Dan Foster

Walden is officially cancelled for May 7th. We'll skip next week (I have a conflict as well) and try again with the same schedule (Walden at 5, Comella's at 7:30) on May 21st. We usually don't start the season until June, so any paddles we get a crowd together for in May are bonus paddles in my book. Hope to see you all on the water later this month.

We currently have Ken, Nancy, Dan, and Kate interested in paddling tomorrow. NWS shows a possibility for showers and scattered thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon. Some forecasts are showing showers at 2-4PM, others 7PM. If the weather still looks iffy for the afternoon at 7AM tomorrow, or if any of the four of us are leaning toward bailing, we'll cancel and try again in two weeks at Walden.

So far there are 11 of us who have RSVPed on the calendar for this Saturday's event at REI. There's plenty of room for more, so please RSVP soon if you're planning on joining us. I'm placing the chart order tonight, based on around 15 attendees. Looking at the current RSVPs, half of the group is going to Jewell this year, and all of us will end up paddling out of Marblehead at some point, so my plan is to divide the group up into smaller pods around a single paper chart (Casco Bay or Salem Sound) on a table and have each pod work through their upcoming trip. NSPN Chart Casco Bay and Jewell Island 24 x 36.pdf Salem Sound ARCH D 24x36 18000.pdf Right now the weather is looking like it will be 68 degrees and not raining (knock on wood) after the workshop, so if that forecast continues to hold, I'm proposing we head a mile south to the park on the SW end of Lake Quannapowitt for a picnic dinner after we're done. There's a sandwich shop and a BBQ place nearby to grab takeout. If the weather turns dreary, there's the Mandarin Reading Restaurant/buffet right across the street from REI.

Looks and sounds like an idyllic trip. Hope to join you later in the season for a few of these. Perhaps Can #3 has three tones on its gong to reinforce its "Threeness". If so, I'd hate to live next to Can #17. I know that our "right red returning" is opposite of the red/green color scheme used in much of the rest of the world. Do they swap the can/nun buoy shapes as well? If so, there's a distinct possibility that Cans numbered "2" throughout the Amazon are painted and instrumented to look and sound like toucans.

Join us for the season opener of NSPN's "Walden-area Tuesdays". Starting on May 7th, and continuing throughout the summer, we'll get together in the Concord, MA area to paddle, practice, and socialize. For the months of May and June, we'll be alternating each week between Walden Pond sessions and nearby river paddles. Once the water temps warm up, we'll be spending most of our summer at Walden Pond. For the "season opener", we'll have a pond session at Walden Pond from 5PM-7:30 for anyone who can get there, and then we'll meet up with the rest of the gang at Comella's restaurant at 33 Main St in Concord center for casual Italian food and socializing, and to make plans for the rest of the season. Even if you can't get out of work in time to paddle with us at 5, please join us for dinner! We will launch from the boat launch area at Walden Pond (approximately 915 Walden St, Concord, MA) at 5PM, and be wrapped up in time to get to Comella's ( 33 Main St, Concord, MA) by 7:30. Hope to see you all there! Here's some boilerplate that will apply to all of our Tuesday sessions: All sessions are open to any NSPN member in any watercraft. New members are especially welcome. PFDs and signed NSPN waivers are required. If you want to get on the water before the group launch at 5PM, let us know, bring a signed waiver, and leave it on your windshield for the rest of the group to sign when arriving. For Walden, we'll meet you at our usual spot at 5. For river trips, paddle back at the launch spot so we can all launch together at 5. If you are arriving late, you can arrange to meet us on the river at a mutually-agreeable time and place. You can skip the paddle and just join us for dinner, too! May-June trips will likely be cancelled if the weather is lousy or if less than three people RSVP. For anyone who hasn't been to Walden Pond before with the group, here's some detailed information that Bill Voss put together for last year's sessions, with addresses, parking fees, and a map of our usual practice area: https://www.nspn.org/forum/calendar/event/1201-walden-wednesday-plan-b-white-pond/ You can RSVP on the calendar post, or RSVP in a reply here so we'll know whether to expect you at the boat launch, at the restaurant, or both.

