Joseph Berkovitz

This cautionary tale definitely hits home. A simple mishap that could happen to any of us in a boat, after which reasonable backup plans were either foreclosed (spare paddle, maybe VHF) or weren’t used (swim test drysuit before launching, self-Rescue immediately to get out of the cold water). Consequences rapidly spun out of control. I have made many of the same kinds of mistakes and each of these stories is an opportunity to re examine my practice. I’m so glad Alan is ok! He is a good writer too and he really captured the event beautifully. Some folks will say that some aspects of the situation were inherently too dangerous and simply should have been avoided (winter, solitude, winter current, winter solitude, all three in combination). But there’s a big difference between choosing experiences that carry risk, and unintentionally assuming risks that come from our own decisions. I think it’s the latter risks that we should focus on here: what can make a situation safer without compromising the experience we’re looking for in the first place? And solitude on the water is very much an experience that some people desire, as much as being on the water itself. Solitude in nature is special. I really need it sometimes, like a vitamin or something. So, paddling is unsafe. As Josko said, do we stay at home? No, because we want to paddle and accept some risk, and so try to do it as safely as possible. Also, paddling in the winter is unsafe. Do we put the boat away for 5 months? Some of us do and it’s a perfectly reasonable decision. Those of us who keep on through the winter accept extra risk, and try to do it as safely as possible. Also also, paddling alone is unsafe. Do we always need a friend to paddle with? Some of us elect not to paddle alone and that’s reasonable. Those who do... you can fill in the rest of this paragraph.

Glad everything went well. At high water it is a really confusing area, I went there this winter for the first time. I had noted the map bearing from The west side of Choate to fox creek in advance (310 M) and without that I would have gotten lost for sure, at high tide it’s just a bunch of open water with few landmarks (except the occasional Mega Mansion).

Hi all, I have scheduled a workshop later on in April to share what I've learned about making nautical charts with QGIS, a powerful open-source map-making program aimed at professionals. It is not easy to use and demands more than a casual investment of time, but the rewards are considerable. Details on the session can be found here: https://www.nspn.org/forum/calendar/event/1315-making-charts-with-qgis/ ...j

I have some transportation issues today so am paddling out of Marblehead but it should be a perfect day for this trip, so enjoy!

It is a good book, I read it too.

For geology lovers: the geology of Salem Sound. courtesy of Abbot Library in Marblehead and Salem Sound Coastwatch. For more details and link to the meeting go to: https://www.salemsound.org/ Wednesday, February 24, 7:00 - 8:30pm 2nd VIRTUAL Underwater in Salem Sound Lecture: Geologic History and Evolution of Salem Sound Presenter: Dr. Lindley Hanson - Professor Emerita of Geology, Salem State University We welcome Dr. Lindley Hanson back to shine light on this always popular topic. In fact, she was our first presenter for the Underwater in Salem Sound lecture series in 2013. So many people attended that she had to return the next week to re-present the lecture for the crowd we had to turned away. Dr. Hanson will guide us through the geology of our place – Salem Sound and bordering lowlands. Do you know why Marblehead and Salem Harbors are northeast trending while the Danvers River estuary is southeast trending? Or why we our coastline is defined by rocky pocket beaches and outcroppings of volcanic rock? Come prepared for a fascinating evening learning about geological history with contemporary insight.

Pablo, that link takes me to the Apple App Store rather than somewhere describing this event. Can you paste a short description here so we don’t have to click through a link to find out. maybe should go in the external events forum)

Note the initiaL posting referred to “trips up to L2” but I should have said “up to L3”. The material is valuable for any level though, really.

Hi people, Let's beat both winter and the pandemic in one swoop, with some educational fun (that we can apply once we're able to get out and paddle again)! Next month, Bob and I are offering a set of 3 Saturday afternoon sessions over Zoom, aimed at improving paddlers’ ability to research, plan and execute paddling trips in typical local areas used by the club, up to NSPN Level 3. No prior experience is needed — novice paddlers are more than welcome, this course is for you! The class is built around an online workbook of exercises. Lecture and presentation will be kept to a minimum. Wherever possible, material will be introduced in the context of solving real-world problems. Some exercises will be done online with the instructors, some in student breakout sessions or “pods”, and some offline. As a culminating exercise, small groups students will plan one or more “fantasy” paddles given a set of expected weather conditions, and present their plans to the class for critique. The calendar entry and more complete information on registration and course content can be found by clicking the link box below. I hope to see you there. --J

My experience planning the bold coast club trips w Bob the last few years has been that slack in Lubec Narrows is about 1.5 hours earlier than Hw/Lw in Cutler. I use cutler to avoid the ADT time zone Confusion but it is only a little earlier than St John. two caveats though: - high/low water in Lubec is considerably later than slack because of the weird flows feeding the area from 3 directions. One time we came through there at dead slack before ebb and left the boats a bit above the tide line — but the water continued rising for another half an hour, a couple of feet at least, and we almost lost the kayaks (embarrassing!). Actually the ebb current started even though the water level was still rising! - the timing apparently is a bit unpredictable according to local paddlers, there must be some source of randomness somehow. So they say build in extra conservatism.

