Joseph Berkovitz

I would like to but only 1/1 works for me

Having worn out my favorite Snapdragon some time ago, I now use an Immersion Research Klingon bungee skirt in the "Large" deck size for my Cetus MV. It is an extremely durable and well made skirt.  I find it is helpful to wet the skirt before putting it on the cockpit.

I would also like to thank Mike and Jason for doing this really important work for the club.

Although the new NSPN site is very similar to the old one, it is operating in a way that is much more manageable and cost effective for the club to maintain - a partly hidden but very important benefit. It means more of our resources for paddling, less for silicon!

The workshop is now full, but please go ahead and register for the waitlist as cancellations are always likely with this many people!

Get on the wait list at:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdNUh9Fvs3EESI6yfsf9gBvYcGefPX1lsCsiSZC7X0OOHk2QQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

If you want to attend this event please sign up using the Google Form registration link above - there are only a few spots left! I always appreciate comments expressing interest but that won’t reserve a space for you 🙂

Family visiting, I’m sorry ? can’t go!

@Sue Two As long as you’re happy swimming in it, a wet suit is ok. The water temp is currently 57-58°F. 

The rescue practice is only part of of the day and we can do it at the end, after we’re warmed up and just before we get off the water. 

A shortish notice fun paddle with aim to launch 10am from Riverhead Beach in Marblehead. Weather forecast is for light winds and calm seas, some combo of sun and clouds, air 50s water 50s.

there is no set destination and what we do will be suited to the group that attends. However we will definitely do some rescue practice so be prepared to swim in the not terribly warm water (which is also not terribly cold). If you don’t know how to do a rescue then you can learn how! And everyone here knows how to swim, right? Right!

Please register here: https://forms.gle/77j5tus4hKtRVhUa6

To join the trip you must be a paid-up NSPN member, and have signed the club participant waiver for this season. Your signup information will only be shared with other members on the trip.

Trip level: No specific level. All properly equipped members are welcome: please bring boats with rigged deck lines, bulkheads, spray skirts, and dress for immersion. 

Hope to see you there!

Joe Berkovitz

@Deborah Walsh I would be happy to co host a paddle with you and share some informal knowledge of how it works (without taking over the whole deal). 

you mentioned you’d like to have some more paddles this season and I think there can definitely be a few more. I am going to organize a small paddle locally on the north shore on Tuesday if you want to join - see trips forum later today. 

I’m looking forward to the party and the chance to see everyone.  I do want to say a few things about the paddle and conditions tomorrow, which I am also looking forward to!

Paddling doesn’t have to be a fair weather thing only. Rain isn’t dangerous by itself and it can be quite enjoyable once you’re on the water- you’re already dressed to be wet! Lightning is dangerous, but I have not found any mention of thunderstorms in any forecast. Regardless, we can and will check radar and will not be going far from shore. As far as wind and waves: there may be some easterly winds (blowing us towards the shore) and chop early in the day but these aren’t currently expected to be very strong; we can always stay in the most protected end of the sound. The real weather event tomorrow is the cold front, which the weather models now agree should arrive tomorrow night, long after we are off the water.

All of this is to encourage folks who have doubts to come to the paddle with their boats and an open attitude that with some prudence and common sense, fun is possible - maybe even likely - in New England fall weather! If the forecasts are right, this may be a chance to enjoy a different kind of paddle than the perfect summer’s day.  And if the forecasts are wrong, we can think of some other fun to have together.

Whatever the sky and ocean bring, I hope to see you tomorrow morning!
 

j

Thanks everyone who has chimed in with support for this idea.

I should add one brief point to follow up: as with the WLP series, help from other organizers is very welcome. I want the club be able to rely on a weekend saltwater venue where everyone can paddle and learn together throughout the season. The goal is to nurture a strong kayaking community of both longtime and newer members!

This new series of paddles provides a regular weekly opportunity for members to get on the water outside of the workweek. There is no set trip level: all skill levels are welcome. Trips will be tailored each week to the makeup of the group. If desired, opportunities for skills practice will come up naturally without a set curriculum.

All launches are at 8:00 am Sundays from Riverhead Beach in Marblehead (parking is $20). This is a very protected put-in with access to a wide range of paddling options from sheltered to adventurous. Typically we will return around midday. This early launch time avoids both car and boat traffic, minimizes wind conditions, and leaves paddlers free to enjoy the afternoon. 