The Lending Library / Stuff to Borrow forum is a place where you can take advantage of the "second N" in NSPN - the Network of paddlers in your area that might have gear you'd like to test drive, tools you might need to make a repair, or skills or local knowledge you could benefit from. Unlike the Classifieds forums, this is a place borrowing, swapping, sharing, and mentoring, rather than buying or selling. Some Guidelines on Offering Things: You can use the headings at the bottom of this post or copy an existing Stuff to Borrow post as a framework to structure your offerings. Give people a general idea of where your stuff is located, where and how they might get access to it, and how long you're willing to loan stuff out. You always have the right to decline someone's request. You are under no obligation to offer anything to anyone, even if you've posted it here. Some Guidelines on Borrowing Things: NSPN is not party to these transactions and won't get involved. This is just a networking forum to connect people who want things with people who have things. By borrowing something from an NSPN member, you are assuming responsibility to return that item in the same condition, and to replace it if you damage it. Unless someone has posted otherwise, assume that the items offered here are for a short-term, one-time loan to you, the NSPN member. This isn't intended as a substitute for owning your own gear or as a place to borrow gear for others. If you ask to borrow something, please don't make extra work for the other person. Contact them by Private Message (unless they've posted otherwise) and be specific about what you need, when and why you'd like to borrow it, and give some options as to when and how you can pick it up and return it. You can use the Search feature on the website to search for specific items you'd like to borrow within this forum. Structuring your Offerings You can list your stuff to borrow any way you like, but here's a framework you can copy and paste into your listing to help get started. Free / Pass it Forward: [A great way to pass along things that you no longer need. If you've received something this way, please pass it along in the same manner when you're done.] Stuff To Borrow (__ days): [Things that you're willing to lend out, but you want them back. (Books, repair tools, etc) Give us an idea how long you're willing to lend them out for.] Try My Gear: (in-person demos near ______, or on an NSPN paddle) [Boats, paddles, PFDs that others might be interested in taking for a test paddle or trying on before they go shopping for new gear.] Skills and Services: [Got a special skill that you're willing to share with others? List it here.] Local knowledge: [Do you know a specific area like the back of your hand? Offer to help others looking for paddling information.]

Glad you'll be joining us, Ken! Those doing rolling practice at Walden often wear drysuits well into the summer, just for comfort (and to avoid soggy car seats afterwards). If we're doing a river paddle and you're not expecting to fall out of your boat, you can dress less conservatively, and just carry a change of clothes in a drybag. Keep in mind that the temps may drop significantly when the sun dips below the trees - I wore neoprene for a recent flatwater paddle and was fine in the boat and freezing by the time I had the boat on the car, due to wind on wet fingers and clothing. But yes, for May and probably most of June, you'll see us sea kayakers practicing at Walden in wetsuits or drysuits or Greenland-style tuliks, wearing nose plugs, goggles, and sometimes even helmets, while everyone else dabbles around in shorts or bikinis.

Jane, these May/June sessions will be listed on the calendar in early May, and I'll enable RSVPs so people can indicate if they are going or not. In keeping with Bill's method from last year, which seemed to work well, I can start a new discussion on the trips forum for "May 28th - Assabet River paddle, 5PM" about 5 days before the event, so you'll know the upcoming weather and your plans, and we can discuss things like late arrivals or whether we have enough people going or weather concerns for that particular trip. Does that work? Janet, there's no problem with a late arrival at any of the Walden sessions (assuming you can get in - overcrowding is one reason people go early) - just paddle to the far side of the pond and you'll see us practicing. We just need to be out of there before the gate closes (currently at 7:30PM, may be later in mid-summer). For the Concord and Sudbury proposed river paddles, we can do a quick loop in one direction and pick up any late-arrivals at the launch before heading the other way on the river. For the Assabet, it's upstream only to start, but we can come up with a plan that works for everyone in the days before the paddle. And if you've got a paddling spot that's closer to work, we can plan around that. (The Concord/Old North Bridge paddle could be a downstream run from Lowell Rd in Concord to the Bedford boat launch on Rt 225 at the Carlisle/Bedford border, and you could meet us there closer to 5:30 for the second half of the car shuttle, for example)

