Nick Schade

September 15-2, 2019 - Winter Harbor, Maine Join Us Kayaking In Maine Take a week kayaking the spectacular coastline around Schoodic Point with Guillemot Kayaks designer/builder Nick Schade and Sea Sherpa Kayak coach Gerry Polinsky. The Schoodic Sea Kayak Retreat is a unique event: Part open water instructional, part exploration. While the Schoodic Peninsula is within sight of Mount Desert Island and every bit as ruggedly beautiful, it is remote and crowd free. This area offers some of the best, most scenic paddling along the eastern seaboard. Whether you are new to open water paddling or a seasoned rough water warrior, we will have a pod of similarly experienced paddlers to enjoy your week with. You will build your skills and comfort in fun conditions through progressive, individualized instruction. Each day will be spent exploring remote islands and rocky coastlines. Some days will feature a boat swap highlighting Guillemot Kayaks designs by Nick Schade, or a rolling class, or tasting whitewater in a sea kayak at the renowned Sullivan Reversing Falls, or just a relaxing paddle in a scenic harbor. Friends and Family program: We include activities for non-paddlers: Paint-and-Sip art class, night sky exploration, interpretive formal garden tour. Bring a non-paddling friend or significant other along and while you are on the water, they can hike the fantastic local trails, take a ferry to Mount Desert Island, go shopping in Bar Harbor, etc… Paddlers are welcome to take time off to join in on the dry-land fun. We'll be housed and fed at the Schoodic Institute which features comfy, roomy apartments and hearty, delicious food. Set on the scenic point of the Schoodic Peninsula, the campus makes for an impressive background to the week's activities. More Info: https://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/guillemot/event/trips/new_england/maine/2019_schoodic_sea_kayaking_retreat

Assume two boats with the same flat-water waterline length and below-waterline shape, but one with overhang. The one with overhang will often actually have a longer waterline because in waves, the overhang will penetrate the waves farther out on the overhang. Since the overall boat length is longer, it has the opportunity to produce a longer waterline. The overhang at the ends of the boat also effects the flare of the hull above the waterline farther down the length. The result is more reserve buoyancy. The reserve effects secondary stability, ability to lean turns, and lift in waves. So, if you are comparing 18' long boats you may get one answer, but if you are comparing two boats with 17' waterlines, you answer may be different. Epic boats are designed in a world where there are organized races, and race organizers prefer to measure overall length because it is easier than determining waterline length. In discussions of this sort, people have often compared modern America's Cup boats with earlier racing sailboats. They often wonder why many classic sailboats had long overhangs and modern boats have square-plumb bows. The reason was: the old rules were based on up-right waterline length. So smart designers created boats with very short waterlines when sitting at their moorings. However, once the wind blew and they started to heel, those long overhangs went into the water and in racing situations the boats had very long waterlines. The lesson to take from this is that looking at race boats is not necessarily a valid indicator of what is "best". Races have rules, and the boats are optimized to the man-made rules as much as they are optimized to the free-physics of the water. Another example of this is commercial ships. One would think that it is critically important that they operate as efficiently as possible. So if you look at a lot of commercial ships you see they are often about 1050 ft long, and 110 ft wide and very nearly rectangular with blunt points on each end. Is this the most efficient shape? Yes, it is the most efficient shape for a vessel that must also traverse the Panama Canal where the locks are 1050 by 110 ft. There are often design constraints that are not as obvious. Different uses determine what is "best" and you can make a claim for just about any design being "best" by judicious selection of design constraints.

I can't answer whether there is a benefit, however I would say that overhang-or-not, makes a difference. And, where there is a difference there is an opportunity for a benefit. If you paddle in a certain manner and a given design works very well for you when paddling in that way, it is very possible that changing the design will not afford any benefit, but that doesn't not mean that changing the design would not be of benefit if you want to do something different. There are lots of ways to achieve most design goals. For example you can make a boat maneuverable with added rocker or by making it respond well to leans (or both). If you can make a boat turn well without leaning, some people may consider that a benefit, as there are situations where leaning makes you more vulnerable. But, then if you don't feel the lean is making vulnerable, then you may say it is of no benefit.

Take a QCC or Epic into a rock garden (assume it is constructed to handle abuse) and then take a boat with more rocker and shorter waterline length. Shorter boats with more rocker handle better in situations where maneuverability is at a premium. You could actually say: "Long waterlines and straight rocker serve no purpose." Some people like to cross long distances quickly and efficiently, others like to maneuver precisely in tight spots, many people end up doing some of each. Each paddler should choose their boats accordingly.

