Frederick Goodman

Essex county report: https://www.essexma.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif4406/f/uploads/beach_testing_7-19-23.pdf

I'm in, most likely.

IMG_1812.MOV Silliness on the water. The Gloucester police, the state police, the coast guard and the harbor master were all present, in case of broken heads.

I'll sign up if that will make the trip run. Is Jim going?

The barrel is still there as of today, a bright beacon as one rounds big Misery from the east. I have my doubts about the stability of barrel + SUP in wind or waves. I think the barrel should be filled with flotation in any case.

I’m game. Are we still allowed to use West Beach post Memorial Day?

And how do you go about requesting recent satellite imagery?

How did the original BOB fasten a rope to it?

I'm in. Multiple beach balls, Joe? We could drill through the bottom to make an anchor point for a tow-rope, Joyce. But we may be disappointed to find it's already been removed.

Gary, I think I glimpsed that you have installed tie-downs on the floor of your cockpit, and you seem to be packing some stuff in the cockpit. Would you comment on this? What are you packing in the cockpit? How did you affix the tie-down anchors and what are they actually, e.g. vinyl patches with d-rings?

Interested.

Interested.

I'm asking for camping advice ahead of the Jewell trip, as I've never done kayak camping. Gary has already posted a video about equipment and packing and I already got some specific equipment advice from Prudence and Dana. But I'm going to have a lot more questions as I organize and prepare. Today's questions: 1. What do you use for camp shoes that are light, warm, and waterproof? 2. How do you manage the wet gear (wet dry suit, and especially wet from perspiration under layers) in camp overnight? Is it typical to set up a group clothes line? 3. Is it valuable to have a stove with adjustable flame, or do you just get something that will boil water as fast as possible? Specific recommendations?

HX 890 (with gps/dsc) weighs 10.5 oz.

Redundancy is good. An iphone or apple watch can call emergency services and relay GPS data, without any app. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208076 There could be situations where no one is in line of sight to receive a VHF call, but you have cell service. Or it could be the other way around.

BIB at 10 works for me.

I agree with Prudence that a bit later start would be preferable.

I'm starting to get curious about the plan for Saturday. NOAA forecast for Salem sound is 8-10 kt NW winds shifting W, 1-2 ft seas, 40-45 degrees air temp. As noted, water temp is just above 40.

I’m in.

Right now at REI online, there is a 20% discount offer for members for one full price item with the checkout code MEMBER23.

Because of the dam in Lawrence, presumably only the stretch from Lowell Aiken Ave. bridge to the dam is relevant. This is what I gleaned from a quick look at Google Maps satellite view. In Lowell, there are walks or bike paths from Aiken St. to an area below Hunts Falls Bridge, where there appears to be a rapid or riffles. The rest down to the dam in Lawrence could be scouted less thoroughly from roads. Since that section will be partly backed up because of the dam in Lawrence, I would guess, without having looked at it, that it could be navigated upstream and down from a small motorboat, and I wonder if Mr. Hug would not prefer to do that himself. From this report, it seems the whole stretch can be kayaked: https://www.bostonkayaker.com/cgi-bin/bkonekpage.cgi?pagekey=merrimacklowell. The report mentions that the flow was 20,000 cfs when kayaked.

Here's the sizing chart: https://www.sealsskirts.com/sizing/sizing.php. New price $190 plus tax. I made a mistake in ordering and got an impossibly snug tunnel.

Looking forward to it. Will test, of course. I'll bring a salad and some loaves of bread.

Thanks everyone. Interim report: I used Lexel because it was a bit of guess what would work, and Lexel claims to be more tolerant of cool temperature application. The leak seems to be sealed for now. (I'm still getting water in the boat, but by some other channel.)

Rob, thanks for organizing this. It was a very worthwhile session, even though I had already attended a previous workshop.