Joseph Berkovitz

(Bump) - These events are going forward on schedule, subject to public health restrictions on out of state attendance and gathering sizes. We will post updates next week (6/8) after the next cycle of reopening is announced.

There are lots of rock features in this area. If people want to play in them (and some, like me, probably will), a helmet is definitely recommended.

Anyone who has completed the signup form (including both of you) is signed up. There are no technical problems that I know of and the trip is full.

NSPN Wednesday Lunch Paddle #2 of 2020 will take place on June 3. Try as I might to introduce some kind of unexpected twist to these paddles, June 3 seems to be once again a Wednesday. Covid-19 paddling: on this trip we will strictly observe social distancing and MA state recreational boating guidelines for the pandemic. You must be a MA state resident to participate. There is a strict limit of 10 paddlers on the trip. If you do not pre-register using the form link below, you are not on the trip! We will stay at least 6 feet apart, use gloves and/or hand sanitizer when helping carry boats, mininize sharing docks and ramps with others, and wear face masks while off the water in public use areas. We will also employ an online waiver to avoid passing around a physical piece of paper. Registration: You must sign up by completing the following online waiver and registration form (which will also serve as a float plan): https://forms.gle/5zvtMBWTzVLPs9dH8 You must be an NSPN member to join this trip. Your information will not be shared publicly. Only the organizers and other participants will know you are coming. Location: Riverhead Beach, Marblehead MA. https://goo.gl/maps/p6cWChiSE88bCkrCA Predictions: Light/variable winds becoming W 10 kt by afternoon; drizzle/overcast; air 55-60 F; water 55 F; light long period swell. Salem Harbor Tides: 2020/06/03 Wed 09:48 AM 9.60 H 2020/06/03 Wed 3:48 PM -0.31 L When/what: We will launch at 10.30 sharp. Then we'll have a beach briefing in some safe manner, possibly on the water to avoid cramped quarters, make a plan together based on what people feel like doing. This trip doesn't have a specific level: we'll determine the route based on who shows up, what people want to do, and what the environment wants to do. 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. 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. Unlike last year, registration is required in advance to enforce the Covid-19 group size limit of 10 people. However we encourage paddlers to make their own independent decision about their comfort level with conditions at the time of the paddle. Please PM me if you have questions or if you haven’t paddled with me or Bob before. Looking forward to seeing you there! 

Update: Riverhead Beach is finally open as of this morning.

@midtempoWe are having Skills Practice sessions on many weekends this year, starting June 14 and continuing throughout July/Aug/Sept. These are on saltwater not a lake, and will be a good venue for anyone to pick up and practice foundational paddling skills with some degree of contact with a true marine environment. Note that much of the work will be in relatively sheltered water, not open ocean. It is not as free-form as Chebacco because each session has a specific focus, so it’s not intended to replace the lake sessions.

A beautiful late spring day, southwest breeze 10-12 kt, swells around 1-2 feet @ 7 s. The water temp got up to 55 F at Boston Buoy. We launched as planned from Parker’s Boatyard in Marblehead, a rather awkward put-in but the only current option with nearby street parking until Riverhead reopens. Bob, myself, Prudence, Jane C, Nancy H, Sue H, Pat Donohue and Beth S paddled up the west side of the harbor to Browns Island for a quick break, then out to the lighthouse across the harbor in fine formation: Then down the Neck and out to Tinkers for lunch. There was more than enough swell left to activate all my favorite features of this coastline and there was lots of spray, sparkle and sunlight. Folks agreed that we managed to maintain good social distance throughout the trip and on the beaches. At the boatyard masks were worn by all. It was disappointing not to be able to congregate as usual but even more important to protect ourselves and others and I think we all kept an eye on safety while having a great time. I hope we will have many more trips like this, in spite of the challenges this season!

Yes, weekly. Please come!

Yes you are in there Sue. What I shared is a form that you submit. The actual float plan link cannot be posted without making everyone’s info public.

