Dan Foster

Thanks, Joe, for the photos! Here's the forecast for the Marblehead area for this week's king tides on Tuesday and Wednesday, noonish: Tuesday NW wind 10 to 14 kt, with gusts as high as 22 kt. Sunny. Seas 2 to 3 ft. Tuesday Night WNW wind 6 to 8 kt becoming SSW after midnight. Increasing clouds. Seas around 1 ft. Wednesday SSW wind 9 to 14 kt, with gusts as high as 20 kt. Rain and snow likely, becoming all rain after 11am. Seas 2 to 3 ft. Neither day looks particularly pleasant for paddling, at least to me. If anyone wanted to get lunch amidst the destruction, Tuesday is probably the nicer day (plus you get an extra inch of tide). How much ice and snow did you all get on the North Shore or Boston area? Is it walkable? I'm game for Tuesday lunch somewhere along the water, or given that many of us will see each other at the winter party on Saturday, we could cross our fingers and wait for February's two big tide days.

If Kurt doesn't want them, you could also bring them to the book swap table at the upcoming winter party.

Pablo and anyone else interested in getting a table of "interesting" tides: Go to the NOAA tides page for your favorite location. Here is Salem, MA: https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/noaatidepredictions.html?id=8442645 Click the Click Here for Annual Published Tide Tables button in the upper right corner. If you have an idea for what constitutes a "really big tide" (12 ft in Boston, 11 in Salem) you can enter that number in the Threshold box, and then ask for a text output instead of PDF. Search for the asterisk * in the resulting text to see all of the tides above the threshold you entered.

I have a morbid curiosity to get out and paddle along a low-lying area during an astronomical high tide (a King Tide), to see first-hand the flooding that occurs, and reflect on what that means for the next century along our beloved coastline. Unfortunately (for me and for shoreline property owners) the highest tides in 2019 will occur around noon in the winter, and around midnight in October. Neither options are great for paddling through flooded streets. But NSPN loves an excuse for lunch, so if there's interest, I'll organize a noon-time walk with accompanying lunch, somewhere in Boston or along the North Shore, on one of the first four dates listed in the table below. Those are NOAA tide predictions for Boston, for dates with greater than 12ft high tides. Times for Salem Harbor and other potential meeting spots are similar. Date Day Time Pred(Ft) 2019/01/22 Tue 11:45 *12.12 2019/01/23 Wed 12:38 *12.04 2019/02/20 Wed 11:29 *12.11 2019/02/21 Thu 12:22 *12.01 2019/08/03 Sat 01:11 *12.01 2019/08/31 Sat 00:00 *12.03 2019/09/01 Sun 00:54 *12.05 If you're interested, get in touch and we'll figure out which date and location works best. Here's a map with photos of potential impacted areas to visit: https://mycoast.org/ma/king-tides/photos

I added info about parking and the book swap at the top of the post: I'll be bringing Rum Balls to help pass the time during the Annual Meeting. If anyone wants to carpool from west of Boston, I'm happy to pick up on 495 at Market Basket in Westford or Littleton and drive.

Gear gets hosed off and left to dry on the lawn in the summer, or washed in the shower and strung over a railing to dry in the winter. Drysuit gets folded over a huge plastic hanger (sold for SCUBA wetsuits) and stashed in the coat closet, with mini soda cans in the wrist gaskets to stretch them out over the winter. Almost everything else lives in the garage. Boats live outside, inverted on sawhorses all summer long, then stacked like cordwood under the deck for winter. I was told to keep rubber and gaskets away from gasoline fumes, although I can't find a definitive citation on the Interwebs. I had a pair of rubber muck boots go brittle and crack in the garage. +1 for rinsing the car roof of salt. For anyone like me who keeps kayak cradles on the car year-round, take them off every once in a while and oil the nuts and bolts, or you'll be cutting them off with a hacksaw a few years down the line.

