Water was the curse of this event -- water in the wrong places, that is.

There was adequate water falling from the sky, which undoubtedly cut down on the turnout; the weekends this spring have been pretty soggy, and this was no exception, with light to moderate showers most of the day, and some heavy rain at the end. But there wasn't anough water in the river!

The level in Barton Cove varies dramatically, sometimes even within the course of the day, due largely to whether water is being diverted to the storage reservior at Northfield Mountain. On race day, the water level was lower than it had been on any of the fieldwork days, and in fact had dropped several feet from the previous afternoon, such that most of the controls which had been placed from a boat the previous afternoon were now high and dry. And the areas shown on the map as shallow water were in fact exposed mud flats that canoes were dragged or carried across. But those who showed up all appeared to have a fun time, and all seemed pleased at the finish.

This meet used the Western Mass Rules format, with premarked maps, and the controls visited in any order. The course was determined by how many controls were visited.

Many thanks to all those who helped, most particularly to Liz and Ed Kotowski, who were really the meet directors for this event (I was merely the course setter). Thanks also to Aims Coney for lending boats and picking up controls, Siobhan Fleming for staffing the registration table, and Dwight Harrison of Northeast Utilities for making this event possible.

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Liz Kotowski adds her notes:

• J-J made an excellent new color map for this event.
• The Barton Cove peninsula is gorgeous, with huge cliffs and caves near the
  water. Some of the controls were hung in the caves.
• The teams with the fastest times portaged over the peninsula.
• With most of the "wet" controls on exposed land due to the low water level,
  orienteers were often up to their knees in mud and muck (it was quite comical).
  Amazingly, when Aims went out to pick up the controls around 4 pm, the water level had risen at least 6 inches and the mudflats were submerged. He was able to paddle to every "wet" control, even #11 and #14. What a difference!
  
• We got to see bald eagles! The island near Barton Cove has a huge nest that's
  visible as you paddle around. One eaglet was born on April 17. It's preparing
  to fledge right now, so we saw both the eaglet and its parents from our boat.
  For info and a look at the eagles, visit the Northeast Utilities System live cam
  of the eagles.

And points out that J-J definitely was the event director and that she and Ed helped out.