I talked to Parks and Rec Dept and they couldn’t give me a date on reopening. There doesn’t appear to be a plan.

NSPN Wednesday Lunch Paddle #1 of 2020 takes place on May 27, a day which, in keeping with tradition, happens to be a Wednesday. Covid-19 paddling: on this trip we will strictly observe social distancing and MA state recreational boating guidelines for the pandemic. You must be a MA state resident to participate. There is a strict limit of 10 paddlers on the trip. If you do not pre-register using the form link below, you are not on the trip! We will stay at least 6 feet apart, use gloves and/or hand sanitizer when helping carry boats, mininize sharing docks and ramps with others, and wear face masks while off the water in public use areas. We will also employ an online waiver to avoid passing around a physical piece of paper. Registration: You must sign up by completing the following online waiver and registration form (which will also serve as a float plan): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSejTusyW7c9bKXKlTsiHvx4cVu5tI_vB-8GXPvGFFLSoc2frg/viewform?usp=sf_link You must be an NSPN member to join this trip. Your information will not be shared publicly. Only the organizers and other participants will know you are coming. Location: this is a bit tricky due to many local access points being shut down including Riverhead Beach. The meeting place is Parker’s Boatyard in Marblehead at 10 am, and I will be there to greet you. The rather complex launch procedure is as follows (designed to maintain good relations with the Harbormaster and the neighbors): - Drive yourself to Parker's Boatyard, 3R Redstone Ln, Marblehead, MA 01945 https://goo.gl/maps/mcpknx3uGNS7rP5i9 It is an obscure spot located down either of 2 super narrow long driveways off the right side of Redstone Lane. If you see a driveway that seems to go nowhere then you probably found it. There lots of sailboats in storage, a small beach below a rock wall, and a gangway to a floating dock. It is a town owned property normally not used by kayakers but it is legal; the key thing is to respect other boaters using the facility - drop your boat and gear off and quickly change into your paddling gear in the boatyard (or even better have it on already!) - park on nearby Commercial St next to chain link fence on the left, or on Gregory St. Observe any lined-off no parking zones and avoid parking on Redstone Lane. I’ll be there to give local directions. - walk back to the boatyard and paddle! In the near future we will hopefully be able to employ easier locations. Predictions: Forecast is mid 70s, sunny, moderate SW winds, seas 1-2 ft. In other words, PERFECT! 9:22 AM EDT Low Tide, -0.18 Feet 3:40 PM EDT High Tide, 8.58 Feet When/what: We will launch at 10.30 sharp. Then we'll have a beach briefing in some safe manner, possibly on the water to avoid cramped quarters, make a plan together based on what people feel like doing. The launch location should give us plenty of wind/swell protection at the outset of the paddle; we'll decide where to go based on our group discussion (which will continue after we're on the water!). This trip doesn't have a specific level: we'll determine the route based on who shows up, what people want to do, and what the environment wants to do. All properly equipped members are welcome: please bring boats with rigged deck lines, bulkheads, spray skirts, and dress for immersion. Dry suit very highly recommended as water temps are still around 50 F. And... don’t forget lunch!!! NOTE: The Wednesday Lunch Paddles are cooperative adventures, not guided trips. 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. A waiver/float plan will be created at the launch, so there's no need to commit in advance. It's always 100% OK to show up, decide you don't like the conditions or the trip, and opt out. Unlike last year, registration is more formal to enforce the group size limit. Please PM me if you have questions or if you haven’t paddled with me or Bob before. Looking forward to seeing you there! 

All good points. We often think about risk in ways that aren’t rational. Do check out the Danish video as it includes some suggestions on distanced rafting, which certainly seems safer than regular rafting. Also (definitely not yet in this season) there do arise situations where a swimmer is at very little risk from injury or hypothermia. Someone was fooling around in their boat in late August and capsized, or whatever. Nice to have an option or two. But certainly, as you say, not an automatic go-to.

