This was a great trip and learning experience. I look foward to all the future NSPN incident reports that start with "I was contemplating a diabase sill when the sleeper wave lifted me into the argillite..."

Thanks Joe and Bob for all the planning and preparation that went into this trip. Viva Avalonia!

Romaine's sunset paddle:

A preview of 2021's "A road less paddled by" trip, for those of you who want to make a true multi-sport weekend of it:

This year's Squam Lake camping trip featured some of the most pleasant weather and paddling conditions that we've ever seen there. Daytime temps were in the high 70s, overnight lows in the high 50s, and the wind was most notably absent. Fall foliage was still a bit muted along the Squam Ridge that forms the northern backdrop for our paddles, but the maples and cranberries in the wetland coves we visited were ablaze.

This was the year for paddling in shorts and t-shirts, for lunchtime swims and sunbathing on sun-warmed rocky ledges, for sunsets tinged with a hint of wildfire smoke, for sunset paddles and pre-dawn paddles, for close encounters with loons, and socially-distanced encounters with other looney types.

Last call for Squam camping - please get in touch if you'd like to join us.

Bumping this trip posting to gauge if there's additional interest. This trip and the RSVP deadline was announced in the "before times". Given the slightly different world we now find ourselves in, I'm thinking that if this trip goes forward, it will be limited to 6 campers (two tents on opposite ends of each camping platform ought to allow for social/snorer distancing). I'm asking now for anyone who would consider going to Squam this year *if COVID rates and regulations in New England stay approximately what they are today* to get in touch - either by RSVPing on the calendar, posting below, or sending me a private message.

I was going to suggest that maybe this tongue of cobbles is all that remains of some prehistoric breach in the causeway and the outflow of material flowing from north to south. But given the protected harbor to the north, I'd suspect any breach would result in waves flushing TO the north. I also wondered if the causeway was man-made and there used to be a breach there. But this suggests no: https://patch.com/massachusetts/marblehead/when-was-the-causeway-built

Looking at the bigger picture, it's also in-line with the transition from deep to shallow blue water that extends out on the nautical chart. Looking at the aerial, I'd swear there's a culvert or some sort of outflow creating your "parallel depression to the east". But there isn't, right? I wonder if the lifeguards see rip currents setting up there.

AMC and other larger outdoor groups have started putting out COVID-19 best practices and resources for outdoor trip leaders. You might find these useful in developing your own personal philosophy toward managing and minimizing risk, and finding your personal comfort level in group activities. Feel free to add links to policies and best practices guidelines from other outdoor groups similar to ours.

AMC:

Required COVID-19 video training for all AMC outdoor leaders (1 hr): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p38G8Htukg

Checklist for resuming AMC group outdoor activities (Phase 2 is applicable to us): https://cdn.outdoors.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/21093342/OLDCVolActRubric_FINAL.pdf

NEMBA (New England Mountain Bike Association) :

June 11, 2020 Guidance: https://www.nemba.org/news/nemba-covid-guidance-individual-and-group-rides

Glad you dodged the weather. The front rolled through here a little after noon, and while there wasn't much (any?) lightning, the amount of water coming down within the first minute of the storm's arrival far exceeded the usual cats/dogs/buckets metaphors.

What's the status of the landing ramp in the crook of Straitsmouth?

I also found it really helpful, and it was great to be able to ask questions directly to the guys who create our local weather. I'll try to post the YouTube versions once they get the recordings online. Here's a screenshot I took so I could go back and learn more about how winds spiral into and out of low and high pressure areas.

Full details here: https://www.weather.gov/box/webinars

Upcoming Webinars:

       Date                                 Event                            Registration

Tuesday, June 23 (7 PM)           Weather 101                                        Register Here 

                                                                             Learn basic concepts of meteorology. Geared toward "beginners"

Thursday, July 2 (7 PM)             Marine Forecasting (for boaters & others)    Register Here 

                                                                             Basic forecasting for boaters (wind and waves, storms, "rules of thumb"

Tuesday, July 7 (7 PM)           Severe Weather 101                               Register Here 

                                                                             Learn basic concepts of meteorology. Geared toward "beginners"

