Joseph Berkovitz

Yeah, I hear that. 9 am is definitely an early start. The reason we chose that time is because of issues with limited parking and beach-going traffic on summer weekends. After 8:30-9, a lot of people from the city start arriving at the shore in earnest. We are expecting to do some sessions in South Shore venues, which should help folks in points south... and maybe we'll test the waters with a 10 am session as an experiment, to see if it's a problem. Stay tuned!

So... maybe just look at what I did so far, then pick some other area (NH seacoast) and make your own guide, and see what you find out.

I'm definitely open to collaboration, that's why I'm so interested in this tool. My project is purposely view only for now, because I want more structure in place before I open it up to multiple contributors – i.e. some basic editorial guidelines, plus a sense of who is working on what. The purpose of this experiment right now was to see how well things work, and get a sense of what that structure might look like. Without some constraints on the content and one or more people keeping it all coherent, I'm pretty sure the whole thing will rapidly become a big sinkhole full of random stuff. (Not that you in particular would cause this to happen – but when you have lots of people playing with a shared document, things can go south pretty fast!) I was going to make an editable copy of my projects for people to play with, but to my dismay I don't actually see a way to do that. To my surprise, the "Make a Copy" command doesn't appear on those projects in Google Drive, which is kind of a drag.

I took a look. It was kind of broken on my iPhone but I get the idea. By the way, the Bay Area people use this: https://www.bask.org/trip_planner/2.17/. I spoke to the guy who maintains it about poentitally adapting it for NSPN but is kind of old school and it's a bitch to keep it current, plus people can't really collaborate on it.

I think on a mobile device, you definitely need to have the latest version of the Google Earth app installed. It seems to work on my iPhone although the experience is kind of limited due to the small screen. It also works on Chrome or Firefox on a Mac (Safari isn't supported.) The new best starting point for looking at this prototype is a project called "Salem Sound Paddling Info": https://earth.google.com/web/data=Mj8KPQo7CiExQm9ZUnhwS1hHU1UzclJKNWpSbHoxRzBjbDF0bjBxT0cSFgoUMERDMkNDRjQzNDExNUIxQTcyRUY This is a "master map" containing a few put-ins, tide stations and links to more detailed paddling guides. To see one of the guides, click one of the green route lines in the above master map.

As a further example, I used a different approach (Google My Maps) to organize locations of put-ins and tide stations in Salem Sound: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1US2tokTQ7Dh-w2yND1pO3JBTY2vBMJgh&usp=sharing This uses Google Maps rather than Google Earth. It is less suitable for showing a sequence of locations and routes on a trip, but it seems better for quickly surveying a bunch of different locations and also getting driving directions to them.

I've been having an interesting morning playing around with Google Earth's new feature for creating "Projects", which are a way to present a sequence of locations anywhere on the planet with text and information for each place. It does seem to lend itself to describing paddling trips. Of course, you are using Google Earth and so one is not free to design absolutely everything from scratch: it's all about figuring out how to make the best of what it offers. I spent the last couple of hours creating this description of a Marblehead Neck paddle: https://earth.google.com/web/data=Mj8KPQo7CiExNElhLUtDOV9jSTRHeGE1dGVpakpsN1gwSUM5V2kzUmISFgoUMDcyNTFFQUEyMDExNUFFMzZCREY Obviously you can't use this for navigational purposes, but it's a nice guide to what you find, links to resources, and you can incorporate tips on very specific features to explore. It might be a way to build up a library of trips. It could also serve as a way to make a library of put-ins for the club that we use frequently, as in this example (which took maybe 5 minutes): https://earth.google.com/web/data=Mj8KPQo7CiExQm9ZUnhwS1hHU1UzclJKNWpSbHoxRzBjbDF0bjBxT0cSFgoUMERDMkNDRjQzNDExNUIxQTcyRUY Anyway, I'm curious what folks think.

Thanks Josko - we haven't picked venues yet but we'll keep that in mind, it's a great option to have.