At the moment we feel it’s best to give the current plan a little more time to see if Maine changes their quarantine policy. Some people on the trip have already requested time off for the existing dates so there is a downside to simply moving the whole thing to September. We don’t really know that things in Maine will be OK then either. J

Here are some more videos on the same topic, from Denmark (but narrated and titled in English). I found them quite thoughtfully put together and explained very well. https://www.onadventure.dk/assisted-kayak-rescues-and-rafts-with-increased-distance

It is a town launch site not state, and I believe it is still not currently open but I would check back after May 25 when a lot of boating facilities here in Marblehead will reopen under Phase 1 of the state plan.

Little Harbor ramp is open to paddlers but also to everyone else, and its tiny parking lot has become really choked up lately due to curbside pickup business at the fish store there, along with boat trailer people trying to avoid the Riverhead ramp bottleneck. Having more cars come will make it even worse and might risk triggering some kind of backlash resulting in the whole thing getting shut down to non residents. I walk by there pretty much every day and it’s quite a mess with cars idling in the middle of the lot, people parking directly on the ramp and blocking it, etc. Not recommended.

While CalTopo is nice for online viewing and measurement, I find the resolution of printed CalTopo charts poor compared to cropping the original NOAA PDFs and printing at the full original resolution. If anyone’s interested, I covered that technique in the slides for my presentation earlier in the year here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/15MNYkiiALa8iZz8RZb2kCS_RNYaPXTY2KuwT9BRildQ/edit?usp=sharing

i bet you are right about there being a deep bed of post glacial sediment there. Specifically, at least 90 feet worth! Just To be clear, I didn’t mean that the bridge itself was causing this, just that the phenomenon is similar to bridge scour. But in this case I suspect the hole is caused by an eddy directly off the point where long reach meets doughty cove. The bridge seems too far away to be the cause. From the configuration of the hole just upstream of the point (including its odd little tail), I’m guessing the scouring takes place on the flood not the ebb.

I think this is likely an example of hydrodynamic scour. This is a bottom phenomenon not a surface phenomenon so one wouldn’t necessarily see a whirlpool up top. It occurs because of vortices of rotating water below the surface that occur at a point of obstructions. Often this can be bridge pilings (see bridge scour) but it can occur at any point where there’s an obstruction that spins off rotating currents. In this case, that would be the point just below the bridge. All you need is a mechanism that takes away bottom sediment bit by bit and drops it somewhere else. These holes can become very deep According to the article.

Full text searching is cheating, son. I am disappointed in you. Didn’t we raise you better than that?

Fun game! Found em all with some effort. Note on Nancy’s puzzle: the fish pen is not shown on recent NOAA charts. i think we need to make these harder, so...

I’m not OK with everything going on in media discourse land right now (and share your discomfort with the use of the phrase “shelter in place”). But... I don’t really see the point of having a debate just yet over a disease that is so incompletely understood. We are in the middle of something whose nature won’t be truly known until some months from now. Certainly it is a real thing, and a bad one. Panic won’t help here, any more than it would help in a situation on the ocean. I am annoyed at the closure of put ins and beaches in my town, but I was even more annoyed at the people walking around failing to give me distance or (not making this up) giving each other fist bumps and laughing. Their behavior is probably what led to those closures. So I don’t mind being conservative right now with my recreation and my travel, in the hope that it helps make things a tiny bit better for everyone. It’s just not that big a thing for me to give up, in my ignorance of what really works. Comparisons with H1N1 are something I would rather save for later, once we know the true scope and cost of Covid-19. Then we can compare facts with facts, not opinions.

FYI: All Marblehead town boat launches and parks were closed yesterday with locked gates and bright pink Covid-19 notices, a/k/a the new normal.

That’s not true. Bob would never paddle with his PFD and helmet stowed. Other aspects of this trip report may be very similar to Bob’s reports, I grant you that.