The idea behind this is similar to the Wednesday Lunch Paddle series, but with a schedule that works for those of us with day jobs. I will probably not be able to organize this every single weekend (and it will conflict with other club events at times) but my intent is to keep it going as regularly as my schedule permits. The location and time have of course been shamelessly selected to make it convenient for me, the organizer ?.

Wow, thanks for posting this—very informative.  It did seem to me that most of the mussel beds disappeared around Marblehead and the North Shore, since we moved up here. Now the only mussels I see are limited areas of little tiny ones at low tide, just as shown in the underwater segments of the video.

 

On October 4 (yes, a WEDNESDAY) we're launching a lunch paddle at West Beach. Or perhaps we are lunching a launch paddle. It's confusing. Either way, we aim to enjoy what looks like a lovely early fall day, without the hassle of traveling through Salem.

Want to come? Let's meet up at West Beach at 9:30 am with an aim to launch (butts in boats) around 10:00 am. Please register here: https://forms.gle/8pZpra2N3MQktXEbA

LW is 9:22 am (0.6 feet); HW is 3:40pm (10 feet). Charts, more tides and currents, forecasts, are all available here:

https://floatingtrails.com/42.56167/-70.80507/13?du=n&cm=n&fr=n&ch=y&bu=y&b=rnc&t=y&d=202310041600Z

NOAA point forecast: https://marine.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lon=-70.77341&lat=42.54499 and as of press time it's "NNE wind 5 to 7 kt becoming E in the afternoon. Sunny. Seas around 2 ft." Air temps in mid 60s.

As usual, this trip is flexible and tailored to meet the interests and abilities of the group on any given day. A typical journey from this launch point would take us to White Beach for about an 8 nm round trip.

The water and air will both be in the lower 60s so please dress accordingly. Always assume you could be swimming followed by wind blowing on your now-wet clothes.

To join the trip you must be a paid-up NSPN member, and have signed the club participant waiver for this season. Your signup information will only be shared with other members on the trip.

Trip level: WLPs do not have a specific level. All properly equipped members are welcome: please bring boats with rigged deck lines, bulkheads, spray skirts, and dress for immersion. 

NOTE: The Wednesday Lunch Paddles are cooperative adventures, not guided trips. We encourage paddlers to make their own independent decision about their comfort level with conditions and plans at the time of the paddle. Each participant is responsible for her/his own safety. Don’t assume the trip initiators are smarter, stronger, better at rough water, more attractive, or more skilled paddlers than you are. For more information, see this description of our trip philosophy from the NSPN web site. 

Please PM me if you have questions or if you haven’t paddled on one of these events before.

Hope to see you there!

Joe Berkovitz

I can’t say it any better than David just did. 
 

Thank you for sharing this trip. It was the next best thing to going!

In a word, yes. I want to connect the dots on my next trip there.

We could have done that southwest trip instead of the out and back on day 1, it’s about the same mileage. However Janet and I didn’t want to start the trip with setting up a shuttle, and we did want the ease of launching directly from the campground the first day. 

You’re doing better than many. Mine last a little over a year before disintegrating completely. I apply 303 and wash them carefully and don’t get sunblock on them. I think gasket lifetime has a lot to do with variable skin chemistry. 
 

 

People: Joe Berkovitz & Janet Lorang (co-organizers), Ricardo Caivano, Dan Carr, Bill Doucet, Stephanie Golmon, Cath Kimball, Yong Eik Shin.

Introduction

This trip consisted of 3 day paddles which the group undertook while camping at a single site, The Anchorage Provincial Park. We did it this way rather than crossing Grand Manan Channel from the mainland, because a series of day paddles is far more flexible with respect to weather than a long, committed channel crossing plus circumnavigation. There is also a limited set of campsites on Grand Manan that makes circumnav logistics tricky for a group.

Generally each day featured high water early in the day followed by an ebb until afternoon. It was neaps so the currents were a fraction of their usual strength (GM Channel was running at max ebb of 0.5-1 kt instead of 4+ kt). This made for even more flexible route planning options, although cutting down on some of the potential exciting conditions.

The forecast kept changing right up to (and during) our stay, invariably predicting a mix of fog and rain. The fact was that the forecast was wrong nearly all the time. Sometimes it was foggy, sometimes not (particularly on the north side of the island). It hardly rained at all during our stay until the morning we left. On the last day there was bright sun although fog and drizzle were predicted.

