Friday, April 2, 2010
Started the morning talking about the Greenfield Recorder article about the white water canoeing this week. Austin and Beth want us all to know what really happened and was said, so that if it comes up in conversation, we'll know the facts which were not reported. Apparently someone saw our group on the river and after a recent problem in the swollen river, called authorities. It was downhill from there with Austin and Beth having to explain that our group was training for such conditions.
We're supposed to change the name of our upcoming trip from sea kayaking to coastal kayaking because it sounds more accessible to the general public. After looking at the charts, we'll have lots of protected water to paddle around in but it looks to me like it will have an ocean feel. Land and islands are well separated and one of the islands is further out, less protected. We won't just be cruising along the shore.We'll stay at Thief Island which is the less protected island, and I forget the name of the more inland island. When I'm not so sleepy, I'll check it out further.
Today was planning day. Beth assigned pairs to research basic info on varied topics just to give us an elementary base. Jen and I checked out navigation and charts. Kind of fun. We also settled all our topics for the trip. I had selected Tides and Currents for my 15 minute and have Rules of the Nautical Road for my 5 minute. We can be asked at any time on the trip to present. We also need to come up with a nature topic that we can share with everyone. And, I'll need to do my LNT presentation on disposing of human waste properly. It'll have a different twist being on water. We can't dig holes on the islands because they're too fragile so will use the RestStop2 Bags that were donated. Pooping in a bag--yet another new experience!
Talked about the factors that will actually impact a group of kayakers vs boaters in larger vehicles. Some things won't matter much to us, for example, the depth readings on the charts since we could float in 2" of water if need be. But, we'll need to be on top of wind and waves. Beth said swells develop from out in the ocean and aren't typically going to flip a kayak. It's the chop and bigger waves that will be the tricks. And we'll have to avoid mud flats so time our launches and returns with the tides. Lots to learn!
Biked after school and some work study tonight. I don't know Greenfield well and tried to find the road we used last week to get to the Green River. Missed it but was out for about an hour. I need to make sure I get regular exercise to build and maintain strength and stamina for this trip.
Also, next week we'll be doing white water kayaking all week and will potentially come out of it with some level of certification. Mike and Conway got level 3 today. Mike was stoked. I should get level 1 if not level 2.
Friday, April 2, 2010
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