Ocean skills session Weds 13th July

[Briggsy]

Anyone interested in an ocean/rougher water skills session on Weds 13th July. The pond is great to learn but it would be good to practice in rougher water. Not necessarily looking for 10 foot waves but something more than flat water. I was thinking of practising rescues, self rescues and towing plus whatever anyone else is interested in. I don't know the Hingham area at all so maybe someone could suggest a place to me and the best time of tide. I am available all day but I was thinking of late afternoon onwards or when folks get out of work, followed by PPR somewhere.
Just an idea right now
Thanks
Briggsy

[Mark]

I think it's a great idea, and rarely done. (We did one such session a few years' back in Duxbury Bay, in lieu of the usual Thursday night pond session.)

The problem may be finding anything resembling rough water in Cape Cod Bay in mid-July. Buzzards Bay usually has the afternoon wind chop, but there is nothing as reliable on the east-facing shores and bays. Might be best to schedule the event and pick the venue at the last minute, more or less.

Just my two cents.

[noseykate]

If I understand correctly, you're suggesting a venue in the Hingham area? I tried to put a similar session together last year at New Inlet with only one taker. This location (in benign weather) offers small surf and current on the outside, quieter water inside the river mouth. Duxbury's a good spot too, although a bit far for me. Charles River Canoe and Kayak uses Little Harbor and the outside of Cohasset Harbor for similar training. Parking takes some juggling but that is a nice venue. Let's see if anyone else has suggestions.... I hope you can generate some interest in this valuable offer.

I'd be interested in coming to join you for a Wed evening event if I'm able to get there.

NK

[pat]

I'd definitely be interested in this.

It seems that the a desirable location would be relatively centrally located. (Of course that can mean different things, depending on where you live.) It would have convenient parking and not be a whopping paddling distance from launch to training area. Where we launch for Thursday nights is central and easy parking, but it's like five miles to get to any interesting water.

Windmill point - Haven't been there in a couple of years, so I don't know what the parking is like these days. It's not TOO far for most people, and it's some of the craziest water around this area, especially during rush hour when the ferries are coming through frequently.

Scituate Harbor - Convenient parking to the launch, and a fairly short paddle to get to open ocean.

Marshfield town pier - Same. Even shorter paddling distance.

Further south starts to become a distance for some. I don't know of any accessible areas to the north (while keeping in Plymouth County) that have challenging water. Once you get into areas like Quincy, the water's pretty protected by all the islands and Hull.

[Briggsy]

I was thinking of the Hingham area rather than the Cape. I am off work all day so no big deal for me to travel to wherever and I realise most folks would be coming after work. I do not know any places off the Cape so Kate that place you mentioned sounds good. Pat, that Windmill Point sounds like there would be some chop even on a flat day. Sounds like both those places would be OK. Would someone be able to check out the parking situation at Windmill Point then we could decide. High Tide is 10.26am that day,Low tide is 4.32pm.Does an incoming tide present any problems at the Scituate Inlet (boat traffic etc) ???
I went with Johnnysmoke one time at Cohasset Wave in the morning,we had lunch in the harbor then paddled out to Minots Light and back to Little Harbor for fun at the harbor entrance before heading back to Cohasset. It was an awesome day but I can't remember what the tides were to get everything lining up like that.
I would be interested even if there were only a 2 or 3 takers.
Briggsy

[noseykate]

Each place has its own issues:

Windmill Point - parking no problem. Boat traffic big problem. Ferry, Coast Guard, and a narrow channel with lots of traffic. We could stay well inside, but then would there be rough water? Maybe John M will weigh in on this. Could work if we could find a zone of ruffled water outside of the path of boats.

New Inlet - parking no problem, but a bit of a jog out to the mouth of the rivers, and you'd want to paddle with the current if possible. So timing an issue. On that day, low is at 4:13 pm and high is 10:30 pm. You could paddle out at near slack, come back with the incoming tide. Good for rescue practice too - current bringing boats in instead of out. July 13 is 2 days before the full moon, at which point greenheads will begin to torment us there....

Scituate Harbor - I haven't paddled here, but the launch area looks like a good choice - enough free parking, a jetty to make a calm put-in, usually some waves just outside. Seawall and stony beach make a shore landing outside the jetty problematic. Have no idea about boat traffic.

Little Harbor - parking requires a little jostling of cars but can be done. A bit of a jog to the harbor from Cohasset. Boat traffic nil, although sometimes there are fishermen at the bridge. Tides are about the same as for New Inlet, so we'd be practicing on the incoming tide inside the harbor, which is safest. But getting out of the harbor at the end could be interesting....

No one choice is perfect....

NK

[Johnysmoke]

If it's dead flat, which I suspect it will be, there's really nothing going on at windmill point other than some eddies, lots of boats and fisherman though. Good for off season when a little bit of bump or wind chop can come through and there is not much traffic.

Little harbor on an outgoing tide is ideal, but not happening. Perhaps we could park over by the cemetery and approach it from the other side, then we wouldn't have to fight our way out? Best place for moving water to work on bracing edging and eddy turns with no boat traffic.

New Inlet would be a great place to teach surf skills, if there is a little bit of bump around, but we're probably in summer flat mode at this point.

[pat]

I think if it turns into a whitewater skills session, I'm not really that interested. What I'd like is open rough water training.

