Wild Turkey Paddlers

I've seen a couple votes in emails for paddling in Hingham on Thursday this week. The weather forecast looks very good so maybe we can make it out and around Bumpkin for the first time this year! Maybe even circle over and around Slate and Grape Islands to make a full evening out of it.

Bring along a snack for PPPP (post paddling parkinglot picnic) and also use appropriate masking when needed on shore.

Hi Norm, I am waiting to hear from a friend that I was supposed to paddle with on Thursday to see if she wants to go on this one!

Yahoo. I went into your member name and found it. I will see you at launch at 4:30 tomorrow.

Hi, Are you still going tonight? The hour by hour weather looks cloudy. I would like to go. I just bought a sea kayak and have not used it yet, so I don't know if I can do the long loop. Where do you meat to launch?
Valerie

Valerie wrote:Hi, Are you still going tonight? The hour by hour weather looks cloudy. I would like to go. I just bought a sea kayak and have not used it yet, so I don't know if I can do the long loop. Where do you meat to launch?
Valerie

Valerie - this would not be a good choice for your first trip in your new sea kayak. This is a somewhat more advanced trip that will go out into open water where the conditions may not be good in an unfamiliar boat. We also recommend that anyone on these trips already be familiar with sea kayak safety procedures. Have you done a wet exit from a sea kayak? Have you done an assisted rescue and or self rescue? Are you an experienced paddler or fairly new to sea kayaking?

We have regular meetings where we practice safety skills on alternate Thursday nights when the tide is wrong in Hingham. We post these safety sessions in the "Skills and Training" forum. Lately we have been holding these sessions at Long Pond in Plymouth where the water is wonderfully warm and clean and there is usually a nice breeze to make the practice conditions more realistic for learning how to make sure you hold onto your gear after a capsize. It would be much more appropriate for you to join us for a "Skills" session before joining us for a paddle in Hingham Harbor.

Thanks for understanding,
Norm

Hi. I am in. Sounds like pretty calm conditions tonight but a 20% chance of a spot shower. We'll see! Psyched to be on the water again. Romaine

Thanks for the info, Norm. I do rivers and I have done open areas in the rivers with wind and little waves, but I haven't done any sea kayaking. I'll need to go to practice sessions. Valerie

Valerie wrote:Thanks for the info, Norm. I do rivers and I have done open areas in the rivers with wind and little waves, but I haven't done any sea kayaking. I'll need to go to practice sessions. Valerie

I hope you can join us for a skills session. You'd be surprised how much you may need to learn to be safe in a sea kayak and we'll be glad to show you as much or a little as you want, just for the asking. You can learn a lot from watching videos but there's nothing you can do to replace the real experience of trying everything for yourself in the water and its important to have help and support nearby. There are many YouTube channels that can give you a lot of good tips and things to think about. Here is a link to a Paddle TV YouTube channel play list that I like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTuPsxePcwE&list=PLVcFbzilrdXqYCY-_FhV4tq6yYPv0bDPE
It covers a lot of basic stuff in separate videos - some you'll find too basic but others you'll find useful.

Keep an eye on the "Skills and Training" forum for the time and location of the next session. There is also a way to subscribe to each of these forums that will get you an automatic email each time a new topic is added to the forum. Scroll to the bottom of the forum page and you can find a little check box at the bottom left with "Subscribe Forum" beside it - click on those words to get the automatic email.

Norm

Finally had a calm Thursday night in HIngham. We were able to go out and around Bumpkin, Grape and Slate Islands and when we got back into Hingham Harbor, the tide was right for a side trip into Mill Pond at the entrance to World's End. At the far end of Mill Pond we spotted a Bald Eagle. Total mileage for the evening was about 9.5 miles. The night ended with a nice sunset while we had our picnic dinner on the beach.