Since some of you have been asking about plans for Walden Pond practice sessions in 2019, here's an update. While our Walden sessions have historically been on Wednesdays, we're moving them to Tuesdays this year so as not to overlap with all of the fun daytime paddles @Joseph Berkovitz and @rylevine have planned for their Wednesday lunch paddle series. Also, as some of you already know, both @billvoss and I are both dealing with back issues and aren't quite ready to start rolling yet. (plus, the water's still cold!). So, I've put together a tentative schedule of alternating pond and river sessions for the months of May and June, and after that, the plan is to go back to a weekly Walden schedule for the remainder of the summer. Here's the plan that Bill and I have discussed. If you're a Walden-area paddler and think you might join us this year, please weigh in with your thoughts on start times and the like, either on the forums, by private message to @Dan Foster, or at our pre-season opener and super-casual pasta dinner at Comella's italian restaurant in Concord, MA on May 7th. If you a newer paddler in the club or haven't been to a Walden session before - please join us. These sessions are a great way to make some connections within the club and everyone in attendance is happy to share knowledge, to help you advance your skills, or to just hang out in boats and socialize. Proposed May-June Walden-area Tuesday paddles - these will be refined based on group feedback and posted to the NSPN calendar in early May, along with detailed parking and route descriptions for the river trips and restaurant options. May 7 - "the pre-season opener" - Walden at 5 (people can always welcome to arrive earlier and start paddling), casual pasta dinner at Comella's in Concord at 7:30 to socialize and to discuss and refine plans for our summer of Walden-area paddles. May 14 - Concord River paddle at Lowell Rd/Egg Rock. 5-7:30, picnic dinner at Old North Bridge, possibility for moonlight paddle if it is a clear night. May 21 - Walden at 5. Gates close at 7:30 May 28 - Assabet River paddle from Ice House Landing in Maynard, MA, 5PM launch. Beers and BBQ at nearby Battle Road Brewing Co at 7:30 June 4 - Walden at 5. Gates close at 7:30 (Dan unlikely to be there) June 11 - Sudbury River paddle to Fairhaven Bay. 5-7:30. Picnic dinner at Scout Island in Fairhaven Bay. Exact launch location TBD. June 18 - Walden at 5. Gates close at 7:30 (Dan unlikely to be there) June 25 - Walden at 5. Gates close at 7:30 July - August: Walden at 5 until closing. When Bill returns: Walden at 5. Comella's at 7:30 for "the gang's all here" celebration. All sessions are open to any NSPN member in any watercraft. New members are especially welcome. PFDs and signed NSPN waivers are required. If you want to get on the water before the group launch at 5PM, let us know, bring a signed waiver, and leave it on your windshield for the rest of the group to sign when arriving. For Walden, we'll meet you at our usual spot at 5. For river trips, paddle back at the launch spot so we can all launch together at 5. If you are arriving late, you can arrange to meet us on the river at a mutually-agreeable time and place. You can skip the paddle and just join us for dinner, too! May-June trips will likely be cancelled if the weather is lousy or if less than three people RSVP. If you're planning to join us this summer, do these start times work for you? OK with a mix of river and pond stuff to start the season? Anything else you'd like to suggest?

@Ken I've been talking with @billvoss about this year's Walden sessions. More info will be coming very soon, but here's the current plan for Tuesdays: We will be having practice sessions at Walden Pond this summer, but they will be on Tuesdays this year. We're tentatively aiming for an official start at Walden in early June, although if the weather is nice, some of us may start earlier. There's also talk of paddling some of the rivers in the area to add some variety to our weekly gatherings, and these might start happening on nice Tuesdays in May. While our Walden sessions in the past have focused on rolling practice and instruction, two of us are recovering from back injuries this year. Depending on what you'd like to accomplish, there will be people around to assist you in achieving that.