[NorwayLady]

Briggsy, I am interested. Did the Wild Turkey rescue session at Duxbury bay a couple of years ago, and found it very helpful. I'll keep checking the board for updates.

Bea

[TraceyJ]

I am very interested, but I will be coming from work that day, so the location that is decided upon will be
the deciding factor for me. If it wasn't for the fact that I will be returning to work from vacation the day before,
I would take the day off. This sound like a lot of fun besides being a wonderful opportunity to learn.
I work in Stoughton, and the earliest I could think about getting out would be 4:00.

Tracey

[norm]

Briggsy,

I'm interested but not sure if I'll do anything involving leaving the boat as I don't know how strong my knee will be by then.

I've taken the day off from work, so if you want, we could spend the earlier part of the day touring whatever area gets chosen for the practice session.

Norm

[Briggsy]

Sounds like the New Inlet or Scituate Harbor maybe the best of the bunch. Only problem is I don't know where New Inlet is !!!!
Is it the general consensus that while the session is a good idea, maybe a different day with more favorable tides would be better ??? And if so, what period of the tide cycle is best?? I am guessing maybe an out going tide with low tide around 6.30pm to 7.30pm so at least we can paddle back IN after.
I have never paddled any of that area so I'm relying on you guys to help me out.
Thanks for all the advice so far....sounds like a few people are interested and that it is worth doing.
Briggsy

[pat]

I assume New Inlet is talking about the mouth of the North River, right? So afaik, the best launch is Driftway.

[pat]

For comparison purposes, here are views of the paths we'll be taking from the put-ins to the likely training areas, viewed from the same distance from earth, from three possible locations:

[Mark]

Whenever I have launched from Scituate, I have always put in at the lighthouse, as opposed to way up in the back of the harbor where you show a launch spot. You launch from the beach just inside the harbor, paddle around the jetty and you are in open ocean.

[pat]

I didn't know you could do that. That sounds WAY better!

[TraceyJ]

Are we going to change the date?
I begged my boss for the day off, and he was feeling generous.
I'm really looking forward to this.

Tracey

[Briggsy]

Are we going to change the date?

No, I'm up for it, haven't decided on the place yet....even if the sea is flat it'll be different than the pond.
I like the idea of the New Inlet as there looks like a sandy beach to get off if people want to.
Briggsy

[Briggsy]

Looking at the tide charts, low tide is 4.50pm so I am looking to launch around 4-4.15pm from the Driftway and paddle out to the New Inlet for a couple of hours. Looks like there is some sandy beach areas there so we can get out if necessary. If anyone wants to come out later you know where we'll be. I will have a vhf. I haven't been here before so I'm relying on good old Google Earth!!
In the morning I am going to paddle from Cohasset out to Little Harbor for a couple of hours. I plan to launch from the Cohasset town ramp about 10.30ish. (High tide is 10.26am) Helmets might be a good idea here.
By the way, I am not an Instructor, I just want to practice some skills so you join me at your own risk.
I work late ( 10.30 pm) on Tuesday 12th so let me know by Mon 11th pm so we can co-ordinate times. All weather dependant of course.
Cheers Briggsy

[pat]

I do plan on being there. I'm not positive I can make the 4pm launch, so what channel will you be monitoring on vhf?

[Briggsy]

I do plan on being there. I'm not positive I can make the 4pm launch, so what channel will you be monitoring on vhf?

How about Ch 68
Briggsy

[Briggsy]

Part one out to Cohasset went well. Norm, TraceyJ and I launched from the public ramp and took a leisurely paddle out of the harbor and round the point to Little harbor. The river was still flowing in so we took the opportunity to go in the harbor for a look round and maybe find a launch area in the harbor. The only one we found was from the cemetary at the far end but we thought it wouldn't be PC to launch a bunch of kayaks from there!!!
By the time we got back the river was beginning to flow out and there were some small waves to play on. We took a lunch break to allow the current to build up and by 1pm (2 1/2 hrs after high tide) the waves stared to get good. We messed around there for a while then decided as it was a nice day to paddle out to Minot light. It took us about 30 mins to get out there, we stopped for a few pics then headed back in to the launch at Cohasset.
Part two didn't go so well....Norm set his GPS for the Driftway launch which was not too far away where we met Bea, Pat, Ron and Jackie. Off we paddled down towards the New Inlet against the wind. Ron and I made it first and waited for the others. In the meantime an ominous black cloud grew closer and closer. We rejoined the rest of the group who had landed on the beach a few hundred yds back. We watched the cloud and tried to get weather maps on our phones to see where it was going. The cloud grew bigger and bigger and we all eventually decided to head back. On our way back in there were a few flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder. Just as we got back to the launch the heavens opened.
T.K.O'Malleys in Scituate was the next destination...........And that was our Ocean Skills Session !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Briggsy

[noseykate]

A skillful decision to head back. Glad you got in the cohasset play though.

NK

[NorwayLady]

This is when we decided to get off the water.....

IMG_2511.JPG (81.4 KiB) Viewed 27723 times

[norm]

Video of Briggsy playing on the wave at Cohasset Little Harbor.

http://vimeo.com/26522995

[kayakerjnj]

Ah great times!! Looked like another good day in Cohasset

[norm]

Cohasset daytime pictures are now up on Facebook. Trip report here to follow in a few days.