(All webinars will be recorded and posted on our YouTube page)

Topics for Future Webinars (Dates To Be Determined):

- Weather 202 (More in-depth meteorology concepts but not too technical)

- Severe Weather 101 (Learn basic concepts of severe weather)

- Severe Weather 202 (Forecasting severe weather. More in-depth but not too technical)

- Radar Interpretation 101 (Learn basic concepts of interpreting radar data) 

- Southern New England Tornadoes

- Tropical Weather 101 (Learn basic concepts about hurricanes)

- Climate 101 (Learn basic concepts about the climatology of southern New England)

- Winter Weather 101 (Learn basic concepts about winter storms and different precipitation types)

- Memorable Southern New England Storms

- Navigating Our Website (How to find what you need)

- NWS Hazard Simplification 

I think your weather forecast got copied over from week #2. If not, please send some of that 55-degree air inland, where it's going to be pushing 90 on Wednesday!

I'm seeing this for June 10th off Marblehead: Wednesday high 68 F.  SE wind 7 to 10 kt increasing to 10 to 13 kt in the afternoon. Partly sunny. Seas 1 to 2 ft.

Please join me from the comfort of your own comfy chair or survival bunker for an hour of virtual socializing and storytelling with your fellow NSPN paddlers-in-exile.

Two changes to our semi-regular virtual hangouts this week:

1. This is no longer a recurring weekly event - it's going to be scheduled "as available" from now on and may shift around to different days and times. It just so happens that Tuesday evening right after work is still the most convenient time for me, so for this week it's still at Tuesday 5:00-6:15PM.

2. We will no longer be discussing "things we can't do", or "places we can't go", or "why we are no longer talking about things we can't do or places we can't go". Suggested alternative topics: "the fun thing I did outdoors recently", "you would not believe the cat video I just watched", and "here are some things we learned on our last socially-distanced paddling trip". Thanks in advance for keeping things positive!  

At the anointed hour, click the following link to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5846086194

Zoom meeting ID: 584-608-6194

Perhaps this could be added to the NH section of the "covid banner" on the site.

https://www.covidguidance.nh.gov/out-state-visitors

Tonight is the last of the currently-scheduled video chats on Tuesday nights from 5-6. Given the warmer weather, increased daylight hours, and more opportunities to get outside and on the water, we can discuss (both here in this thread and during tonight's chat) whether we want to continue meeting weekly at this time, switch the times up a bit, or change the frequency that we get together virtually. Hope you can join us! Details at the top of the thread.

The landvest link above, and the wording of Bill's letter, suggest the property is For Sale (for $1.95 million). There's nothing that suggests it has been Sold. I guess there's a possibility that Bill wanted to cash out immediately, and sold to a 3rd party that immediately re-listed the property for sale on landvest, but that doesn't change the fact that anyone could step in and save the property or the public access part of it by coming up with $1.95 million or a offer that the seller would accept.

I have the opposite reaction from most of those expressed here after reading Bill's letter. I think he's trying to tell us that if we want to preserve access to the Stonington archipelago, now is the time to be mobilizing the various land trusts to get an offer on the table. As a club, we could be sending letters to each of the organizations named in Bill's letter, expressing how important Old Quarry is, both in its own right and in providing access to the islands, pledging say $5000 from the NSPN treasury toward any effort to save the access, and promising to publicize any fundraising efforts to our full membership and the greater paddling community.

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Just a reminder, we'll be paddling the virtual waters tonight at 5PM. Details at the top of the thread.

Decoy guess to fool the "Unread Content" feed: Location was Groton, CT, as evidenced by the boat registration. Paddler had packed the bow and stern full of neodynium magnets in at attempt to correct a deviant/variant magnetic deck compass. A shallow-running nuclear submarine passed underneath the dock, and the magnetic attraction crumpled the kayak, and nearly captured the sub.

My real guess: the dock floats up with the rising tide. The metal walkway/gangway is fixed to shore, and has rollers on the dock end. The paddler landed at a lower tide, and tied bow and stern off to cleats on the left and right sides of the dock, and then went to lunch. As the tide rose, the floating dock rose, and the gangway, which had been several feet away from the cockpit earlier, rolled toward the boat as the angle changed, eventually crushing the boat sideways. [Edit: after looking at the photos again, and seeing no bow or stern tie-off lines, the boat could have been crushed against a second set of pilings further up the dock.]