NOTE - These events are going forward on schedule, subject to public health restrictions on out of state attendance and maximum gathering sizes. We will post updates next week (6/8) after the next cycle of reopening is announced. Skills Practice sessions are a series of events in Summer 2020 offering NSPN members a regular opportunity to improve their fundamental paddling skills. The sessions are held exclusively in coastal saltwater locations, allowing us to practice in a range of real-world conditions from protected water to open ocean. Joe Berkovitz and Bob Levine (rylevine) are the organizers. See the session calendar for descriptions of all Skills Practice topics and dates. These are also individually booked on the NSPN calendar. Each session is dedicated to specific kayaking skills, and includes one or more volunteers (“facilitators”) from the club who can help with practicing and developing them. There will be a variety of facilitators. As of press time we have Jeff Charette, Sue Hriciga, Bob, and Joe available to facilitate and we're sure others will join the effort too. Sessions will typically split into pods, each with its own facilitator. The aim is to place paddlers with compatible goals together, and for groups to be small enough for everyone to get attention. The activities of each pod are steered by its members, so not all pods will do the same things in the same way. All attendees are encouraged to contribute their own practice ideas. Skills Practice is a dogma-free zone! Who can benefit from Skills Practice? Any NSPN member, from newbie to expert, can get something out of a Skills Practice session. Practice at the level that works best for you. If you know a topic well and want to help paddlers gain that knowledge, consider being a facilitator. Is this some kind of official NSPN course on “How To Paddle”? Nope, it’s not official, and it’s not even a set course. The focus is on picking up skills from each other, without prescribing any single way to paddle. What you get at a given session depends on who is there. Where and when does this happen? Sessions begin at 9:00 am sharp on Saturday or Sunday mornings at various locations in the North Shore area, and will usually end from 2-3 pm. See the session calendar for details. Exact locations will be announced a few days in advance to reflect weather and sea conditions. Some sessions will incorporate a brief paddling trip. Want to attend a session? Just sign up via the NSPN calendar for any sessions you like. There are no level requirements: all members are welcome. The number of slots will be limited depending on the number of facilitators available for a given session. However, some sessions may work best if you’ve done a preceding session that lays some foundation. What do I need? You will need a closed-deck sea kayak suitable for coastal paddling, with sealed bulkheads or float bags, and grab lines along the perimeter. Dress for immersion and a spray skirt are required (and for a few sessions, a helmet). Bring lunch, snacks and fluids for yourself. Optionally, bring a tow line, radio, and spare paddles. (Don’t have something? Contact the organizers and we’ll try to scare something up for you.) Want to facilitate a session pod? We want you on board to share your knowledge! Please PM the organizers with your availability, contact information, sessions of interest, experience helping other paddlers improve, and gear you may be able to lend. How does facilitation work? Although demonstration and explanation are part of the picture, the main aim of Skills Practice is to give paddlers the experience of performing a skill. This often involves breaking it down into clear, approachable steps. Before each session, we’ll have some online exchange among facilitators to share our thoughts. Got another question? There's a conversation thread right here!

