Dan Foster

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.

Cancelled due to stay-at-home directives in New England.

Gary, if you run Google Earth on a computer (not phone) and check Tools, Historical Imagery, you can then use the time slider to look back at imagery from earlier dates. Here's the seagull's eye view of Eagle Island on May 18, 2012: (view full-size)

I recognize that beach, and recall reading "the story" on the site long ago, probably before I even became a member.

Well done, Nancy, with a correct solution to the compass rose teaser above. My apologies for using the land-lubber's magnetic declination when you all expected variation. In my defense, I was on land when I wrote it. Mini-game within this thread: fix the land-lubber's phrases below with the more correct nautical terminology: 1. High-speed ferry approaching from the left! 2. The white thing is flapping again, tighten up the rope! 3. Did you really just steal toilet paper from the bathroom? Let's work this out in a civilized fashion. My answers (having never owned a sailboat or lost my leg climbing up the top sails): 1. High-speed ferry approaching from starboard! 2. The mizzen yard's a luffin', haul on that line, matey! 3. Arrgh!, Ye be thieving clam shells from the head, ya scurvy bilge rat? Keelhaul him, boys, and lash him to the poop deck 'til we round the Isles of Costco. Looking forward to reading your declinations, I mean, variations.

Where's this? For extra credit, what's the current magnetic declination?

Joe: One benefit of NOAA's ENC website - full text search!

A made-up story/caption: What started out as a lighthearted exercise in gender empathy and a subtle protest against gender-normative relief zipper options took a dark turn when muscle memory kicked in during an emergency bathroom break. Kokotat's disclaimer that they can refuse to perform warranty work on soiled or dirty garments is known internally as "the NSPN clause". My guess for the campfire discussion: "leaves of three, let it be. Better yet, bring TP!" (in white)

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 options to video chat this week: Wednesday, April 8, 8-9PM: "Tales around the virtual NSPN campfire" - pour yourself a dram of something smokey, and join us for a discussion of all things kayak camping. What's your go-to camping meal? What's the worst night you've spent under the stars? Which island has the worst mosquitoes? The worst landing? Share your favorite NSPN camping photo. (See instructions below) Saturday, April 11, 9:00-10:30AM: "A virtual NSPN Easter Bunny Plunge": don those bunny ears, strap a marshmallow peep under your deck lines, and join us for a virtual take on our traditional Easter-weekend paddle. Sometime this week, take a photo that makes you happy, or that proves that spring truly is here, and share it with the group on Saturday. (See instructions below) For either session: At the anointed hour, click the following link to join: [removed after the event] 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.

Thanks, David! I had meant to post these to the Trips forum, and will post future "video trips" here going forward. Hope to see lots of you at "brunch" on Sunday!

Janice, post the model or temperature rating of your sleeping bag, as well as that of your sleeping pad. Perhaps others on those two trips can weigh in as to whether your bag and pad combination was suitable for the temperatures, or if that's what's causing you to be cold. I typically bring a Tarptent ProTrail ultralight tent on kayak camping trips (I'd recommend a free-standing, side-entry model instead), and a 3.5" thick Big Agnes Q-Core SLX air mattress for insulation from the cold ground. For shoulder-season trips like Jewell and Squam, I'm probably bringing my 25 degree WM TerraLite bag, and adjusting to conditions around camp and at night with some combination of long johns, balaclava, wool hat, down booties, down puffy jacket and pants, and a Sea to Summit Reactor bag liner. Polishing off the leftovers helps keep the internal furnace going, and anything you can do to help yourself fall asleep and stay asleep until dawn (melatonin, benedryl, booze, earplugs, eye mask...) will help as well. Oh, and I'm hesitant to give away this secret since now I'll be competing for the "prime" camping spaces, but there's a reason I often pitch my tent at Jewell back in the trees and ticks rather than out on the bluff with a 270-degree view of the water, and it is "prevailing wind". (Actually, two reasons. #2 is "campfire sparks")

˙sǝssǝnƃ ɹno uᴉ ǝdʎʇ ǝʍ uǝɥʍ uʍop-ǝpᴉsdn sǝuoɥd ɹno ƃuᴉploɥ ʇsnɾ plnoɥs ǝʍ ǝqʎɐW

2. Jewell Cocktail Cove! 6. Black or Placentia, MDI? 7. Peaks, Casco Bay? 10. Gay Island, Muscongus? 12. Jewell, Gary's site 2! 14. Little Chebeague! 16. Whaleback, Casco Bay? 18. Bremen Long Island, Muscongus? (the hike with the bugs) 19. Jewell Punchbowl! 21. Jewell again?

Why do I feel like a lifetime of solving those Google capchas ("click on all images containing a stop sign") have been preparing me for this moment in life? This is one part pattern-matching, one part geography bowl, and one part trying to remember what stories each of you tell around campfires. Nancy's heavenly solution: "boatbow" island

OK, Mike, I really had to get back to first principles to solve this one, but here's my solution to #1: (hopefully no spoilers)

I tried three different places and didn't get a match on Mike's puzzler. Here's #2:

Do we lose a point if we give different answers for #2 and #4? (Currently the same photo ) I think I can definitively identify 2, 4, 12, 14, and 19, and have guesses for 6, 16, and 18. I look forward to the "snippet of nautical chart" version of this game! Hey, so you can change the text color in your responses to white, to hide answers. Drag your cursor over the whole post to see the hidden guess. My guess below: 12. Jewell Island looking toward Cliff from "Gary's Campsite" My guess above:

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 options to video chat this week: Tuesday, Mar 31, 5-6PM: (happy hour and socializing. for discussion: what's the best 3-mile stretch of paddling in New England?) Sunday, Apr 5, 10-11AM: (brunch-time socializing, plus tow-belt show-and-tell! we'll do some therapeutic tow-belt braiding, and share our favorite rescue stories.) For either session: At the anointed hour, click the following link to join: [removed after the event] 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. 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). For anyone using Windows 10, you can click start and type Camera to use the Camera app to preview your camera setup and appearance. 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. Al is looking for people's experiences with the Cetus MV vs the Cetus. Pablo and I are curious about what people would like to see from a ready-to-print NSPN PDF map library.

Pedal/paddle/pedal-home on the local stretch of the Assabet River.

Thanks for the offers to help! In the time between when I passed along my friend's request for drysuit gaskets before heading off to sleep on Friday night and the time I just work up on Saturday morning, his team has made the decision to switch to a design that uses an off-the-shelf full face mask for snorkeling instead of a "bucket over the head with a neck gasket" design, thinking that the former will be cheaper and easier to source in mass quantities than the neck gaskets. I'll get back in touch if they decide to reconsider a design that needs neck gaskets, but for now, we can go back to using them for drysuit repairs. Thanks again for the offers to help! - Dan