Just a reminder, we'll be paddling the virtual waters tonight at 5PM. Details at the top of the thread.

Since these are American winds, I made my guesses in Freedom Units: B - 8mph, A - 12 mph, E - 16 mph, G - 20+ mphI was surprised at how little movement there was in the beach grasses in some of those shots.

Prudence: Select All, or drag your mouse/finger over the entire post or the white area where you suspect the answers are hiding.

Sue eventually got into the call. Thanks to everyone who was able to join us tonight. A bunch of us had technical glitches right at 5PM as the rain and wind bands passed through, which led us to tonight's impromptu story theme: "highway horrors: when car-topped boats decide to fly". Hope to see many of you again next Tuesday. In the meantime, batten those hatches, and tighten those bow and stern lines!

I had to change to a new Zoom account. If you participated in one of my previous NSPN Zoom meetings (up to and including Easter), make sure you're now using the new Zoom link or meeting ID above to join.

Please join me from the comfort of your own comfy chair or survival bunker for an hour of virtual socializing and storytelling with your fellow NSPN paddlers-in-exile.

For the next few weeks, I'm going to be hosting a regularly-scheduled NSPN hour on Tuesday night from 5PM-6PM. Hopefully the consistent schedule will allow many of you to plan ahead and attend.

Upcoming video chats:

Tuesday, April 21, 5PM-6PM

Tuesday, April 28, 5PM-6PM

Tuesday, May 5, 5PM-6PM

Tuesday, May 12, 5PM-6PM

Tuesday, May 19, 5PM-6PM

Tuesday, May 26, 5PM-6PM

[Meeting link removed now that May is over]

You'll need a laptop computer, phone, or tablet with a front-facing video camera and a microphone, and you'll be prompted to run some free video conferencing software from Zoom when you join the meeting. If you haven't used Zoom or other video chat/conferencing software before, you might want to click the link below a few minutes ahead of time, to give yourself time to test your video and audio settings.

Sharing photos:

Zoom has several ways to share photos. If you'd like to do a slideshow or give a presentation to the group, the easiest way to do that is to share your screen from a laptop or desktop computer. In reality, this usually ends up causing a two-minute interruption while people try to figure out why it's not working. For simple sharing of a single photo, try the following:

Option 1: Make it a virtual background: click the options arrow next to the Video icon in Zoom, and click Choose Virtual Background. Select the photo you want to share with the group, which will then appear behind your disembodied head using a "green screen" effect. You can duck your head completely out of frame if needed, or point to stuff behind you like you're a TV weather caster.

Option 2: Make it your Zoom profile photo, and it will show up when you click Stop Video. To do this, click the options arrow next to the Video icon in Zoom, click Video Settings, and then click the Profile tab. Click the picture icon above your name to change your profile picture. If you turn off your video camera during the call, we'll see your profile picture instead.

Virtual meeting etiquette for large groups:

Mute your microphone if you're doing something else in the background or need to move around. Laptop users can stay muted and then hold Spacebar to unmute whenever they want to jump in with a comment. Speaking of jumping in, it takes us a second or two to realize who has started speaking, so it can get confusing if people throw in a quick one word reply or question. Keep talking, or use hand signals (thumbs up, wave, etc) instead of "yes", "hi", "bye".

For the best video quality, try to pick a spot in your house with plenty of light and make sure the brightest light is in front of you, and not behind you! (sit facing a window or lamp, with a wall with no windows behind you). Virtual backgrounds (when not sharing a photo with the group) and snap filters (puppy dog ears, and the like) can be extremely distracting. Sit close enough to the camera that we can see your face. It's more fun when we we can see you and your facial expressions!

These are meant to be light and airy social occasions and to offer an escape from the news cycle, politics, and negativity. If you get booted or muted, that's why.  

If there's something you'd like to share with or ask of the group, feel free to mention it in a reply below so people can prepare in advance, or simply bring it up in the video chat.