Dan Foster

By prior agreement, if two people RSVP for Walden, it's on. Who else is coming? I can be at Walden anytime after 3PM, and will adjust my arrival time to match the group's will. I will leave a liability waiver and pen on my silver Subaru outback's windshield for any latecomers to sign.

I plan to get there before 4 and stay for pasta afterwards. Nancy, any chance I could try out your wing paddle for a spin around the pond, either tomorrow or at a future session? I can offer a Canada goose decoy as collateral.

Paddle is on, as described in the initial post. If you're planning on joining us, let me know by noon on Wednesday so we don't launch without you.

I need to be home mid-day on Thursday, so that probably won't work.

It's going to be 85 degrees on Wednesday. Beat the heat (and avoid the inevitable crowds at Walden Pond) with a pre-season Wednesday paddle on the Concord, Assabet, and/or Sudbury Rivers. Tentative plan is to meet at 3PM at the Lowell Rd Boat Ramp in Concord (just west of Concord center, heading toward Carlisle) and paddle upstream/upwind for an hour or two, paddle back to the Old North Bridge for a quick BYO-dinner, and then head for home. Let me know if you're interested and we'll solidify a plan.

Assuming good weather, I plan to be there on the 23rd, and would enjoy going to Comella's after. I'll withhold my official RSVP until we get closer to the date, however. Speaking of Walden and good weather, it's supposed to be 85 degrees out on Wednesday, May 2nd. I'd be up for a pond or river paddle in the area that afternoon (maybe with less emphasis on rolling until the water temp catches up with the air temp), if anyone else is interested.

I've always used a ziplock-style map case for my chart on deck, specifically an 18x12" case from Mad Water. Part of the seam gave out as I cleaned it this morning. Even before this, I always had issues getting a positive seal on the zipper, and frequently had soggy map edges near the closure. In researching new options, there seem to be a lot of positive reviews for roll-top cases that secure with a strip of Velcro. Many of those are from hikers and hunters, though. Are any of you using a roll-top closure on a kayak deck, and are satisfied with the seal? Any favorite models or sizes, for either style of case? I liked being able to fit two 8.5x11" pages side-by-side in the Mad Water case, but frequently kept the case folded in half and shoved under my skirt's implosion strap rather than under the deck bungees for easier readability and access while paddling.

My weekend plans just got scrambled, so I may be able to attend. I'll send float plan info now in case I can make it. I'd be getting dropped off and picked up at the end - any approximate idea what time we might return to the beach?

Again, thank you both. Very helpful!

Josko and Andy, thank you both for the detailed responses. I really appreciate the explanation of how the wing actually works and the "two vortices = no benefit" heuristic. Is your preferred wing paddle length the same as your Ikelos/standard sea kayak paddle length?

Join us for a mid-fall weekend at Squam Lake, Friday morning October 19 through Sunday October 21st. Our group base camp will be on beautiful Moon Island (approximately 2 miles from the Piper Cove Put-in). Numerous areas to explore on daily paddles, with the option of a short hike up one or both of the Rattlesnake Mountains (fabulous views, and hopefully peak foliage). We typically have a gourmet pot-luck feast on Friday night, with plenty of leftovers for Saturday. If weather allows, this year the moon will be high in the sky and 80% full both nights, offering the option for a night paddle before returning to the camp fire. Our site is limited by space to 10 tents, with a maximum group size of 12 people. The cost to attend is $25. Click on the calendar posting (below) to RSVP and reserve your spot when you're ready to commit. I will contact you for a deposit later this summer. Excess funds will be returned on Moon once we've paid for firewood. Once the calendar's RSVP list is full, you can join the wait list by posting a reply to this thread.

I have a number of questions about wing paddles. 1. Length: Is your ideal wing paddle length the same as your ideal sea kayak paddle length? (Assuming you are using the same boat - a standard touring sea kayak like we all paddle). 2. Blade size: If I compare "Blade surface area", even a small-mid wing seems huge compared to a full-sized sea kayak paddle. But if I compare lengths and widths, the sea kayak paddle is much wider and the lengths are roughly the same. What's a comparable sea kayak paddle for each of the common wing sizes? Werner Ikelos: (high-angle, full-size sea kayak paddle, can feel like "too much paddle" for long days): Blade Width: 19.75cm Blade Length: 48.5cm Blade Surface Area 691 cm2 Epic small-mid wing: Blade Width: 15.9 cm Blade Length: 49.9 cm Surface Area: 735 cm2 Epic mid wing: Blade Width: 16.4 cmBlade Length: 50 cmSurface Area: 750 cm2 I read that a wing is ~5% more efficient than a Euro blade when using the proper stroke technique. What are the disadvantages? Is a wing noticeably worse for bracing, paddling in conditions, rolling, etc? How quickly does that efficiency disappear if your forward stroke technique gets sloppy? If a new sea kayaker (asking for a friend) is mainly interested in endurance racing and long distance touring (8+ hours on protected ocean and tidal rivers), is a wing paddle an appropriate design to start with? If not, what's the biggest concern you have?

Standard paracord stretches considerably when wet. I used some 550 cord for grab lines on a fishing SUP and wouldn't recommend it for kayak deck lines. Mine stretched, faded quickly in the sun, and was very thin (painful) compared to standard deck lines.