Day 0: Thursday 9/7, arrival

We traveled through all of Maine, then through about 1 hour of New Brunswick after crossing the border at Calais. Eventually we arrived at the ferry terminal in Blacks Harbour, NB. The ferry was very pleasant. The Canadians make it really easy to get to Grand Manan, and it isn’t very expensive either. The total drive time to the ferry terminal is shorter than to Lubec because the roads are better and more direct. Time on the ferry is about 90 minutes. 2 passengers in a car can travel round trip for about $50 US.

The Anchorage Provincial Park is operated by New Brunswick, and it is first-rate and is clean and well kept up. The sites feel private and secluded—we reserved 4 sites for 8 people, one of which was a group site where we had lots of room to gather and hang out. The regular sites easily fit 2 tents. The park includes its own very ample beach, which requires a 2-minute drive or walk. Many bunnies gambol among the clearings—they are a domestic species, not wild rabbits. It sounds corny, but they really give the place a cozy feeling, which is a good thing as the park is often foggy and gray in the morning as is much of the south end of the island.  The cost per person for 4 nights was $55 (it would be more if each person had their own site).

After checking in, a few of us drove off at sunset to check out the big views from Southern Head. It was still not fogged in, and we were unsure that these conditions would last.

 

Day 1: Friday 9/8, Long Pond to Southern Head and back (16.5 nm)

This day’s goal was to leave straight from the campground (no shuttle needed), reach the cliffs of Southern Head and see the big sights there, hopefully finding a landable beach, and then return. We launched straight from Long Pond Beach which was convenient. We could not see much of anything though, due to the thick fog. Staying together was a big priority and we took special care to maintain mutual visibility. There was almost no wind and only some small wind waves. 

Our route took us through the substantial fishing village of Seal Cove where we explored the harbor (many unfamiliar kinds of large fishing vessels) and observed a bald eagle hanging out on some industrial debris.

We overheard fishermen on some boats yelling to each other about “the kayakers in the harbor” but as far as we could tell, they were just exchanging information and no one’s mother was insulted or even mentioned. On we went.

The landscape slowly rose higher and higher, passing cliffs and the occasional beach. The fog began to lift and for the first time we could see more than the tiny patch of coastline next to us. Finally, we rounded Southwest Head a little after noon and the big scenery kicked in.

The southwest of Grand Manan is 200-300 foot high basalt cliffs which fracture in dramatic vertical columns. There are a series of small bays containing cobble beaches coming right up to the cliffs. The bays are separated by sharp, high rocky outcrops. Below the cliffs, the beach disappears at higher tides. They were landable at our low water tide level of about 5 feet (although the cobbles get larger as the water gets lower). They are not steep.

The combination of light, landscape and fog was special. We explored up and down our little bay. With steep headlands to either side and the cliffs towering above it, it formed its own self-contained microworld, looking out into Grand Manan Channel. Somewhere out there was the Bold Coast of Maine but it wasn’t visible.

On our way back we took a different route and headed out to low, gravelly Western Green Island for a break. We also scouted the outside of Outer Wood Island, which is said to be a great island to explore but it was too foggy and we were too tired at this point to explore something else: it was around 4 pm and we still had some distance to cover. We did identify a single really good looking landing spot on the outside. The island is very rocky and has some elevation on the outside though not all that high - perhaps 30-40 feet in a few places. Allegedly there is a sea cave but we didn’t see it in the fog.

Turning north, the fog made for a slightly confusing experience trying to thread our way back up the east side of Wood Island with various ledges poking out. As it happened, there was just enough water to make it over the Pond Point Ledges that were trying to block our progress (though we couldn’t see them). Janet then led us right up to the channel marker for a final short, direct crossing back to the coastline, while boat engines noisily churned, unseen, to our left in Seal Cove.

Overall, the currents on this trip seemed minimal, except in a few obvious constricted waterways like the Seal Cove harbor entrance.

Day 2: Saturday 9/9, Dark Harbour to Stanley Beach (10 nm)

The next day we decided on a shuttle trip to explore the north side of the island, both east and west. We would depart at high water (around 8:30 am) from Dark Harbour on the west side of the island, rounding the northern cape of Long Eddy Point, coming around North Head and eventually landing at Stanley Beach which is on the east side of the island.

Dark Harbour Pond, a lagoon enclosed by a naturally-formed steep cobble berm, is the launch location for the west-side dulse harvesting fleet. There is a single narrow gut connecting the pond to Grand Manan Channel which is passable only for a short time either side of high water—at other times it is either too swift or too low to paddle in. So we had the perfect tide timing for departing from Dark Harbour, assuming we could launch in time (which we did).