This trip will visit one of the most dramatic coastlines in the world, Maine's Bold Coast. It will take place over a long weekend from Friday August 28 to Monday August 31 (see the calendar entry). Bob Levine and Joe Berkovitz are the trip organizers. Ranging from Machias Bay to Lubec and beyond to Canada's Campobello Island, the Bold Coast is a largely undeveloped and wild region with lots of dramatic cliffs and rocks, 25+ foot tidal ranges, strong currents and amazing wildlife (we paddled next to whales last year). Take a look at 2018's Bold Coast trip report for a sense of what it can be like. Paddlers joining this trip will encounter: - Daily trips of 12-15 miles, with limited bailout options. Much of the Bold Coast is roadless wilderness with high oceanfront cliffs - Strong currents (> 4 kt) and turbulent eddy lines - Cold water, often in the low 50s even in high summer, with air temps in the 60s. A drysuit is essential some days - Rough water conditions from wave reflection off rocks, weather, and current/wind interaction - A need for strong situational awareness and the ability to stay in a tight, cohesive pod - An international border crossing, requiring strong passport-wielding skills The general plan for this trip is to section-paddle various portions of the Bold Coast, Campobello Island and Cobscook Bay, adjusting the plan for conditions, interest and level of challenge. Each day we will choose from various out-and-back or shuttle adventures and have a lot of freedom with the length and nature of the paddles. (Note: we will not be attempting to run the whole Bold Coast in a single tide cycle.) Despite the challenging waters, we want to be safe! Each day we'll evaluate our options carefully. There are a wide range of locations to choose from, and directions in which to go. And if conditions are just too bad to paddle, there is really great hiking in the area. Home base for this adventure is the Sunset Point RV Park in Lubec, which is a very clean and well-run campsite. It's not all RV's -- actually, the area reserved for tents is a lovely grassy headland that juts out into Johnson Bay, with its own little pavilion. Showers are free with unlimited hot water and if you care, there is free Internet at the office. And the campground has its own boat ramp for launching directly into an arm of Cobscook Bay. In terms of logistics, plan for 6-7 hours of road travel to reach the Bold Coast from the Boston area. The campsite is reserved starting Thursday 8/27, so that everyone can come up on Thursday and we can hang out together and do some planning before getting a good night's rest. Checkout is Monday 8/31. Individual arrangements can be made to extend your stay earlier or later, as the tenting area of the campground is usually only sparsely occupied. Please work that out with us up front. Each person's share of the campsite rental will run to a total $52.50 for the 4 nights. Want to go? In the past, we have used the first-come-first-served RSVP system. Since the trip is usually oversubscribed, we have found that this favors those who are quick to notice the post and press the button, and while we love paddling with those folks, we would like to make things a little fairer and less of a "race". In particular we want to accommodate people that we had to turn away in previous years. This year, we are trying a different system. If you are interested, please PM Joe Berkovitz as soon as possible with a request to join the trip. Please tell a bit about yourself if Bob or Joe haven't paddled with you before. We will confirm receipt of your request right away. After that, we'll put together the final group of people who are going on the trip, as we soon as we can, and get back to everyone. (We may extend the deadline if necessary.) Our goal is a group size of 8 paddlers. We’ll keep everyone informed as the process moves ahead. This forum topic can be used for general Q&A about the trip, or you can PM either Bob or Joe for a private conversation.

This is a long-lived post and these events still come up in discussion with Bay Area people from time to time. Be sure to look for Sean's discussion of this incident further down in the comments. Similar mishaps at the mouths of bays and rivers keep on happening because it's so easy to misjudge the dangers of changing ocean conditions colliding with a strong ebb in shallow waters. Most recent perhaps, just a couple of weeks ago in France: https://www.tellerreport.com/news/2020-01-12---"misunderstanding"-after-the-death-of-three-kayakers-in-the-somme-bay-.rJxH827tgU.html Also, just a couple of years ago in Maine: https://bangordailynews.com/2016/06/24/news/hancock/kayakers-families-recount-fatal-excursion-off-corea/ (This article neglects to mention that the squall occurred during max ebb at the mouth of Gouldsboro Bay.)

On another relevant side topic, since this trip featured some close kayak encounters with whales, folks may be interested in this recent PBS Nature episode. It kicks off with a near-fatal episode in which a humpback breached and almost landed directly on the narrator’s kayak, clobbering it with a pectoral fin. A few inches difference would have resulted in death. While this piece is more about whales and their behavior, not about how dangerous they are, perhaps we should consider being more circumspect in future years? https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/the-whale-detective-5nsii3/20808/

The following article is a fascinating window into the science of finding people and objects lost at sea, pioneered largely by one oceanographer working for the USCG who recently retired. A great read. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-10-15/lifesaving-coast-guard-scientist-reflects-on-government-service

The granite Northeast MA coast all the way from Nahant to Rockport offers superb rock gardening. You can get virtually unlimited amounts of rock-knowledge paddling the neighborhood coastline with other NSPN members. RI is fine indeed, but no need to go that far unless you want to check it out. Looking for a club trip near Boston with rocks? Look no further than this recently posted trip:

I am sure that cancelling was a good call. The NOAA buoys are another great resource in decisions like this. Links to Boston Harbor Entrance and Mass Bay below. Both of these show 16-20 kt S winds with seas 3.6 feet at 5-6 sec - in other words very steep and nasty wind waves that can pose a real challenge for staying upright if you’re not used to these conditions. And they will be strongest on the N side of Salem sound where the fetch of water swept by the wind covers more distance. http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=44013 http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=44029