Joseph Berkovitz

The nspn.org website will be down for maintenance Friday evening (August 4, 2017) at 5:30. Jason Kates and I will be moving the site to a new hosting provider. If everything goes smoothly, as we expect it will, the site should be back up within an hour.

--Joe

Unfortunately I am out -- due to family visit conditions, not weather conditions.

If it happens, in whatever form, have fun!

would like to join but family is visiting, evaluating the possibility...

I'm so sorry, but I have to back out of this trip. I need to help my son move to a new apartment this coming weekend (and advance notice was not the biggest consideration :-).

...Joe

I'm fine with it. We might want to lengthen the trip artificially to make for more paddling but that seems easy. 

Jeff's updated plan works for me.

Liz, your shuttling plan sounds pretty good (and very generous -- thank you!) considering how close you are to Lanes.

Personally I love the circumnav idea, though I have not checked the tides.

...Joe

I am interested - I guess I missed the window (I was out of town last week and didn't check the forums) so please let me know if there is a cancellation...

Can do either set of dates so I'll wait to hear more on this thread...

I can make the paddle but not the potluck today sadly. Will be arriving via water in yellow delphin

Thank you, everyone. This community has taught me so much, and in such a generous spirit!

...Joe

Rob - Do we have a location yet?

I would love to go -- this is a great chance to camp on an island right in our area.  Thanks for organizing this Liz!

Thanks both of you for the tips!

@mhabich Well, yeah, don't lend me your boat for surfing... if there are other boats around... wait, didn't you surf your boat into me once in Maine? Look who's talking!

So my recently purchased used Delphin 155 now has a hole punched in it, due to a surfing collision with another kayaker at Nahant today. No one was hurt and the other guy's boat is fine. We each think it was our fault :-) But it was probably mine, because I'm a surfing novice. Anyway...

Right after the collision, none of us could even see this hole. So I'm pretty sure the punched-in tab of plastic can be repositioned so the hull is smooth again, it probably just got deformed from the subsequent paddling later in the day.

Anyone have any suggestions on how best to repair it?

I'm so in. It's my NSPNiversary!

I'm in for the Revised New Year Paddle tomorrow. See you there. 

Rob -- I'm up for doing something tomorrow as per your plan. 

And maybe Monday too!

Wow. Monday does look really peachy, at least right now. Very light NE wind. I am free that day in case the collective feeling is to shift the day.

Of course most people know Cape Ann better than me so I defer to others on the interaction of conditions and coastal features. Enjoy Palm Beach Leon!

like Pru I will go with the flow on this choice

The section from good harbor to eastern point probably gives some lee although my memory is that the landscape is flatter than elsewhere on cape Ann. Forecast midday for Gloucester is now 17-20 mph with higher gusts though. Argh. Maybe some (me included) might opt out of fighting across the mouth of the harbor. But then... two groups...

I like Mike's Beverly/Salem or Lanes/Essex ideas due to proximity and relatively sheltered water.

I would also like to put my 2 cents in for keeping this as one group doing a less-demanding trip if possible, since it's sort of a special celebratory occasion...

YES!

Nick, I have the Thule 883 "Glide and Set". Here's a link to the EMS page for that product: http://www.ems.com/thule-883-glide-and-set/19596200012.html?emssrcid=PPC%3AgooPLAs%3A149576170365custom3normal%26brandthule&adpos=1o7&creative=79867308525&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=Cj0KEQiA08rBBRDUn4qproqwzYMBEiQAqpznsy14yta9KSWMnaNyF1IpKUpUPmNp0bLLNUcbAFM_lDsaAjq38P8HAQ

Cath suggested the Seattle Sports boat roller.  This is quite similar to the Malone K-Rack in that it is mounted with heavy suction-cups and normally I would say a roller loader is better than something over which the boat must slide.

However the K-Rack's geometry is significantly different, in that it juts rearward from the suction mounts by 4-5 inches . In the case of the Subaru I feel this may be crucial because it takes the contact point with the boat closer to that annoying rear "lip" on the Subaru rear hatch. Due to the Subaru design one cannot mount these products on the rear window as intended (because of the glass curvature), nor on the rearmost piece of sheet metal on the roof (because of the groove where the hatch opens). So this rearward offset is quite important.

Hmmm... I didn't talk to John, and that would have been a good idea. However it was in fact P&H themselves who said that they couldn't supply any gelcoat and that I had to go through their supplier.

Either way it's a moot point now: I've ordered the gelcoat already from the supplier, and it should arrive next week. The shipping is minimal and once we split it up 3 or 4 ways it's not too expensive. Those tiny gelcoat kits where you do your own color matching aren't that cheap either, actually.

...Joe

I have an Outback 2016 and here is my solution, which for economy makes use of the Subaru factory bar system (this differs from year to year so it may not apply to your Outback, but perhaps you can adapt this plan). It's very similar to the Yakima load bar, except that doesn't mount on my factory bars.

- I moved the rear factory bar to its rearmost position

- I use a pair of Thule kayak mounts that fit cleanly on the factory bars since they're sort of like Thule aero-bar size. The front one has rubber grips, the back one has felt pads (you can also get one with rubber wheels). With this system, you load the kayak from the rear. So the problem reduces to getting the bow sitting in the right place before pushing it over the felt pads into its final position... and it's easy to lift the bow by itself... BUT the Outback has this annoying projection that sticks way out over the rear window and prevents you from stabilizing the bow on the pads...  Therefore...

- I also bought a Malone K-Rack Load Assist (one source is http://www.prolineracks.com/malone-mpg353-k-rack-kayak-lift-assist.html). This has suction cups and can be attached just in front of the rear window. It provides a superb resting place for the bow, which can easily be lifted up while you stand behind and to one side of the car. Then you work your grip down the decklines to the stern and push while the kayak slides up on the Load Assist holder, and let it down onto the pad/grip combo.

It sounds complicated but this whole rig cost a lot less than Thule bars and a Hullavator, which I'm not sure will even mount on the new Subarus (but they are sweet!).

Sounds like we have something going on, then!

I will call the gelcoat company and get this going, and let you know the details. I'll just order the quart and split it up when I get it.

Peter, you can go in for either 1/4 or 1/3 and I'm good either way  - I am happy to pick up the slack if you want less. But I think thirds are easier since there are 3 of us :-)

...Joe