Dan Foster

Registration for the Squam Lake trip is now open to all NSPN members. To register, send $25 by PayPal to support@topografix.com and include your "Paid Member" NSPN username.

Sorry about that! Here is the correct address for payment: To register, send $25 by PayPal to support@topografix.com and include your "Paid Member" NSPN username.

Registration for this year's Squam Lakes trip opens on Monday, August 26th, at the moment it stops being Sunday night. As stated earlier, some preference is being given to members that have full-time jobs and can't take time off to attend other NSPN camping trips. If you are an employee working 35+ hours a week OR if this will be your first-ever NSPN camping trip, you may register now. To register, send $25 by PayPal to support@topografix.com and include your "Paid Member" NSPN username.

Paddled the Ipswich river from Pavilion Beach and the town landing at high tide over the last two days. One greenhead encountered, quickly dispatched by my crazy, fly-loving SUP pup.

Gary is of course being understated in his descriptions of how fortuitously he had matched up the tides to our paddling schedule, how idyllic our campsites turned out to be, and how wonderfully the trip turned out in terms of weather, conditions, and companionship. It was a near-perfect trip, in my estimation, and was one I won't forget soon. My takeaways from the trip: - Things that you cut off when folding or making a custom chart can be important! Crossing from Pemaquid Point to the Thrumcaps was not in our original plan, but got added in once we saw that the conditions would allow for it. We rounded the point, made visual contact with the outermost-island on our chart, confirmed a rough bearing, and started paddling. After the crossing allotted time, our visual target wasn't getting any closer. Sure enough, there was another set of visually-similar islands, just left of our destination and a few miles past, that were beyond the border of my chart. - Do your chart prep ahead of time and dust off your nav skills before you actually need them. I showed up for this trip with 5 beautifully-crafted, laminated custom charts, each missing magnetic north lines, bearings for our few crossings, and with a decimal 0.01 degree grid rather than our beloved 1NM-based grid of minutes of lat/lon. And despite Gary's loan of a sharpie and two leisurely nights in camp with charts and compass readily at hand, I still found myself unprepared when the fog rolled in on our final day. - MITA is an absolute treasure. - Gary has got this kayak camping stuff dialed in, and there are dozens of tricks to be learned if you pay attention. - There are multiple ways to put on a spray skirt, but only one correct way.

It's about 6 NM from Lanes Cove to Straitsmouth, and an additional 2 miles to Thacher. So, 12 to 16 miles round-trip for Sue's proposal. I might be lured out to paddle tomorrow, but for now I'm just lurking. My preference would be to follow the coastline to Thacher, with a stop to see if the new landing ramp inside of Straitsmouth is finished.

I set up the early-season calendar sessions, figuring that the regulars would figure out how they wanted to run things going forward. It doesn't look like I'm going to be able to attend many/any sessions this summer, so perhaps one of you wants to step up and post the weekly sessions in whatever style works best for you all. If nobody posts something by Monday, I'll just post a recurring calendar event throughout the summer, with a note to create a weekly forum post for RSVPs.

I've attempted this test twice now overnight with my Standard Horizon HX870, and go from a full battery to dead and off in less than 8 hours of "standby" (monitoring ch 72, no transmitting, no weather channel). After the first test, I used the Reset function to return the radio to what it considers defaults, and then turned off GPS and put battery save mode to 90%. I'd be grateful if other HX870 owners would perform this test and confirm or dispute an 8-hour standby runtime.

Turning the radio off when your pod takes a break or finishes for the day doesn't help the other pod that might be trying to reach you from out on the water, though. We had pods scattered across Muscongus Bay from 8:30 to 6:15 on Sunday, so that would have been 9 hours where it would have been good to be monitoring ch 72, and this was the third day of paddling for the trip. I'd love to hear a workable strategy for radio usage and cross-pod communication on these kinds of multi-day, multi-pod NSPN trips, especially if you assume a basecamp like Jewell without AC charging opportunities.

Does anyone know of a VHF radio that can be recharged directly from a 5 volt DC source, preferably over USB or micro-USB? My Standard Horizon HX870 can only recharge in its non-waterproof cradle, via a household 110v AC outlet or a 12v DC input. Spare batteries are $55. I'd much rather carry a single charger or power bank that can charge my phone, radio, electric toothbrush, and ultrasonic vole repeller in one device. Alternately, how are you powering your radio over multi-day trips, where multiple pods want to check-in with each other throughout the course of the day?

We had a well-attended pond session at Walden yesterday, followed by a fun social gathering and celebration of Bill's return (to driving, at least) at Comella's Italian restaurant. It was decided that the group would like to take advantage of crowd-free days at Walden as much as possible during the early part of the season, so from here on out, the default plan will be to meet at Walden at 5PM on Tuesdays to paddle and practice. There are no scheduled nights on the river, or after-Walden socials currently planned. Feel free to organize one or spontaneously socialize, though! Please RSVP on the calendar if you'll be attending, and check for a post on the Trips forum on the day of the event. If the turnout is low, the weather is lousy, or Walden is over-crowded, there may be a change of plans. But barring an announcement otherwise, you can expect that the Tuesday sessions will be ON, and will be starting at 5PM at Walden Pond from here on out.

