Inverseyourself

Ahhh, to seal launch from the upper balcony of the light house when this light breeze kicks up the swell just enough! With Requiem blasting in my ear phones! I aspire to new goals now!

No doubt, Hannah Duston, part of the group attacked and kidnapped by French-supported Abenaki, had to endure the worst case scenario, seeing her baby murdered in front of her eyes. I can only assume that she had completely lost her mind over this when she murdered 6 sleeping Abenaki children in cold blood before she took off down the Merrimack, getting "even". If not, I am not sure I could be a fan of hers, superhuman feat of survival against all odds be damned. But then again, I don't know what I would do in the same shoes... BTW, there's a nursing home in Haverhill named after her.

Pru: I wish there was a tongue in cheek-emoji to attach to comments. The emphasis of my comment was on "instigate", which got lost in the flurry of quotation-marks I used. It was meant as a friendly jab at the unknown speed-paddler in the group to do the job himself rather than "make" Rob do it, although I'm sure that Rob was grateful for any opportunity to further his 5* training. That said, I am not sure that you really needed the tow. I am still curious to hear participants' opinions on the perceived danger-level at the time of the tow. Was there silent consensus, apart from expressed consensus between Rob and "Speed-paddler", that someone needed a tow?

What if the "fast" paddler had towed the "slow" paddler instead of "instigating" the tow? Instant "neutralization" of extremes within the "Bell curve of velocities" within the "New Year's Day group"! "Andy" P.S.: I'm curious what the participants actual thoughts about the level of risk of the situation in which the tow was initiated is/was.

Oskar Speck may also have been the first paddler receiving commercial sponsoring of an expedition: After it became known in Germany that Speck was on this impromptu expedition (he actually just wanted to paddle to Cyprus to find work after he lost his job as an electrician during the worldwide economic crisis but then decided that Australia might be a better choice than Cyprus and paddled on: One hell, or rather one heaven of a commute to work, if you ask me), the maker of his folding kayak, Pionier Faltboot Werft, sent him 4 folding kayaks to get him through to Australia. After he was released by Australian authorities after WW II, he made his living as an opal trader in Australia.

I wonder whether you could pitch your tent or bivy on the Gooseberries if the tide is not too high, although it would be a rather Spartanic campsite

Part of me wants to say "If he was such an experienced kayaker, why was he not dressed for immersion, especially knowing the predictability of the unpredictability of the winds and wind effects around/on this lake and the temperatures of this glacial lake (couldn't find a temperature of Lake General Carrera online during a limited search but I assume low temperatures)"? How could they, exactly if they were experienced paddlers in this region, have followed the (changed by me) mantra "It's not the consequence of the capsize, but the probability of the capsize that determines what we'll wear" and come to this conclusion? On the other hand, shit does happen. It would be helpful to know what they were actually wearing but we may never find out beyond the quite detailed NG article. I am under no illusion that incidents like this can happen "to the best" but am grateful for the generally highly developed culture of safety within NSPN and how it has influenced me. Famous last words....

What's wrong with FPF ? I've been using this to express speed all my life. Glad there's finally someone else who does.

It is becoming apparent how NSPNers think about their website. I do realize, though, that maintaining it as a webmaster takes time and effort for members who do this on a volunteer basis in a busy life. Using NSPN, for me, is a little like listening to public radio. I expect it to be there for me to use and enjoy but I know it's not for free. I would have no issue if the BOD decided to assign a portion of membership fees to thank the volunteers maintaining this platform, maybe even with something less formal and accountability-driven, like a new paddle, or a PFD, VHF, or whatever, once a year. I know, I know, once $s are mentioned, emotions start to run high. Strictly speaking for myself (!!!!!!!!), given what I get out of the NSPN website, I wouldn't mind if the membership fees went up 5, 10 or 15$, especially if it meant not going full-Meetup! Just my 0.0002 cents.

Same ground speed on both days...?

Will the Meetup-function be used specifically for Trips and the remainder of the (exceptionally well designed and cherished by all who know and frequently use it, wink, wink) NSPN-website be left as is? I don't expect an answer to this now but I could certainly see myself liking such a scenario. Andy, whose sole connection to sea kayaking these days is the NSPN-website, which he checks obsessively several times a day

All very true. Once the initial fascination with cool gadgets has settled, keep land on your left/right is good enough! Reg. magnetic, maybe the guy in the video computed it without needing to tell any one...maybe he got lost.

Hi Leon: The problem I see with the "punter-wheels-on-bottom" analogy is that the punter loses contact with the bottom when pulling the pole up to plant it at the next upriver position. On the other hand, if he changes position really fast by essentially inching or 10-inching up the river, he could possibly reach the same "do whatever advances you"-frequency as the paddler or an even higher one and lose minimal ground in between "strokes". He would have the added benefit of using his whole body weight on the one pole to move forward, whereas the paddler only uses (the muscles on) one side of his body. Hmmm...not so sure who's going to win anymore.

Upriver: Again the Kayaker. His cadence is just higher than the Punter's could ever be. What counts upriver is cadence. If your cadence is very low, you loose ground whenever your paddle blade does not "grip" water. The Punter looses ground whenever his pole does not touch the bottom and he takes more time pulling the pole up, then pushing it down to the river bottom. The kayaker looses a little bit of ground as well between paddle blade entries but the transition left-right or right left is much faster. The higher his cadence, the less ground he looses.

Another one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyT4vhiRMs8#t=11

Here goes:

Nice chop! Sorry I missed it!

Probably known already to some/many of you, I just stumbled upon a video featuring a hand bearing compass. Although not cheap, it is a pretty nifty tool to fix your position - fast and reasonably accurately, I suspect significantly more accurately than with your hand held base-plate compass. Is anyone using it and if yes what is your experience with it?

Exactly, almost to the word, what I said, Bill

The Punter's pushing off the ground is rendered less effective by the increased speed over ground. The ground that the punter pushes off of essentially "disappears" under the pole. This results in less forward speed relative to the moving water surface compared to the still water race. The kayaker, on the other hand, maintains the same speed relative to the water surface of the moving river; it was enough for a tie on still water but now is enough for a win on moving water.

I'm "lost", "gentlemen" "!"

That's tough. They all sound so beautiful, like sirens.

I see an opening for foghorn-terrorists!

Interesting solution with the mini-cell foam. I did use a sharpie inside my old boat, I'll have to look for a white sharpie for my new one.