It should be noted that Sea Kayaker doesn't claim to predict power requirements, but instead publish drag predictions. "Drag" is a force, so the units of pounds is appropriate. And if subject of the original post had said "drag increases as a square of velocity", this discussion would not have gone very far. I'm agnostic as to whether it would be better for Sea Kayaker to publish drag or power predictions as I am unable to gauge either in any meaningful way while I'm paddling. Of course since power is the force * speed, publishing the drag is actually the same as publishing power, all you need to do is a simple multiplication. The benefit of the data for the average kayaker is not in the actual numbers, but in comparing one boat with another. If boat X has a drag of 4.47# at 4.5 knots and another is 4.01 at the same speed, you can assume with some confidence that the one with the lower number will be easier to paddle at at 4.5 knots. Because the absolute value of the numbers is less interesting than the relative value in comparison to other boats, it is not even all that critical how accurate the model it is so long as it fairly precise in predicting differences. I think the models are fairly good at differentiating gross differences (between a Romany and an Epic 18) but less useful predicting minor differences (Epic 18 vs a QCC 700).

From the link I posted earlier: It is not so much to block the noise, but to block the current path. Lightning prefers to flow down the outside of an object. The inside of the ear may appear to be the "outside" in terms of current flow. I presume it is also a good idea to keep your mouth shut while reciting your prayers.

Carbon fiber is an OK conductor, not a particularly great one, but again we are talking a mile of air vs a few feet of carbon. The difference between a carbon, wood or fiberglass paddle is negligible when compared to the empty space lightning is capable of crossing. Instead of making stuff up I did a very little bit of research and found this lightning safety procedures (PDF) It is well worth reading to understand more about lightning. Getting in this safety position while in a kayak is not practical. My theory of hands in the water was two fold: you are likely sitting with your feet and but in salty water i.e. you have a large contact area with the ground so making your arms a little bit better contact may make them the preferred path as opposed to your torso, and most of us are not so flexible that we can maintain a tight tuck without some help. The first reasoning probably doesn't apply, But you do want to get as low as possible and in as tight a ball as possible. Kissing the deck and putting your fingers in your ears may be better. If lightning is going to hit you, there is not much you can do to prevent it. The best idea is to get back to your car or into a building as soon as possible after you determine a storm is coming. If you are stuck out in a group, spread out a little so you don't make a target-rich environment and move towards safety. If you feel your hair standing up, pull yourself into tight ball and hope/pray for the best. Exiting your boat just puts you at risk for other problems without changing your odds of being hit.

So lightning has traveled a mile or so through thin air to hit you, what exactly are the gloves supposed to do? If you think they are an insulator that will block the current, try sending a current through a mile of air some time. Air is much better at protecting you from lightning than gloves and if air isn't enough don't think the gloves will change matters. Saltwater soaked gloves are pointless. Any charge weak enough to be blocked by the gloves, probably wouldn't kill you anyway. Similarly, getting under your kayak will only serve to keep your head dry after you wet exit. If you are going to get in the water, you might as well keep your head out so you can see other dangers coming. A fiberglass kayak will do nothing to stop the lightning from hitting you. A carbon fiber boat may offer a little protection, but precious little. I don't think your odds of being hit are changed much by being in or out of the boat. Personally I would rather be in the boat after being hit. At least I would be one capsize away from drowning instead of proceeding directly to that outcome. I would stay in my boat and kiss the deck with my hands in the water under the boat, holding my body as tight to the deck as possible. A low profile will make a less attractive path to ground and your hands in the water will provide a better path to ground than your torso and the heart contained there-in.

That would probably be Cobscook Bay Reversing Falls. This is a big and powerful reversing falls in an area with a large tide range. It is interesting because there is an alternative way around it and you can actually create a round trip that goes with the current the whole way. Probably the best staging area for paddling in the region is Cobscook Bay State Campground that is farther up in the bay. It has beautiful tent sites right on water. They also have group camping area if you ever want to organize a trip to the region with a large group of paddlers. There are lots of great paddling opportunities in the area.

To be honest, I'm not sure. Maybe it is that annoying little dog-like-creature that they used in the ads. I could see how one of those might be quite useful. You toss the dog-like-creature with a rope attached and it may act like a self-guide throw rope, homing in on the closest floating object.