Reposting from Salem Sound Coastwatch. Lecture on the shipwreck of the Ada K. Damon. This looks interesting. (Last week @prudenceb, @David M and myself ate lunch next to this very shipwreck without knowing what it was. I'm sure the full story will be fascinating. As the pictures in the above link shows, the wreck emerges from and recedes into the sand as the coastline keeps changing.) Wednesday, January 27, 7:00 - 8:30pm - VIRTUAL Underwater in Salem Sound Lecture Series: "Massachusetts Coastal Resources at Risk: Ada K. Damon Shipwreck on Steep Hill Beach, Ipswich" David Robinson, Director and Chief Archaeologist for the Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources, will discuss maritime archaeology with a particular focus on the wreck site of the 1875 schooner Ada K. Damon on Steep Hill Beach at the Trustees of Reservations' Crane Estate property in Ipswich. He will share the story of its history, demise, and rebirth as a part of the local community's cultural fabric for over a century. Recent dramatic impacts to the site caused by coastal erosion resulted from the confluence of climate change-induced sea level rise, seasonal "King Tides" and the passage of Hurricane Teddy off the Massachusetts coast. The recent fate of the Ada K. Damon raises important questions about the increasing vulnerability of the Commonwealth's coastal cultural resources to coastal erosion. More information and Zoom link available here: https://www.salemsound.org/calendar.html

FYI, eventually someone emailed me the info 25 minutes late and made it sound like I probably screwed up ("I had Eventbrite send it out 5 times"). Of course I had checked my spam folder. Moving on...

In that case, maybe just read his materials and watch his videos here: http://www.coldwatersafety.org/nccwsRules3.html Sort of like a combination of "Scared Straight" and "Deep Trouble", served well-chilled.

I registered for this workshop, but it's now 7 pm and I have not been sent the promised Zoom link, so going to make other plans I guess... Hope no one else had the same problem.

Good idea, that date change...!

Interesting. I'll have to make it out there to Misery to see if I can find them. Hope you all had fun yesterday! In California goats are used quite a lot to keep vegetation under control for fire prevention, you see them up on the ridges in open spaces. Where we were staying near San Pablo Bay, one day we saw a big animal truck filled with goats from a company called "Goats R Us" driving around. Later we saw the same company's herds while hiking around my daughter's place. There was a goatherd living up there with the goats, too, with a couple of dogs to help manage the goats. Cheaper than machinery, and cuter.

I don't think your point is really wrong... it's only, I don't think neoprene gloves are permeable on purpose like a wetsuit. I find most (undamaged) neoprene gloves to be quite waterproof, in terms of the barrier aspect of the glove. With a fresh pair of neoprene gloves on, my hands stay completely dry even when immersed up to the wrists. The wrist seam is another story though. With any waterproof glove, whether neoprene or latex or [insert miracle textile here], some water eventually seems to get in around the wrist opening. For me, that happens mostly when swimming or when taking the glove off and putting it back on again. At that point the glove does indeed act like a wetsuit. The small amount of water trapped inside warms up to your hand, assuming your hand wasn't cold in the first place. But if your hand has gotten cold again in the meantime, forget it. At that point only a warm dry glove will do to make things better quickly.

@pitt16 I similarly find bare hands in pogies do work great. However if I wind up swimming in 40-something water, my hand will turn into an inoperable claw within a minute. Which is the main reason why I wear gloves. People have gotten in big trouble simply from being unable to grab deck lines after a brief cold water swim. Prudence recently gave me a pair of those latex dipped fishing gloves on this weekends trip, and they were great until I had to put them back on after lunch. I think 2nd-pair-in-drysuit is a good way to go.

Interesting - thanks for sharing this! I saw an MFA show around 5 years ago that featured a lot of Hokusai's work, including some of the actual woodblocks used to print it. They displayed the Great Wave print in various stages, accumulating the different colors from different blocks. examining the specific inks that were used.

Do you ever wonder what just the US Coast Guard does when they receive a Channel 16 Mayday call? Or how they go about looking for someone out there in trouble, if they don't know exactly where they are? How do they decide when to stop looking for someone because they're probably no longer alive? All you ever wanted to know about this, and much more, can be found here: https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Portals/9/CG-5R/manuals/COMDTINST M16130.2F.pdf It's a bit much to read cover to cover, but it gives a lot of insight into how much careful process, planning and execution is applied to keeping us all safe on the water. Interesting fodder for reading and discussion, along with a copy of Deep Trouble. In the meantime, here's a summary of key points provided by a USCG employee who is active in the Bay Area kayaking community:

This is report on a paddle I did on Sunday in California with a couple of members of the Bay Area Sea Kayakers. Sorry about the formatting! The links go out to specific pictures and videos in Google Photos, which give a much better idea of the area than my writeup. Here's just one pic as a teaser though: Point Reyes: Drakes Beach to Pt. Reyes Light People: me, Franca Cioria, Damon Paxt Launch: 10:20; Land: 14:50 Conditions: Sunny, air 50 F, water 52 F, swell 5 ft @ 13 s WNW Tides: 2020/11/29 Sun 09:20 AM 6.04 H 2020/11/29 Sun 4:34 PM -0.23 L Distance: 11.4 nm Track: https://www.gaiagps.com/datasummary/track/9cbc6b96c6b14955c1b37cce398b43c1/?layer=gaianoaarnc Picture Album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ji8v3WsLKeCpvFZA9 This was one of the most scenic trips I’ve ever paddled anywhere. Franca’s general idea was to launch from the well-protected Drakes Beach and paddle out to Chimney Rock at the east end of the 600-foot-high Point Reyes Headlands, then along the length of the headlands to the lighthouse. This is one of the most exposed places on the entire California coastline and is rarely a sane place to paddle because of the heavy swell, wind and fog that often occurs there. Yet for a couple of days we had a great weather window, so we took advantage of it. 10:15: The launch off Drakes was smooth and the ocean glassy except for the 3-foot dumping break right in front of us. Fortunately the very long period made it easy to time our entry and paddle past the break. The only challenge was picking a launch point without too much longshore swash and waiting for a big enough wave to seal launch the boats. Then we had a long calm paddle out to near Chimney Rock. As we paddled, many surf scoters were flying away from us with their distinctive whoop-whoop wingbeats. Video 11:00. Just inside of Chimney Rock there were coves with elephant and harbor seals hauling out. We encountered a sea lion while we debated whether to go on the inside or outside passage. (The inside was shallow and dicey and outside swell was breaking through—we took the outside as the water was still high enough that the shoals would probably not be an issue.) 11:15 A long traverse of the incredibly dramatic headlands to the lighthouse, about 3 nm. Swell kept wrapping in towards us, mostly very graceful and long 3-4 footers but occasional 6-foot monsters thrown in so we needed to be careful about reading rocks and ledges. The current was against us on the way out, probably about 0.25 kt at most judging from the difference in speed on the GPS track. At the beginning of the outside trek I indulged in some rock gardening as there were many deep slots and occasional tunnels in the tall rock ribs sticking out of the ocean. Along the way we encountered a sea lion cove and viewed the top of an underwater kelp forest. 12:25. We arrived at the lighthouse on its high bluff. Just before the lighthouse the wind picked up hugely as we neared the end of our lee and the undiluted western swell began to hit various points and kick up huge spray. The light is no longer in use and curtains are up to protect the lens; the actual light is a rather low-profile LED affair that is hardly seen in the daytime. We went a bit beyond the point to gain a view down the west side of Point Reyes towards Tomales Point and Bodega Bay about 10 miles away. Out here the ocean was much rougher with some chop on top of the swell. We turned around. 1:30 we arrived back at Chimney Rock. On the return trip the swell seemed to be lessened although there were occasional big sets recurring. Here though because of the lower water level, the shoal extending east from Chimney Rock was triggering a line of breakers. We waited in front of the rock for a bit, observing and wondering what the best way back inside might be. To clear the shoals entirely would require a half-mile detour towards the G “1” whistle buoy. There appeared to be some gaps but we would need to scout them carefully. The area just adjacent to Chimney Rock seemed itself to be a gap of sorts, but we saw that the bigger waves were definitely breaking in that area. Damon pulled a little bit ahead to take a closer look while I suggested that we wait for one of the really big sets, then quickly punch through in a following lull. At that exact moment Franca yelled “outside” as one of the huge sets arrived. I did wonder if we were toast for a quick moment, but the approaching wave stood down slightly as it approached the rock and we easily backpaddled over it. I hoped Damon was OK, but after the wave approach he had backed towards our safer position again. Another two monsters roared through. Clearly that would not have been a moment to punch around the rock, but after the third wave I looked back and saw nothing coming for a distance. “Let’s go!” We very purposefully rounded the rock. Just after we came around some waves did come through but they would have been quite rideable. 1:35-2:00. A chilly but gorgeous lunch break on a tiny pocket beach just inside of the rock as we desperately needed food. We shared the beach with some elephant and harbor seals at the other end — we landed in the opposite corner to avoid disturbing them. They did not seem to care and a large rock hid us from their view. Damon found some cool looking sea anemones. 2:55. We landed at Drakes in the building NW wind. The dump was much smaller on our return, though. A perfect wild California paddle.

This is the material what I’ve found to work really well for me under a drysuit: https://www.terramarsports.com/collections/mens-heritage-series/products/2-layer-authentic-thermal-crew-w8359 This Terramar 2.0 stuff is sort of on the cusp between fleece and the thinner polypro typE garments. It is on the thinner side yet has some fleece like loft for insulation and does not develop the sticky sweaty feel Of polypro but is soft and a little absorbent. On the colder days I add a thin wool layer on top. And... much cheaper than kokatat