Dolphin Cove pod - how was your paddle to and from Jewell, in terms of waves and weather? One thing we talked about in the trip planning workshop the week before the trip when we were looking at routes to and from Jewell was that with the prevailing wind from the SW, if there were predicted stronger winds later in the trip, you might be better off choosing a launch site to the north, gambling on a weak headwind on the way there for a stronger tailwind on the way home. I am in no way implying last weekend's weather did what was predicted - certainly not down here. Of course, every time I've launched from the north, I've had a headwind on both the outbound and return trips in addition to a longer drive, so maybe it's an unwinnable battle.

Today's Walden Pond session is ON! Come join us at 5PM at the Walden boat launch parking area, or at 7:30 for dinner with Bill at Comella's.

Offered by Boston AMC, and open to all area sea kayakers. I can't be there this year, but have attended in the past. It's a good refresher, similar to the CAM On-Water Training NSPN has done in the past. For full details and to register, visit https://activities.outdoors.org/search/index.cfm?action=details&id=112557 An annual training event for sea kayak enthusiasts on Lake Cochituate, Framingham. We will work all essential skills for safe and effective paddling on the ocean. This is a good opportunity to refine and improve techniques and get ready for the upcoming season. This year we welcome new comers and beginners to sea kayaking. After some initial remarks the group will go for a paddle on the lake. This will give the instructors an opportunity to observe the participants paddling to get a sense of the different skill levels present. After a short break the instructors will set up various stations where the participants will practice skills in a high instructor-to-participant ratio. The skills practiced will be from the list below: 1.Launching and landing a kayak from a dock 2.Forward paddling and stopping 3.Reverse paddling 4.Turning strokes 5.Sideways movement - static and dynamic 6.Low brace 7.Sculling for support 8.Assisted rescues 9.Self-Rescues 10.Towing 11.Rolling 12.Reading a nautical chart 13.Emergency scenarios No guarantee we will be able to cover everything on the list. Bring the usual gear: PFD (required on the water), spray skirt, wet suit, paddling jacket, tow belt, paddle float, warm clothing to change into, snacks, lunch, water, etc. I expect the water temperature to be in the 60s as well as the air temperature. Dress for immersion and the weather conditions so that you will be comfortable for the whole day. We will eat lunch on shore and have some discussion on AMC sea kayaking issues, a discussion on marine radio protocols, and some other topics depending on time and interest.

Join us for the season opener of NSPN's "Walden-area Tuesdays". Starting on May 21st, 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! You MUST RSVP on the calendar post if you are planning to join us for either the paddle or the restaurant, because these early-season events may be cancelled if turnout is low. 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/ (This is not the link to RSVP)

Gary, thanks for converting m/sec into knots for us - much more useful that way! This site has animated vectors that show the currents in parts of Casco Bay throughout one tide cycle. I may try to create a video clip from this at some point - the Google Earth animation brought my computer to its digital knees. The original paper I cited has additional info on the contribution of wind-driven surface currents to the overall situation in Casco Bay. That entire website is full of PDFs of studies that may be of interest.

Taken from Modeling Wind and Tidal Circulation in Casco Bay, Maine: a preliminary study https://www.cascobayestuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Modeling-Wind-and-Tidal-Circulation-True-2005.pdf Western Casco Bay Currents at Flood and Ebb Eastern Casco Bay Currents at Flood and Ebb On the flood: The vector field in Figures 8a,b show the vertically averaged flow three hours after the beginning of the flood tide for the western and eastern half of the Bay, respectively. The currents entering the Bay through the southwestern portion of the outer boundary are the sources for flooding Portland Harbor, Back Cove, and other coves and estuaries in the western part of the inner bay. These currents enter along the shoreline of Cape Elizabeth and through Hussey Sound, veer to the right and continue along the Falmouth/Yarmouth shoreline to the northern side of Cousins Island, where they converge with currents entering through Luckse and Broad Sounds. Consequently, the waters approaching the Royal River estuary may come from two sources. In Portland Channel, the vertically averaged currents at this stage of the flood tide are on the order of 40-­50 cm/sec. The surface drogues used by Parker (1982) show surface currents in Portland Channel and Hussey Sound to be the highest that were measured in Casco Bay during that survey. During the middle two hours of flood tide, the surface drogues averaged 55-­75 cm/sec through Portland Channel, and 43­-58 cm/sec through Hussey Sound. On the ebb: The vertically averaged flow field during the third hour after ebb tide is shown in Figures 8c,d for the west and east halves of the inner bay, respectively. The water west of Cousins Island drains from the inner bay through Portland Channel and Hussey Sound with speeds in the 40-­50 cm/sec range. An equally strong current of lesser volume also flows through Chandler Cove, where it meets with a southwesterly flow from Luckse Sound. After leaving the inner bay, the current from Portland Channel moves along the Cape Elizabeth shore and continues south to exit the computational domain. The flow out of Hussey Sound and Chandler Cove also move due south. On the eastern side of the Bay, the ebb flow out of the Royal River, Maquoit and Middle Bays moves into Luckse Sound and Broad Sound. The water from the Royal River outlet area flows east of Great Chebeague Island, where it continues along the island's south shore, enters Luckse Sound, and continues seaward in a southerly direction. Also, the flow out of Broad Sound continues seaward in a southerly direction. With regard to tidal flows only, the currents of Casco Bay might be viewed as having a western and eastern circulation, with minor volume exchanges around Great Chebeague Island and Cousins Island.

