midtempo

Long Wharf in Gloucester is open and free to all and I've paddled there two weeks ago. I am sorry to hear that Essex is getting all town-meeting paranoid and exclusive, but it's their right to be exclusive with their city land. I want to remark that Conomo Point is also closed for parking unless you are an Essex resident -- see the other thread on this board about the Essex Bay topic.

Looking at the map, the end of Island Road in Essex looks like a good launch possibility. Mhabich, have you actually used that launch before? I don't know if parking is allowed in that neighborhood, but I'll definitely check it out. The approach to the creek from Island Road looks like it could be muddy though, especially if it's not high tide upon launch. If Island Road doesn't work then a last-ditch idea is the bridge on Route 133 around the Farnham's restaurant looks like it could work too. I know I can park around there... if a space is available. Farnham's can be pretty busy sometimes. Yes, SupSalem, you can launch from Crane Beach if you pay the Trustees $30 at the parking lot. And you will have to launch on Ipswich Bay which is in unprotected waters. So no, Crane Beach is not a great launch. There is also a boat dock on the back of Castle Island that you can access from Argilla Road in Ipswich. But that is only allowed for certain people, I believe people who have a mooring near that dock. That dock is not open to the public. Keep in mind that certain parts of Essex Bay can get overrun with greenhead flies from approximately July 5 until August 5, although the areas of open water may be free of them. The dates and severity of the greenhead flies vary every year, and they are really nasty on Crane Beach and the worst on Choate Island. For the uninitiated, greenhead flies do not spread diseases to people but their bites feel like a suddenly itchy sting and cause big welts. They are big and they are nasty. I hope I will be kayaking in the Essex Bay area sometime before my vacation starts on June 30, perhaps on Sunday June 21. (I will be kayaking on the Cape from June 30 till July 5.) I will report again how it goes when I paddle Essex Bay.

The trip through Essex Bay launching at Conomo Point in Essex, with a stay at Crane Beach, is my absolute favorite kayak trip I have taken so far. I haven't yet started ocean kayaking this year but will in a few weeks. I visited Conomo Point on Saturday to scope out the area because I was in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, it looks like the town of Essex has closed Conomo Point to people who are not residents of Essex: https://www.essexma.org/home/news/revised-april-27-covid-related-restrictions-relative-visitation-and-re-occupancy-conomo They essentially made Conomo Point a gated community this summer. This is a real bummer, because this is the best access to Essex Bay for kayaks. There is access in downtown Essex too, but it requires going a long way down the Essex River and usually past lots of motor boats and their wakes. This is an unpleasant experience when paddling in a kayak. If anyone has any other ideas for launching into Essex Bay, preferably within an hour's paddle from Crane Beach at an easy pace, please let me know. There don't seem to be any other good launches into Essex Bay other than Conomo Point or downtown Essex. I don't want a launch that requires going through open waves like Ipswich Bay.

Josko, that sounds very similar to our order. The "Stay Safer at Home" order expired yesterday. In any event, I just checked out Kittery Trading Post's website. It says their business is open for in-store retail shopping today (June 1). Which is interesting, because they were actually open for it on Saturday when we shopped there. http://www.kitterytradingpost.com/covid-updates.html Their website on Saturday made no indication that the in-store shopping was closed. Everything described on that above link is how the shopping was on Saturday, except maybe this time they will make everyone wear masks. In any event, it is up to each store to obey the law and make it known to their customers what they need to do. If they wanted us to do business curbside, we would have been glad to do that because we pretty much knew what we wanted to buy before we walked in. Apparently most retailers in Maine will be open for business starting today (June 1) with the usual COVID-19 caveats like face masks for everyone, store capacity checks, screens in front of the cashiers, etc.

Interestingly, yesterday my wife and I shopped at the Kittery Trading Post for a new kayak. Other than the masks that most (but not all) people were wearing, it was a normal retail shopping experience. Of course at that store, the majority of cars parked in the lot were from states other than Maine. Maine doesn't seem too concerned about restricting retail. She was allowed to handle and sit in the kayak before purchasing it. By the way, she loves her new Wilderness Tsunami 125. Much better than her glorified pool-float she was using before, she says. We tested it out yesterday right after we bought it. Some of our neighboring states are opening all their stores to normal shopping yet Massachusetts insists on curbside-only. This will only extend the hurt of businesses in the Bay State.