The dulse boats apparently launch 2 hours before low tide, so they have to be winched up and over the berm. They are dories surfaced with sheet metal on the bottom to make this less destructive. You can see them lined up near the kayaks; each with its own little outboard motor. The dulse is pitchforked or raked into the open boat.

While we were waiting I chatted with a herring fisherman who was going out to tend his weir (there are many, many herring weirs scattered everywhere around Grand Manan). He said it would be rough on the outside at first, but that as soon as we got around the northern point everything would calm down until we finally went around the Swallowtail (see map above - it’s a thin peninsula hanging off of North Head on the east side). There is usually a large tide rip in that location since it sticks way out into the Bay of Fundy. Since we were planning to hit the Swallowtail around slack, this didn’t seem like a big concern.

Leaving via the gut, we were rapidly pushed out to Grand Manan Channel at a pretty good clip, but not an adrenaline-inducing one.

Our departure had a few moments of clear visibility but then we entered another socked-in zone as we paddled along the west side cliffs heading north. We had a 10 knot tailwind blowing from the south against the ebb, but the area near the cliffs is basically a series of eddies running counter to the flow and blending into each other, plus the main flow wasn’t that big in the first place. So the water was a bit rough with wind waves, but in a low-key way that made it fun to slalom among the rocks along the cliffs.

We stopped for a quick break at Money Cove, another lagoon/berm combination with a couple of decaying cabins on top.

Eventually we reached Long Eddy Point where the fog lifted and the sun came out. The landscape here was basalt but more varied than the columns we had seen in the southwest. Big features included The Bishop (a sort of chair-like form) and Ashburton Head (named after a famous shipwreck). Here's The Bishop:

At Long Eddy Point we did observe a big tide rip maybe a quarter mile north of the point and we went out to look at it; some of us surfed the steep waves at its edge. It looked like it would probably carry us substantially backward if we outright played in it and lunchtime was looming.

Ashburton Head also had a very substantial counter-current that generated a just about surfable standing wave over some ledges. This current must be some kind of eddy since it basically runs north (although the overall ebb runs south), but it’s a really strong one. Apparently on a spring tide this countercurrent can be too strong to paddle through.

(The whole current situation at the north end was another reminder of just how complex the tidal situation is on Grand Manan – what is happening in the channels does not in any way clue one into what’s going on near the coast of the island which is very complicated. One would need to put in some sustained time here learning all the squirrely local deviations.)

Our lunch stop was Seven Days Work Cliff. The cliff was impressively high and sported some very cool looking formations. Many of the rocks at its base are sprinkled with thousands of tiny multicolored geodes and sparkly inclusions like confetti.

From here it was on to the famous Hole In The Wall on Fish Head, although first we had to cross a lane where the southwest wind was blowing hard through a gap in the landscape.

Just past the Hole, a beautiful beach beckoned and basically forced us to land on it because it looked so nice that we just had to. There was a cool sea cave in the back of it with a skylight.

Finally it was time to go around North Head and the Swallowtail. As soon as we rounded Fish Head the water began to perk up and roughen, and once we went around the Swallowtail we were in a tide-race kind of seascape, though the waves were only around 1.5 feet. It certainly made us think about the conditions here with a similar 10 kt SW wind, but on a spring ebb tide instead of slack/neaps. Not something to take lightly. The rough water lasted a good 15 minutes of paddling, it was not just a limited patch of ocean. We landed at Stanley Beach just after passing the ferry landing. Fortunately we were in between ferries so we didn’t have that to worry about!

It was nice to finish early with this day’s shorter paddle and have a relaxed hangout/dinner.

Day 3: Sunday 9/10, Stanley Beach to Long Pond Beach (16.5 nm)

Our final day was another clockwise shuttle that began where the previous one left off, taking us back to our campsite at the very end of the day and making the shuttle relatively easy to set up. There was no big tidal gate and we could have a relaxed start, although it naturally fell out that we launched at high water anyway.

The day dawned at The Anchorage with clear skies and no fog, to everyone’s surprise. The moon and Venus shone brightly before sunrise. There was essentially zero wind. It was a perfect morning, except that we sensed we might get a bit hot paddling in drysuits.

We drove up north and launched onto glassy water, heading for our first of a chain of uninhabited islands that run north/south lying off Grand Manan’s populated, low-lying eastern shore. Some of these are pretty substantial.

Long Island is used to graze some sheep, apparently.

