Jim Snyder

I see I was confused by your post and replied regarding my Wednesday trip. The current long forecast for ocean conditions is 2' long period swell and light onshore wind. But it might be rainy with a chance of thundershowers. Still early for planning. 

Current York forecast for Wednesday is partly cloudy high in the low 80s, light south wind. 

Tides are accommodating for getting out and into York Harbor. Conditions look pretty mild with only a foot of swell predicted. Sea temperature is approaching 70! Probably makes most to head south as a light breeze from the south is predicted to develop in the afternoon. Contact me by any means if you want to go and I'll start a group message on Monday.

Right now the forecast doesn't look that good for next Sunday but it's still a ways off. I would be happy to help plan a Portsmouth area trip if conditions are cooperating.

I tried to use OpenCPN and could not get any charts to load...

The tracking available in phone apps is a lot more flexible and sophisticated than the radio. 

I use Gaia to track, even though they no longer have good chart data. I can export the file, usually in .kml format. It will open directly in GoogleEarth, for a chart you can import it to CalTopo. SeaIQ has good charts and positioning, but no tracking.

Bill, wouldn't any system work if you started a new track each day?

I love it when a trip report begins with a poem!

I just spoke with John Brosnihan, Kittery Harbormaster. He of course first cautioned me about the risks inherent in paddling at night in potentially heavy boat traffic. He also reminded me that some kind of "mast light" would be required. We might be able to use some of the non-resident parking there but otherwise would have to park at the school, as I expected. Non-resident launch fee will be $10, $5 for over 65. 

Paul, your familiarity with Traip will be helpful if we go that direction. I think the tides and currents are pretty favorable on this night. At Kittery Point, it's slack at 4pm and 11pm around a 9:19 high. Max flow at 6:24pm  is 1.4kt. I still think Kittery is the better launch point to avoid river paddling as much as possible. 

I asked about getting to use Odiorne late and they wanted me to apply as an "event" with a $100 application fee and $1,000,000 worth of insurance. Fort Stark is a State Park also apparently and would have the same process. I'm starting to think that even with the potential parking issues that the Kittery Town Dock might be the best bet. Then maybe pack a dinner and eat at Fort Foster or someplace before the fireworks. I'm going to check in with the Harbormaster.

Now that's what I call a trip report! 

Once again the Wood Island Life Saving Station Association is sponsoring a celebration and fireworks to honor the 233rd birthday of the Coast Guard. I wood like to organize a night paddle for fireworks viewing and maybe a pub stop after. Obviously conditions will determine what is possible. I'm considering several possible launch sites but would welcome input. I think the Kittery Town Dock might be best but involves a walk to the school parking. Please post here if you have ideas or interest.

It has been difficult to schedule this trip, due to weather and my schedule. I'm still looking for a date, and will post in a new thread so if you follow this forum you will get a notification.

Bill, what's the parking situation at Fort Stark? 

Can I suggest you consider a full neoprene sprayskirt from someone like Seals? You're going to want this eventually and the cost is in the same range as what you're looking at. Your Seals size is 1.7. OutdoorPlay is a good supplier and offers a discount to club members. Some of us have spare skirts we could loan until you get something if you're paddling with us. 

https://www.outdoorplay.com/products/seals-surf-neoprene-kayak-spray-skirt?variant=41621424275607&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1rqkBhCTARIsAAHz7K1rCE4dHI_PkhR6biCfJOrO76R0Dtbj5XUZVDmqzmtZRGY2Vytzp5EaApfBEALw_wcB

The main purpose of this trip was to get an early look at the restoration of the life saving station on Wood Island. Many of us have enjoyed Wood as a lunch stop and followed the progress of the work there for years. Now as the project nears completion, Sam Reid, president of the Wood Island Life Saving Station Association (https://woodislandlifesaving.org/), was kind enough to meet us there and show us around and tell stories.

Our group included myself, Sandy Blanchard, Ben Rechel, and Jim Doscher. We had great weather and puffy clouds in a blue sky. We got there a little before Sam and poked around and chatted with the plasterers, who had just completed their part of the project. 

Anyone who has been stopping on wood has watched the progress of the marine railway that leads from the boat room to the ocean. That is now complete, and the restored rescue boat, the Mervin Roberts, is in place, ready to launch.

Then came the tour, and Sam's enthusiasm for this project is contagious. It was fun to see in it's almost finished state, but when complete will be truly spectacular. If you're interested, go watch some videos on their website.

A huge thankyou to Sam Reid for sharing his excitement for this remarkable piece of marine history finally coming to life.

https://woodislandlifesaving.org/

I bought from this company and I think they sent me samples: 

https://www.paracordplanet.com/paracord/

My new suit this last fall  had the same problem. I complained to Kokatat and said I wanted to modify the cuffs but not if it would create a future warranty issue. After some in house discussion they got back to me and said it was fine, as the cuff is not part of the waterproof envelope. I used a hot knife to cut a slit about an inch back from the edge. This solved the problem. 

I would have rather had them solve this problem but since cold water paddling was coming right up, I didn't want to send it back. 

Jim, I added you to the group message. Let me know if you have any questions.

Tour of the life saving station confirmed. It's not too late to join me, but if this goes well I'll schedule it again for a weekend. 

Short notice trip to check out the status at Wood. I've been in contact with Sam Reid, president of Wood Island Life Saving Station Assoc. to see if he's available Thursday to show us around and am waiting to hear back. Contact me by any means if you're interested and I'll start a group message. I even answer my phone.

https://woodislandlifesaving.org/

I'm including the link to the trip  here as context. Some of this report might not make sense otherwise:

We were myself, Fred Goodwin, Sandy Blanchard, Jeff Charette, Shari Gallant, Bob Levine, Janice Cotton and Ben Rechel. We started under cloudy skies and calm winds but were aware of the possibility of a shower or even a little thunderstorm in the afternoon. We had come prepared with a stand up paddleboard for the barrel retrieval. I couldn't convince anyone to paddle it to Little Misery so we set off with it in tow.

Arriving at Little Misery, we found the barrel right where we had left it, but with a few added trash items. The shipwreck was as exposed as I've ever seen it. We spent a little time planning for its exfiltration (the barrel, not the shipwreck) and then left the sup and started the crossing to Bakers.

As per our arrangement, I called the lighthouse caretakers, Jack and Beth, from the water to alert them of our arrival time. Jack met us on the rocky beach and gave us an excellent tour of the facility which is now owned by Essex Heritage.

https://essexheritage.org/explore/bakers-island-light-station/

After a nice lunch on the beach and very nice weather developing we decided to circumnavigate Bakers before returning to our barrel project. Even with the small swell, the outside of Bakers provided spectacular rocks and an occasional thrill.

Next on our itinerary was the barrel. After much discussion and some shenanigans we arrived at a shipment method and prepared to launch from Little Misery.

There was some discussion about Bob maybe accompanying the barrel on the return trip but about this time we notice the sky darkening significantly over Misery and decided we needed to get serious. A check of the radar showed a problematic cell over Beverly Farms and headed our way. Bob headed out with barrel in tow but soon it started pouring and some thunder forced us to take shelter in a cove on the north side of Misery with our final destination in sight.

Consulting the radar once again, we determined we had a window of opportunity to race back to West Beach. The West Beach personnel had graciously offered to take care of the final dispensation of the barrel and contents if we survived the crossing, which was good since we hadn't quite figured out that part of the plan.

Thanks to everyone who made this a fun trip and to Fred and Janice for sharing pictures!

Wait, the BOB barrel was white...

This trip is full. Pease contact me if your plans change or if you'd like to be added to a wait list.