Book Swap at the Winter Party There's not going to be a raffle at this year's party, but there's still a way for you to come home with some new (to you) kayaking swag! Stop by the Book Swap table at any time during the evening, and pick out some new reading material to help pass the long winter nights away from the water. The book swap is open to everyone - you don't need to bring a book to participate. Everyone is encouraged to go through their bookshelves and bring Books and DVDs only that you are finished enjoying and that you feel other NSPN members could benefit from. Please limit your donations to books and DVDs on subjects related to paddling, the outdoors, New England, and adventure. Feel free to slap a post-it note on the cover with a recommendation, if you like. Add your books and DVDs to the table when you get to the party, and check out the offerings throughout the evening. Anything on the table is up for grabs - take what you want. At the end of the night, if something you brought is still there, take it back home. I'll round up everything that's left at the end of the night and either save it for a future swap, or dispose of it appropriately. We are discussing other ways to members to easily donate, sell, lend, or borrow gear within our club's network of paddlers. Please find me at the party to learn more. Address and parking info for the Gould Barn, since I always have to look it up: Gould Barn - 1 Howlett St, Topsfield, Massachusetts Parking is limited to the 11 spaces in the Emerson Center lot labeled Gould Barn Parking and the 2 spaces on the grounds labeled Capen House Parking. Additional parking is available on the street nearby.

I'll be there.

My own answers: Name some paddling locations you expect to visit in 2019 or 2020 for which you don't already own a chart: Muscongus, Stonington, don't have a full map of Salem Sound/Marblehead If you DO own some charts, how do prefer to get them? I print small charts at home, big charts at Staples If you were to BUY a chart, would you choose a $25 waterproof chart or an identical $10 paper chart? probably the $10 paper chart, unless I'm going back yearly. How much would you be willing to pay to BORROW a waterproof chart that you didn't have for the duration of an NSPN trip? $5 Which of the following do you NOT currently own? I own all of those, but don't typically carry the handheld compass on day trips.

I've been tossing around some ideas for making it easier for club members, especially newer members, to get charts and gear. To see how well those ideas match up with reality, I ask you to take a moment to reply to the survey questions below, especially if you don't typically have a chart on your deck during club paddles. Copy the following into your reply and add your answers. Name some paddling locations you expect to visit in 2019 or 2020 for which you don't already own a chart: If you DO own some charts, how do prefer to get them? (buy online, marine supply store, print them myself...) If you were to BUY a chart, would you choose a $25 waterproof chart or an identical $10 paper chart? How much would you be willing to pay to BORROW a waterproof chart that you didn't have for the duration of an NSPN trip? ($0 is a valid answer) Which of the following do you NOT currently own? waterproof chart case, deck compass, handheld compass, marine radio, tow belt, helmet

Seven of us enjoyed a weekend of paddling, hiking, dining, and camping on Moon Island in Squam Lake. We launched under sunny skies from the Squam Lakes Association in Holderness, NH, and paddled to Moon, where we set up camp and then set out for an afternoon exploration of the islands and coves to the south. Cocktail hour in the sun by the water's edge transitioned to our traditional potluck dinner and dessert and conversations around a roaring fire. On Saturday we all paddled north to visit the outdoor chapel at Church Island, and then half of the group hiked up the Rattlesnakes for lunch and views, while the rest of us explored the NE end of the lake. The SW wind picked up in the afternoon, and both groups had a sporty paddle back to camp, where more food, fire, and fellowship ensued. A few of us even pried ourselves away from the campfire for a moonlight paddle under the starry sky. We woke on Sunday to dropping temperatures and building SW wind, and decided to head back to the cars after breakfast. In our final 5 minutes of paddling before turning into the shelter of Piper Cove, the winds ratcheted up another few notches, and we all got one final thrill before ending our trip and heading back home. These kayak camping trips are absolutely my favorite part of the NSPN experience, and I'd love to see more members join us at Squam or on other beginner-friendly overnight trips in 2019. If there are things that held you back from camping with NSPN this year (too cold, can't take time off work, not sure if you have the right gear, e.g.), I'd really like to hear from you (you can send me a PM or discuss it here). For next year, we're aiming for a Saturday/Sunday trip on Columbus Day weekend, with an option to stay over until Monday, so that nobody has to take time off of work. There's also talk about scheduling some early and late summer trips for people who aren't comfortable with "shoulder-season" camping weather. Come join us!