I apologize if I anyone felt singled out by my initial post - it was not my intention. I picked the Easter plunge simply because it was a few days ago and hopefully still fresh on a number of people's minds. The conversation that initially prompted me to write was not about the Easter plunge and involved NSPN paddlers who were not present at the plunge, myself included. It was about the differences in usability between our trip forum and other paddles they've attended which were posted on meetup.com. The specific comment made was along the lines of "meetup.com's interface makes it easier for me to keep track of the important details of a trip (time, place, etc)". (I apologize now for additional feather-ruffling by invoking the M word in polite company) I always over-analyze things, so on the drive home I thought about what nuggets of truthiness might be contained in that statement. I think we run two types of trips: 1. trips that are defined at the outset with a set date, time, location, and purpose. Meetup and Facebook Events and ads in the classified section of the newspaper handle those well and the NSPN forums handle those well. 2. trips that evolve from the time they are proposed to the time they launch. The Plunge, the Solstice paddles, the plans we make for camping trips - these all may start with just a date, and the rest of the details get worked out over the course of days or weeks. Meetup and Facebook Events and classified ads don't handle these kinds of trips at all. NSPN allows greater flexibility, at the expense that participants may have to go digging to get all the details they need. If I'm running to my car to get myself to an event that I only vaguely remember the details of, I know that with just a click in the meetup app I'm going to see the location, street address, and start time in the same spot for every event I ever attend. There's something valuable there, but it only exists because they use a template-based approach which requires locations, addresses, and start times. This doesn't have to be a conversation about editing privileges for posts, and it certainly doesn't have to mention meetup again. Maybe it's about "maybe a template for trip postings would make things easier", or "what obstacles are we inadvertently creating for newcomers because we've become familiar with our club practices and paddling locations?" or "what are the best practices for posting a trip?", or "what's the best way to notify the group that the plans have changed?"

During a recent conversation with another NSPN member, I heard a complaint that I've heard several times before: it's hard to find the important details of trips, especially trips that evolve or get changed, because they get buried in the rest of the chatter of the trip discussion. This struck a bit of a nerve, because just this past weekend, I decided to put together a chart for the Easter plunge trip, and I spent a good deal of time paging through the forum trying to find the actual details of the event. Try for yourself: find the launch time, launch address, backup plan, and the time and address to meet for burgers: https://www.nspn.org/forum/topic/12506-pre-easter-plunge-saturday-april-20th/ Here's my quick suggestion to make things easier: for trips where the complete plan isn't stated and fixed in the first post of the trip announcement, the trip organizer (the one who started the topic and therefore has the first post in that discussion thread) should update the first post in that thread to give the full details once the plan has solidified. You can do this by editing your post. The trip organizer should also consider adding a new reply the night before the trip, just to reiterate the full details of the plan in its final form. Thoughts? Improvements?

I've heard from a number of club members that they'd like to have a refresher on proper or recommended radio use in a group sea kayaking setting. That refresher could be anything from a 2-hour classroom workshop, some on-the-water practice, or a laminated cheat sheet to go on the deck. Below is a link to a Google Doc file that anyone can edit. I added a bunch of common questions about radio usage (please add more), as well as some resources in the form of links to prior club discussion on the topic. My hope is that a few club members (that's YOU!) or a dedicated volunteer step forward and just take a few minutes to start fleshing out the document by adding a paragraph or two about a radio-related topic. You don't need to be an expert - you can find most of these answers with just a few searches on the NSPN forums or on your favorite search engine. Ideally, we'd end up with a short (one-page?) guide to radio usage that can be widely distributed to club members, and can form the basis of on-water or classroom practice for years to come. Here's the document, please contribute: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sBsjxWn-uwU8ZuatPAhcE_mwyfgDEEJP2Ph67PnhN_4/edit?usp=sharing This is an experiment - who knows where it will go. Feel free to take the document or the process in any direction you want. If this seems like a project you'd like to take ownership of and deliver something of value back to the club, please take it and run with it!

I can't join you all tomorrow, but I'll be wearing bunny ears in solidarity. Here's a custom chart of your paddling locations. NSPN Chart Great Misery and Manchester Bay.pdf Since this is the first club paddle of the year for most of us, it's a good time to re-read the NSPN liability waiver before you sign a soggy version of it tomorrow. Have a great paddle - looking forward to photos!