I was checking out the site because I was interested in possibly practicing my skills on a lake with the club and getting to know other kayakers in the process. I noticed last year that you used to have weekly days on Lake Chebacco where people could show up and practice. I'm hoping to learn and practice the kayak roll mainly at this point and other rescue techniques. I was peeking last year but I never made it because I worked in Chelsea till 5:30 and getting to Hamilton at 6 on a Wednesday just wasn't going to happen. But now I work from home in Lynn, end at 5, and could make it there for 6. But there don't seem to be any lake events scheduled yet this year, probably due to the pandemic and physical distancing. If lake events happen again, I assume they will be posted to the calendar. As soon as there are more lake events available where I can get to know paddlers who are more skilled then me, I can decide whether to join NSPN and whether it's something I would want to do.

Because the ocean is below 60 degrees and being immersed in water of that temperature could lead to hypothermia, or worse, shock from cold immersion. I suppose if you have complete confidence in your skills that you will never have to capsize or do a wet exit in the ocean, you are well trained in ocean rescue, and you can always execute a kayak roll while wearing a cockpit cover, then you are okay. I am definitely not there yet. Knowing my limitations is good.

Maybe in Chatham Harbor the water is warmer, but even around the Cape isn't the water still below 60 degrees? The last thing any paddler would need when battling 3-5 foot waves would be to also have to deal with hypothermia if capsized. And I would hate to think what a wet exit would be like in waves like that. It's probably impossible to get back in. In my opinion, May is not a good month in this part of the country to be paddling in the ocean.

Thanks Brian for that reply. In the beginning of this pandemic there were a lot of unknowns, including how swamped the hospitals will get and how badly affected the most vulnerable population would be. It turns out that hospital capacity was fine and that the most vulnerable and disproportionately affected are nursing home residents. What I have not heard much about is how little this virus really spreads outdoors, especially under circumstances where people are active such as paddling or hiking. There have been some reports saying how few cases spread outdoors, and it is now suspected that outdoor activity is not a realistic way that this virus spreads. The media has not been reporting on this prominently. The great thing about paddling is you can leave all that stress at home and get away from it all for a bit. You can pass paddlers and not see masks and forget about that garbage for a while. Just take it easy, people, and use common sense, such as when you are indoors around other people who are not members of your household.

I paddled the Ipswich marshes from Great Neck on Saturday. On Sunday I did the Jones River again. I can confirm that greenhead flies are practically gone. I saw exactly one fly in Ipswich while I hung out at a stagnant pool near the end of a creek and none at the Jones. I may have been bitten once or twice on the back and did not notice till I got home. By the time you read this, there may be no greenhead fly activity, so don't be afraid to go into the marshes and dunes anymore.

Crane Beach says the greenheads are on decline. I am leaving now to explore the Great Marsh from the Great Neck launch in Ipswich. I will report my findings here.

I just paddled there. I can confirm that there are greenhead flies in the Jones RIver and Annisquam River areas. Actually if you stick to those two rivers you won't encounter them. You may encounter them if you venture into the creeks in that area.

It is a full moon lately and *supposedly* that makes a difference because it may flood their eggs with the highest tide.

Thanks for the heads up folks. I am still going, but I may cancel early if they end up really bad. I will be mostly staying near the Long Wharf landing. I will also use the Skin So Soft bug repellant formula, which I know Crane Beach sells to beachgoers and some people claim it works.

It's that time of year! I love salt marsh kayaking, but unfortunately the little buggers can ruin a quiet day getting joyfully lost in a creek somewhere! We all know that the marshes of Ipswich, Essex, and the Great Marsh (Newbury, Salisbury, etc.) are infested with them for the rest of July. I am thinking of going to the Jones River in Gloucester (by the Annisquam) as an alternative. Are the greenheads usually there too?