting at Old Quarry to discuss the possibilities. Everyone at the table knew and vocalized about the importance of Old Quarry to allow access and parking to the many islands that they all owned or had easements on. That is about 32 islands out of 60 in the Stonington archipelago. After the meeting the attendees went back to their offices to ruminate about it and to speak with their board of directors or supervisors. Simply, the result was again acknowledgement of the importance of the property and business to the public. None of them could however muster the effort and resources to make the purchase. That decision was devastating to me because I know firsthand how important this property and decision was. Through my 22 years of building the business I have seen and heard people’s appreciation of being able to enjoy the beauty of the property and the archipelago. I believe that something great and wonderful is about to be lost. This access will now be gone forever. I am so sorry that I could not pass this place on in perpetuity to the general public. If you know someone who knows someone who could perhaps do something to save Old Quarry please pass this message on. Thanks for reading this, Bill Baker Owner, Old Quarry Ocean Adventure

I'm about your height. I started with a Kalliste 220. Switched to a Cyprus 210...too long. Now use 205 Cyprus...just right. Kalliste is intended for low paddling angle. As Paul suggested, this isn't an efficient paddling style. The long blades on the Kalliste make it hard to insert the paddle cleanly and quickly for rudder and draw strokes. If you look around at the other paddlers on a typical day trip, about half will have Werner Cyprus. A few will have similar paddles in other materials, some will have Lendal or Celtic paddles in a similar shape, some will have Greenland sticks. Few or none will have long-bladed euro paddles like the Kalliste. Evolution...

Get some 303 protectant and spray/wipe it on the hatch covers, and wipe off the excess. It will let the covers slide onto the hatch rims more easily and will slow the aging of the rubber. Repeat as needed.

This table from the Met Office relates Beaufort wind force to wind speed, expected wave height, and sea state: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/guides/coast-and-sea/beaufort-scale Video showing sea states from a kayaker's perspective: http://solentseakayaking.co.uk/theory/navigation/sea-states-for-sea-kayakers/ also at

Link to signup for tomorrow's talk by Dan Carr: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe3zDcYv-NlxUNk4BW3Q8M_PvzpYnlUrpNYGibipxJEcupzsg/viewform