Free / Pass it Forward: Books: The Complete Book of Sea Kayaking by Derek Hutchinson. A Women's Guide to Sea Kayaking. DVDs: This is the Sea #5, Kayaking the Aleutians Magazines: 20 issues of Ocean Paddler Stuff To Borrow (30 days): Books on navigation: Fundamentals of Kayak Navigation, Simple Kayak Navigation, NOAA Chart #1 (chart symbols), Emergency Navigation by Burch, The Lost Art of Finding our Way by John Huth Guidebooks: [lots of books on flatwater kayaking and canoeing in New England, bike paths, day hikes in MA...], Connecticut River boating guide, Acadia National Park. Trip Leadership: AMC Guide to Outdoor Leadership, AMC Mountain Leadership School handbook Astronomy: Planisphere (star finder). Hoping to have a sextant to lend at some point. Try My Gear: (in-person demos on Walden Pond, Stow area rivers, or on an NSPN paddle) Wilderness Systems Tempest 170 Necky Chatham 16 2-pc Werner Ikelos 215 paddle 2-pc Werner Shuna 215 paddle Gearlab AKIAK (shoulderless) paddle Tarptent Protrail ultra-light backpacking tent (to view and discuss pros and cons) I have an extra stand-up paddleboard if you'd like to give it a try during a Walden session. I have a Garmin inReach Explorer+ GPS with satellite messaging for my own solo adventures. Contact me with your trip plans and dates if you're interested in borrowing it for an expedition or to talk about pros and cons of PLBs. Skills and Services: I can help you create custom charts with magnetic north lines for your NSPN trips. I'm always happy to help with navigation or map and compass skills. Local knowledge: Assabet, Sudbury, Concord, Nashua rivers. Walden pond area. Boston Harbor Islands.

Since there are a few newer paddlers interested who may not be familiar with NSPN traditions: PPPO means "post-paddle pig-out", a.k.a. "going to a restaurant". "slog" and "Misery" pretty much mean what they sound like.

Since this is an early-season paddle, we pay special attention to the wind speed and direction to try to find a sheltered location to paddle. We probably won't pick a destination until we get a few days closer to the event, so we've got a forecast we can trust. You can start monitoring the NOAA marine forecast for the Marblehead/Salem Sound area to get a sense of what might be going on this weekend: https://marine.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lon=-70.84938811836764&lat=42.54080539623243 As of this morning, the long range forecast is: Saturday Showers likely. Cloudy, with a high near 63. South wind around 16 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. The forecast discussion is also good information to be reading: https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=BOX&issuedby=BOX&product=AFD&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1&highlight=off .LONG TERM /MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY/... Highlights... * Strong northwest wind gusts of 35 to 50 mph Monday night * Dry/seasonable Tue but still rather windy * A few showers possible later Wed/Thu but a washout is not expected * Heavy rain potential sometime Fri and/or Sat and turning milder Details: Friday and Saturday... Anomalous deep closed upper level low across the Great Lakes will setup meridional flow into southern New England. While there is still quite a bit of uncertainty given the time frame...GEFS ensembles support a pwat plume/low level jet that is 2 to 3 standard deviations above normal. That is a pretty good signal in this time range for the potential for some heavy rain sometime Friday and/or Saturday. Given the setup, there certainly will be at least the low risk for some flooding depending on how things evolve. It does look it will become rather mild too with above normal temperatures returning.

The event is free. You'll need a chart of either Casco Bay or Marblehead, and if you don't have one, there may be a small fee to have one printed for you. (Details on that coming later in April)

Sue, I typically take a NOAA chart and crop and scale it so that the area we tend to paddle in ends up in a 24"x36" or 36"x48" PDF map that can be printed at Staples. I'll be bringing Waterproof Charts #101E - Casco Bay for my personal Jewell planning, and using whatever custom paper map gets created for my Marblehead planning, since I don't own a waterproof chart of that area. Over the next year I intend to create PDF charts of many of our favorite paddling locations as a club resource, and I hope others will help document some of our go-to paddles (listing details about parking, known hazards, etc), so that a new trip organizer could just pick NSPN trip #11 - Riverhead Beach to Great Misery, and have everything they needed to post the trip after checking the weather and tides. I'll post PDFs of the Casco Bay and Marblehead charts later this month.