Rick talks about a "taco wrap bag" and the Canoe & Kayak review refers to a "burrito-style bag". I have some questions: Which is better? Is the "taco" style a crunchy shell or a soft tortilla. Could you possibly go with a chalupa instead? Is the burrito style a breakfast burrito? Does the tow system need to be a mexican style, or could it possibly be a gyro or calzone? I really like tzatziki sauce, and pepperoni can really be nice after a good workout. I'm really confused and more than a little bit hungry. I would think the burrito style would be a little easier to eat in rough water, but I think I would be happy to be wearing a sprayskirt with either taco or burrito style. It is not a big deal to get salsa and taco shell crumbs off the skirt by rolling, while getting them out of the cockpit requires going ashore and rinsing out the boat. Any advice people could offer in this regard would be greatly appreciated, I am going paddling this afternoon and am trying to decide what to bring along.

I remember something similar. As I remember, green cuts through fog better. I don't have any information to back that up.

I tried to make the point that if there is one thing you are counting on which makes you feel safe going out alone, that maybe you should not go. You should have a whole boat full of things that make you feel comfortable going out. The first thing you need is located just above your shoulders. You need the judgment to know when you are well within your limits and abilities to handle. At this point if you think there is a very real possibility that you may actually need to use any of your other gear beyond a boat, paddle and spray skirt, your best bet is to plan some other trip. Next you need the skills to keep you out of trouble. You should be able to read the weather and water and know where is more risky. You should have the ability to sit in the boat comfortably without bracing. You should be able to paddle and make progress in any direction and particularly towards some place safe. You now should have contingency plans. If the conditions get rougher you should be able to brace instinctively and naturally without impeding your ability to make forward progress in any direction. If you don't feel absolutely confident that the risk of capsizing is nearly zero you should probably not go out alone. Now you need secondary contingency plans for if the conditions get worse yet. You should know where good bail out points are so you can cut short your trip. You should also have some well tested and practiced, reliable self rescue method, a roll being the best bet, but if the water is warm and you are close to shore, swimming with your boat may be OK. Now is when you start thinking about gear. If you seriously think you might need to use any of the gear your best bet is to stay ashore, you are way beyond your ability level. Gear such as a PFDs, paddle floats, VHFs, dry suits, Roll-Aids, etc are for when things really get bad. If you think there is more than like a 1% chance that any one piece of gear will be required to get home at the end of the day, you are probably pushing the envelope of your ability to paddle solo. Gear is your contingency plan that backs up your contingency plan that protects your contingency plan in case things get a little worse than you expected when you left the beach. So, when I say "if you would not go out with gear item "X", you probably shouldn't go out" it is in this context. If you feel that some piece of gear is an important and significant part of what is keeping you safe you are probably beyond your safe zone already. I will even say the same of rolling. If you think there is a very real possibility that your life will depend on your ability to roll on any given day, you should probably find something else to do that day. If you go out in those circumstances you are pushing yourself well beyond your margin of safety. Chances are you will live to paddle another day, but you aren't leaving yourself much room for error.

Again, the reliability of the device itself is not what I question, it is the reliability of the user to make it function as intended. If you practice with a half-inflated paddle float in real-life conditions so you know its idiosyncrasies, you are better off with it than the roll-aid device. Remember, the conditions that create a capsize are generally outside of your practiced abilities. If your reflexive abilities were good enough you would not have capsized. While it may seem like a simple thing to pull a handle on the roll-aid, it is also a simple thing to throw a brace, yet you have already failed at that. It is a simple thing to roll with out breaking a paddle, yet you failed at that. Now you are going to do one more simple thing, but one that you have never tried in similar circumstances. The circumstances of an unexpected capsize are by definition unexpected and with that novelty comes a whole boat-load other unexpected circumstances. Unless you have practiced the whole roll-aid process in similar circumstances you can not say you know it will work, because of that word "unexpected". My point here has nothing to do with the device itself. In a word, I "expect" it can work easily, but given that it costs $12.50 every time you practice I doubt many people are willing to give the device the tests and practice required to know what to expect in real conditions.

I am always leery of anything that purports to be so easy you don't need to practice. One use does not constitute practice at all. You are putting your confidence in gear when it is usually not the gear that fails. Any conditions that cause a capsize are apt to be somewhat chaotic. Conditions that cause you to fail to roll, break a paddle, or loose it all together are probably worse yet. Many people can easily roll in a pool yet pop their skirt immediately in real situations. This is not an equipment failure, it is the natural reaction of someone whose life is at risk. If you would not paddle solo without the device, you probably should not be paddling solo at all. Unless you have tried the whole system at least a half dozen times in conditions resembling those where you may actually capsize you can not authoritatively say it will work for you in those conditions.