There are a few spots available for this weekend's camping trip on Squam Lake. Come join us for peak foliage, a night-time navigation paddle under clear skies and a full moon, and potluck dinners around a roaring fire. Post here or PM me if you'd like to join us.

Here are a few from my camera. The big takeaway for the day for me was the constant reminder of just how much energy those long-period waves pack. It was an awe-inspiring and humbling day.

I'd like to paddle with you all on Saturday.

Planning for this year's trip is now going on by private message. If you are planning to join us this year but haven't received a group message, let Peter or me know so we can add you to the group discussion.

My point was that your proof basically starts by saying "for simplicity, assume the kayak is actually a stern paddlewheeler, and the punt is actually a tank driving through shallow water" (both vehicles where the drive mechanism maintains contact 100% of the time and exerts constant force 100% of the time on the water and ground respectively) and then goes on to show the physics behind a race between those vehicles. I find that simplification difficult to accept, since (among other things) there's a non-trivial amount of time when the kayak blades are out of the water, and the pole is not pushing against the river bottom. I don't disagree with your solution, but I feel you're answering a different question than the one you originally posed to us.

How many of us believe that a punter poling off the bottom against a 4-knot current is best modeled as a constant force propelling a mass forward at a constant velocity. Not me. What happens to your thought experiment if both paddler and punter deliver all of the power of their "stroke" in 1% of the time, and glide forward for the remaining 99% of the stroke time? What happens as the impulse time approaches zero? Isn't that just as valid a simplification of the problem as your "constant force over 100% of the duty cycle" solution?

I'd like to do a morning paddle on Sunday, August 12, returning to shore around 1PM, in the greater Salem/Marblehead area. I'm open to suggestions or changes based on weather and wind, but for now I'm planning to launch from Salem Winter Island and paddle up the north side of Salem Sound to Great Misery and back. Reply here if interested, and we'll revise as the date draws nearer.

I'm planning to join you at 4:30, but will watch what the weather does before loading my boat.

That's a beautiful boat, Bill. Can't wait to see it in person. I can't be there this Wednesday - I'll be thrashing around in the woods about the time you're all sitting down to dinner. Looking forward to seeing you all again next week. Here's the GPS tracking link for your amusement at Comella's. We're team #28. http://www.pinnacletracking.com/Live/default.aspx?une2018

My super-high-tech driveway boat "rack" holds two sea kayaks and two paddleboards, and consists of pairs of cheap ~36" wooden benches. Angle the benches in or out so that both sea kayaks rest with their hatches supported. A third boat could either be stacked on top of the bottom two with some pool noodles or a custom cradle made from lumber, or you could just add a second set of benches as a boat rest. The benches double as actual benches during seating emergencies, and can be easily adjusted to accommodate different boats. If you stack the boats vertically, you're going to have to worry about wind, and the resulting bracing may end up with a structure that's more than two boat widths deep anyway.

Just in case anyone else is checking tide and weather info for tomorrow: Sat 23: High tide: 8:25 AM EDT / 8.9 ft Low tide: 2:23 PM EDT / 0.6 ft High tide: 8:51 PM EDT / 9.7 ft https://marine.weather.gov/MapClick.php?zoneid=ANZ251 Sat E winds 5 to 10 kt, increasing to 10 to 15 kt in the afternoon. Seas 2 to 3 ft. Showers likely. Sat Night NE winds 10 to 15 kt, becoming N 5 to 10 kt after midnight. Seas 2 to 4 ft. Areas of fog. Showers likely. Vsby 1 nm or less.

Wow, I hope you guys were paddling left to right in that picture! Much easier going downhill...

I'm expecting to be there at 4:30, as well. Hoping to work on rescues, if anyone's interested.

Looks like a fabulous location and a great trip. I'm sorry to have missed out - I was paddling a canoe nearby on the Kennebec, and my wife actually made it out to Eastern Egg Rock on a puffin cruise on Saturday. Next year!