Bill, if there's interest, I will provide large paper charts that you can draw on to your heart's content, which cost me about $5 per chart at Staples. Some of the things we'll be adding, like magnetic north lines, highlighting shipping channels, launches, and MITA sites, are things that I WOULD recommend you add in permanent marker to ALL of your charts.

I reserved the REI community room for the Saturday afternoon prior to the Jewell trip, for a workshop on chart prep and trip planning using the upcoming Jewell trip as our focus. There's an option to grab dinner afterwards and talk about plans for Jewell and socialize. This would be an ideal opportunity for anyone who hasn't paddled to Jewell before, or hasn't been as involved in the navigation or trip planning aspects of the weekend, to get together with their fellow paddlers prior to the trip and make plans and answer questions. Hope to see you all there.

Jane, if this proves useful, I'll definitely schedule a similar event immediately preceding the MDI/Acadia trip in September, and maybe a second one right before the Solstice paddle.

Two of NSPN's most popular annual trips are the Jewell Island (Casco Bay) camping trip in mid-May, and the Solstice paddle out of Marblehead in late June. Each location offers multiple destinations and activities, so there's always a trip option depending on your skill level, preferences for distance, and that day's tide and wind direction. Having a well-prepared nautical chart and an equally well-prepared plan for your trip are key skills every sea kayaker should develop. These two locations in particular (Casco Bay and Marblehead) are full of destinations that NSPN paddlers return to over and over again, and it makes sense to invest some time getting to know them and getting them set up to suit your paddling needs. For example, many of this year's Wednesday lunch paddles will be focusing on Marblehead and Salem Sound. Join us at REI in Reading on Saturday, May 11, from 2-6PM (with social dinner at a restaurant or a nearby park to follow) for an interactive, hands-on afternoon of chart prep, chart reading skills, and planning some actual trips based on the upcoming Jewell and Solstice paddles. If you're attending the Jewell camping trip, you and your fellow paddlers can go over the exact route you'll take to Jewell the following week, and sketch out a few proposals for possible excursions from the island. If you're not going to Jewell, you can work on plans for a paddle in Casco Bay or out of Marblehead, or simply go through the planning process to learn more about these two paddling destinations. Paddlers at every level are invited to attend, and newer members are especially welcome. Even if you never intend to lead or navigate on an NSPN trip, you'll come away with a marked-up chart that you can follow along with, and you'll get a better understanding of the factors that go into choosing a particular route on any given day. More experienced navigators are invited to help with the chart prep work, to contribute to the development of route plans based on weather and tide, and to help answer questions about the upcoming paddles. You are required to bring: pen, paper, and a chart of Casco Bay and/or a chart of Marblehead and Salem Sound. (Contact me at least a week before the workshop if you need help getting a chart) Bring the following optional goodies if you have them: - various colored pens, pencils, highlighters - something with a long, straight edge for drawing straight magnetic north lines on your chart. (ruler, yardstick, scrap aluminum bar, etc) - something to measure angles (protractor, hiking compass, small craft nav aid) - something to measure lengths/distances (string, edge of paper, dental floss...) - MITA guidebook (for locating Casco Bay destinations) or guidebooks covering Casco Bay or Salem Sound/Marblehead area. - notebook/loose paper for developing trip plans. - your ideas. Where would YOU like to go? There will be some homework (initial map prep you can do at home) so we can dive into chart reading, final chart prep, and trip planning. You can click the Attending button on the Calendar posting to let others know you'll be there, but I'd also very much appreciate an RSVP reply in the Trips forum posting with the following info: - Which chart will you bring (or need)? - Are you going to Jewell this year? (if so, where are you launching from and on what day?) - Are you thinking about going to the Solstice paddle in late June, or participating in Joe and Bob's Wednesday lunch paddles in and around Salem Sound? - Joining us afterwards for dinner and more social trip planning? (prefer outdoors or restaurant?) RSVP in reply below with answers so I know how much Jewell vs Marblehead emphasis to provide. RSVP on calendar posting if you want to let others know you're going.