From here we visited High Duck, Low Duck, Great Duck and then after a more substantial crossing, White Head Island. The scenery and water were gorgeous, never mind that another odd current was sometimes opposing us, running counter to the ebb. By this time we had paddled almost 10 nm and were getting hungry. White Head has inhabitants and we were looking at some not so great landing choices when we spotted a narrow but perfect beach on a wild ledge called Gull Rock lying just offshore. That was to be our lunch spot: an “up and over” pebble beach that is really just a gravel bar connecting two parts of the ledge, and disappears at high water.

Following lunch we continued working our way through calm seas through the ledgier parts on the south of White Head Island until we reached Long Point, another place that sticks way out and can potentially generate big tide rips. Here there were some actual conditions at the very tip due to some current and swell interaction. When I was here over a year ago, this place was really wild, but today it was just a little bit of entertainment layered on top of a very calm day.

Our final leg took us up the edge of White Head, where we rested briefly next to the namesake bright white rocks that line this narrow neck of the island. Thence, back to Anchorage via a long WNW slog. It was now flooding and of course, we encountered yet another bunch of weird currents at the edges of some of the islets in the area. Some of these made sense in terms of water flooding nearby harbors, while others left us scratching our heads. We finally landed at Anchorage ready to call it a day as the evening fog began to roll in.

 

It’s hurricane season. If you’ve been in exposed waters these last few days, you’ve been feeling it too - long, powerful swells. 

I always wonder about the actual conditions that generate these swells. Here is a unique video that NOAA made in 2021 which provides some rare footage of the sea state inside a major hurricane. 

For more information from NOAA on hurricanes, take a look at their Mariners Tropical Storm guide:

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/Mariners_Guide_Article.pdf
 

That seems like a really good idea Gary for folks who have to travel to get here.

If someone needs a place to stay and can’t find a spot I can also put someone up as I live about 10 minutes away. 

Great idea! It’s in my calendar. 

Wow! Nice trip and great report. 

Hi folks,

I have a very busy fall this year and so I will not be able to organize continuous WLP trips going forward this year.  Others are welcome to organize them though! If I am able to, I will attend.

In particular, I will not be organizing a trip this week on August 30. Note that Tropical Storm Franklin is likely to impact the region with heavy rains beginning some time on Wednesday, so maybe that's just as well for a prospective lunch paddle.

 

Here are Doug's pictures in a more viewable format.

People: Prudence Baxter, Doug Stetson, Karen Gladstone, Kevin McComiskey, Barbara Ryan, Joe Berkovitz, Ricardo Caivano

(Special shout-out to new NSPN paddler Kevin! It was his first time on a club paddle.)

Route (10 nautical miles):

This tidally-assisted paddle featured a launch from a boat ramp that no one I know has ever used: the Nahant Ave Ramp, a Mass DCR property. It's located on the other side of the Nahant causeway from the beach, and has ample free parking. (You are not supposed to access the beach if you park there, and you can be ticketed unless you are bringing a boat!)

The weather on Wednesday was utterly perfect "pre-fall" weather: extremely crisp and dry air, with temps in the 70s and very modest wind that provided a tailwind along the causeway in both directions, as it reversed midday. The water was very calm but the outer side of Nahant was receiving 1-foot long period swell—making for *very* relaxed paddling among the rocks, for those who chose to do so.

Low was at 10:30 and we launched around 9:30, riding the remains of the ebb out. No boat traffic although we did spot the new Lynn MBTA ferry coming and going across the harbor (Lynn is on the other side of the water in this direction). There were some shallow spots at low water near the causeway that need to be scooted around.

Once we were out at Bass Point the environment changed a lot with the open ocean all around us and a big view of the outer harbor. We made our way around East Point to land around 11:45 at Canoe Beach on the other side of Nahant's "boot toe", an easy landing protected from what little waves there were. Canoe Beach is a Northeastern University property but other people were there sunbathing, snorkeling and diving; N.U. does not seem interested in driving people away from the beach which is a good thing.

After lunch most of us walked up to Lodge Park at the 75-foot summit of East Point with its commanding view of Massachusetts Bay. From the top looking roughly south we could see both The Graves Light and, much much further away, Minot Point Light in Cohasset. All the harbor islands were arrayed before us, too. Swallows frolicked in the air above us. Always an incredible spot to visit.

We made our way back the way we came. There was still not quite enough water to play in the "Quad" or "Subterranean" slots off of East Point. But it was still an utter delight. We arrived back at the ramp around 2:30, having had a perfect end-of-summer WLP. Thanks to everyone who could make this one!