There's still plenty of room for Saturday's trip planning workshop. RSVP on the calendar if you're joining us. Read the first post or the calendar posting for what to bring. Here's the agenda for Saturday's workshop - it's a live document and may evolve further as we get closer to Saturday, especially if you send me questions. Joe was kind enough to help me refine the structure of the workshop, and he and I will be floating between the groups during the hands-on part of the class (that's most of it!) and helping to guide the discussions. We'll be dividing up in to four groups, each with a set of paper charts to work with. If you'd like to mark up your own waterproof charts outside of class, I've put together detailed instructions at the top of the agenda, and here: how to prepare a nautical chart. It looks like it's going to be 60+ and sunny after we're done at REI, so plan to bring some food or grab some takeout after class, and we'll head over to the park by the lake for some socializing at 6PM. I'll have some picnic blankets in case we can't grab a picnic table. Here are some reference materials for the workshop, just so they're all in one place: cascobaypublicaccessdraft23feb2018.pdf MarineTraffic_Casco Bay Density Map.pdf Portland, ME 8418150 Tidal Data Print View.pdf NSPN Tidal Offsets.pdf Boston to Salem Ferry Schedules & Fares _ Boston Harbor Cruises.pdf

Here's one approach to marking up your nautical chart to make it more usable for pre-trip planning and for on-the-water navigation. Step 1: Identify the scale bar and figure out how far one nautical mile is on the chart. Find the lines of latitude (they are the horizontal lines going across the chart), and the degrees and minutes of latitude going up the left and right sides of the chart. If your chart has grid lines for every ONE minute of latitude, the vertical distance between two adjacent lines of latitude should be exactly the same distance as one nautical mile on the scale bar. Confirm this. Also confirm to yourself that the horizontal distance between the vertical lines of longitude IS NOT one nautical mile (unless you're paddling at the Equator). If your scale bar is only a few nautical miles long, and you're planning to measure longer distances, now is a good time to extend that scale bar line out and add additional hash marks so you can measure longer distances accurately. Step 2: Find the compass rose on the chart. The outer ring on this chart is aligned to True North. The inner ring is aligned to Magnetic North. Your kayak's deck compass (or your handheld compass) gives you bearings relative to Magnetic North, so it makes sense to always work with Magnetic bearings when sea kayaking. We will scribe Magnetic North lines across the chart so we always have a reference direction for Magnetic North handy. Begin by extending the Magnetic North line through the center of the compass rose, in both directions. Step 3: We will draw parallel lines across the entire chart to create our north reference. To further simplify things on the water, we'll space these lines one nautical mile apart. Take a piece of paper, place it along the scale bar, and make marks every nautical mile. Below you'll see that it's exactly one nautical mile between the latitudes of 43° 37' and 43° 38', confirming that one minute of latitude is exactly one nautical mile. Step 4: Align the edge of the paper with the magnetic north line you drew through the center of the compass rose, and make small marks to the left and right of that line, spaced every nautical mile. Slide the paper further up the line and make a second set of marks. Step 5: Using a long straightedge or ruler, connect the marks to create parallel lines on your chart, one nautical mile apart. Step 6: Once you've scribed Magnetic North lines across your chart, you can further enhance your chart by highlighting things like launch sites, destinations, possible bail-outs or stopping points for lunch, so that you can find them easily. You can also highlight shipping lanes, channel crossings between buoys, or other hazards that you might overlook while bouncing around on the water. Step 7: Tidal predictions for smaller harbors and points along rivers (secondary tidal stations) are calculated based on a fixed time offset from the nearest large port (BOSTON, PORTLAND). Because these offsets are fixed, you can write them right on your chart. If you're paddling on the open ocean, you might not care too much about the slight differences in high tide times for locations on your chart. If you are in an area with complex tides and currents (like the Piscataqua River near Portsmouth, NH), having your chart marked up to show that high tide at Dover Point is always 1hr 33min later than high tide at Portsmouth Harbor makes it easy to plan a trip's timing, just by referring to the tide cycle for the day at the reference tidal station. Use the attached PDF to determine the tidal time differences for the locations shown on your chart, and make note of the time offsets at those locations on your chart. Write the reference station (Boston, Portland, Newport RI) somewhere on the chart as well! NSPN Tidal Differences.pdf Going further: If there's a particular crossing you plan to use on this and future trips, draw in a straight line representing your intended crossing, and annotate it with the distance (measure against your scale bar) and the magnetic bearing and back bearing (use the compass rose, a protractor, or your hiking compass, making sure to use Magnetic North, not True North, as your reference)