I'll bring a few bottles of red wine, and an assortment of cheeses.

John is giving a shorter (1 hr?) presentation on this same topic at the AMC Annual Summit. Anyone can attend: https://www.outdoors.org/annualsummit Weather by the Seat of Your Pants John Huth 2:45 p.m. Saturday January 27th, 2018 Although we've become reliant on weather forecasts, there can often be dramatic effects that are quite local and sudden. This is often the case in the mountains, but can also occur in coastal areas in the summer time. Author and Harvard physics professor John Huth will illustrate ways of anticipating weather through observing cloud formations, wind directions and understanding something of the physical forces that shape the weather, we can often outdo the forecasts over short timescales. Weather aphorisms like "mackerel scales and mares tails make lofty ships carry low sails" give catchy little phrases to predict the weather. If anyone else is going, let's meet up for some of the sessions.

Thursday is looking like a warmer day on the water, although it might be a tad breezier. Who's in?

I will join you. It takes a village to eat a seal, right?

I would be interested in getting a group of paddlers together to train for this and other races in 2018. Date for the Essex River Race 2018 is May 12. Date for the Blackburn is July 21. If there's anyone out there who wants to bike and hike in addition to sea kayaking, I'm looking for adventurous types to join me for this event up in Maine. https://www.mainesummerar.com/ There's going to be a strong sea kayaking/tidal river paddling focus again in this year's race.

Another free (web-based) option for "currents as arrows sized to flow": http://deepzoom.com/index.html My software displays seamless NOAA RNCs and allows you to plan routes and print custom maps, but it's Windows only and more expensive than the apps mentioned above. https://www.expertgps.com You might also consider Google Earth with a NOAA RNC overlay: https://seamlessrnc.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/rnc/noaa_rncs.kmz

Squam Lake never fails to surprise or disappoint, and this year was no exception. A varied and varying band of NSPNers explored her waters and shorelines over the course of the weekend, departing from SLA headquarters in Piper's Cove on Friday morning after waiting out some early bands of rain. We loaded boats, made use of Nancy's ingenious carrying straps, and headed out across a nearly-deserted Squam Lake. After setting up camp and having lunch on Moon Island, some of the group returned to SLA to greet an afternoon arrival, while the rest of us headed out to Yard Island to practice scraping gelcoat off our boats as we played in the numerous rock gardens. A wind-swept afternoon in camp had us hopeful that the clouds would scatter, allowing us a full-moon paddle that evening. We were afforded a spectacular sunset, but then the clouds closed in again, nixing our plans for an after-dinner excursion. Much pot-lucking and burning of firewood provided the evening's entertainment. On Saturday, we headed north to Five Finger Point, where we went ashore on a fabulous UNH beach. Most of the group hiked up to West Rattlesnake for lunch, while the others explored the bays and passages to the northeast. Approximately 200 other people had the same lunch plans as us, and we lost count of the number of children who defied their parents and disappeared over the cliff edge before us. For future planning, East Rattlesnake might be a quieter choice. Still, the view was impressive. Our two groups reconnected again, and two new groups were formed to explore our way back to Moon. More rocks were gardened, and again, we had the lake to ourselves, with the exception of some loons. At one point earlier in the trip, we came across a raft of eight loons, and marveled at their haunting calls across the water. With rain in the forecast for Sunday, we packed up early, and hit the water just as the first few drops began to fall. It started in earnest as we approached Piper's Cove, but let up a bit so that we could load boats and pose for a group selfie before heading for home. A map of my travels during the weekend: Hopefully others will share some of their photos and experiences as well. Come join us on Squam next year!

There are camping spots available for this weekend's Squam Lake trip. Also, there's an opportunity for paddlers to join us for the day on Saturday. Please get in touch if you're interested, as we're planning the trip's details now.

It makes sense to go back to the original line (or really, to tell you how much you've strayed left or right of your original line) if you're in a narrow, foggy channel. That's the use for the Cross Track Error (XTE) feature in early GPS receivers, which were marketed to boaters. If you're heading down a 100' wide channel, and your XTE is 60' left, there's a good chance that following the GOTO is going to put you into a rock, because you're now 10 feet out of the channel.

For "basic stats and tracking" on the water, with analysis done later in ExpertGPS on my computer, I wear and recommend a Garmin Forerunner 235. For any situation where navigation might be an issue (foggy camping in Maine), I keep a Garmin Oregon 550 in my PFD, which I've prepared ahead of time with a NOAA nautical chart as a custom map, and with waypoints marked at my likely destinations. If it's really foggy and I'm going to be using it a lot, it goes in my chart case to keep the salt off. Otherwise, everything gets a rinse in fresh water as soon as we hit dry land, and I try to avoid pressing buttons and working salt into them unless I need to. I don't worry about GPS accuracy on the ocean. You've got an unobstructed view of the sky - much better than in the forest. And I can't think of any scenario where even a 100' positioning error would alter your course of action. If you really like the watch convenience and form factor, Garmin has an app store for their watches, so you might look there to see if there are apps you can run on a cheaper model to give you the marine-specific info you want. The main thing I miss on the stock Forerunner 235 is a way to display your current latitude and longitude or UTM position so you can confirm your location on the chart.

I will not be able to attend this Wednesday, nor the following week. I hope to get some late-season paddling in once I return.