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EEL

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Everything posted by EEL

  1. A few thoughts. Although I might well be wrong, my understanding that it is OK for anyone to use any radio on any frequency to seek assistance when life and limb are in jeopardy. I seriously doubt anyone is going to care if you use your VHF handheld for non-emergency comms while you are in Canadian waters or in international waters without the appropriate authorizations. If you want to have your bases covered, obtaining a Restricted Radiotelephone Operators Permit and a portable ship license for the handheld from the FCC should suffice. With regard to device for distress calls Joe's suggestion to consider a Garmin InReach is an excellent one. Can be used anywhere for all kinds of activities and is a versatile device with numerous features besides using it to send a distress call. For kayakers it might even be more reliable than DSC. MMSI numbers are a little complicated and knowing about them is not my day job so take it for what is worth. Technically, MMSI numbers for handheld units are different from numbers issued to vessels. If you are a kayaker, It is important the MMSI number you get is specifically encoded for a handheld unit and for technical legality so you can use it while paddling different kayaks. The FCC issues a ship portable license and MMSI for handheld units that is properly encoded, can be used on multiple vessels, and can be used internationally. Services such as BoatUS issue MMSI numbers for specific vessels which include handheld units to be used only on that vessel. It is my understanding such MMSI numbers are not encoded to be recognized as handheld units. Also, since MMSI numbers not issued by the FCC (say by Boat US) are for domestic use only, the MMSI number and related info is not available to any non domestic CGs or SARs units. In other words if you send a distress call by DSC in Canadian waters, they will not know who or what you are. I do not know if the call would alert them to a distress situation and the GPS location, but assume it would. If not, that could really ruin your day. Ed Lawson
  2. Beautiful pictures, but another side to the storms. Apparently these storms destroyed or caused major damage to @60% of the working waterfronts in Maine. Borders on catastrophic for many in the fishing industry. Along with the fire in Port Clyde last Fall, has not been a good time there. Ed Lawson f
  3. Barb: If you are sitting in the boat without skirt on and lean forward as far as you can with arms outstretched, how far in front of the cockpit rim are your hands? Perhaps the loop needs to be shorter? I dimly recall this issue being a problem for Gail as she is short. It was really only resolved by getting a boat designed for a small person and thus had an appropriate sized cockpit opening. Ed Lawson
  4. George: My $.02 is to send the pictures to Eddyline and ask what adhesive should be used and how it should be repaired. They must have had to deal with similar damage a fair amount over the years and historically have been responsive and helpful to owners. It may look bad, but I suspect it is not a difficult repair given ABS construction. Ed Lawson
  5. I do not live in Maine. I live in the Lakes Region of NH.
  6. "No, they were there, but just eaten by the loons" Indeed. Loons are extremely fierce and aggressive birds when territorial issues arise despite their beautiful vocalizations and apparent placid cruising along behavior. Ed Lawson
  7. Not sure prior commitments can be moved, but definitely looking to be nice day for wandering about the islands on Squam. Paddling there during foliage is a wondrous way to spend a day. Ed Lawson
  8. Second Dan's thoughts. My experience, somewhat limited, is that by lightly coating both surfaces and when tacky position the foam works very well and is durable as in years of use. I used the plain vanilla Weldwood contact cement. Ed Lawson
  9. The keeper's house on Cuckhold's was rebuilt/renovated several years ago to be a luxury B&B. Locally it was a contentious and controversial project which eventually failed. Which was good for paddlers because it is a great stopping place. Ed Lawson
  10. Looking forward to it. Can be a wonderful time of year for tripping. Ed Lawson
  11. I would fall back on on the old standbys 3M 4200 or 5200, but others may well have better advice on that part of the repair. If I understand it correctly, the glob of stuff used to be covering the washer and nut as well as holding the housing in place. I assume there are clips holding the housing in place on the run back to the skeg box so it is not free to move about in any event.
  12. Ricardo: My $.02 is your description suggests the skeg cable is the issue not the housing. The cable should move through the housing with so little resistance that housing movement is minimal if at all. A bend in the cable is all that is needed to result in excess force to deploy the skeg (and it may not deploy at all) causing the housing to move. It takes only a minor bend in cable to cause this. If you can loosened the cable at the control end and pull out the cable on the skeg end just a foot or two I suspect you would find a point where there is a bend instead of a simple curve. Just remove the bend using your hands and problem gone. Bends are easily fixed, but a kink means a cable replacement usually. If it takes some force to pull the skeg down using pliers or a line attached to it, that is a very good indication it is a bent cable. Ed Lawson
  13. Nancy: Thank you for that hint. It is one of those great ides that when you read it you slam your head and say , "How did I not think of that!" Ed Lawson Who has spent too much time trying to wedge bags in front of foot pegs.
  14. pitt16: I do not believe the responses to Sir Christopher's rhetorical question should dissuade you or anyone else from asking questions. My memory is questions on any number of topics related to kayaking asked here are always responded to positively and informatively. Which is not to say those responding all have the same answer/opinion nor that responders will not debate the merits of answers/opinions. As an aside, in climbing there is an annual publication which provides details and analysis of representative accidents. Much to be gleaned and hopefully judgement to be gained by its study. I am unaware of anything similar in kayaking, except occasionally in the defunct SeaKayaker magazine, which means we often have no useful information on what happened and why. Perhaps this is why there is often second guessing on whether or not the person followed the best practices as taught by the ACA, BCU, and NSPN. This in turn may cause the tendency to believe, as Kate indicated, if they had the accident would not have happened. Maybe, maybe not. That said, I believe it is valid to point out following such best practices can reduce risks and can reduce the consequences of misfortune. Ed Lawson
  15. If there is an informative after action report there will, no doubt, be topics for discussion and debate. Until then, my comment is "There but for the Grace of God, go I." Ed Lawson
  16. Barb: Some random thoughts:, Moving the bulkhead is an ideal solution, but it is a very ugly, hard job that will cost a bunch, as Joe indicated, if you hire someone to do it. If you do it, I bet you swear never again. It sounds to me as if you are overthinking this and contemplating solutions that are beyond what is needed, but understand messing with boats is fun. The simplest solution is Jim's which is to remove one of the bolts, take it to a decent hardware store and get one that is short enough that the peg will slide out on the aft end of the rail.. If it is hard to remove the bolt, which is typical, get a 3/8" PH #3 socket, spray the bolt inside and out with penetrating oil, wait, use a long handled socket wrench, and you will be able to get it out without much trouble. It should be easy to camp 3 days using an Avocet LV. It was designed to be a weekend boat for smaller paddlers after all. In comparison the Cetus should be good for at least 10 days as it is an expedition boat and far more than most of us will ever need...unless one wants to bring along the full accoutrements of "civilization". I admit to being a contrarian on this topic. A 20 year old kayak from Valley or P&H is likely very well made, especially compared to many today, and if it works no need to replace as it will have many more years of solid service in it. I would be very reluctant to put a sleeping bag or tent in the cockpit. The tent should fit on one side of the skeg box and the fly on the other. If not, maybe it is too big? I would only put things in the cockpit that I did not care if they got wet. Ed Lawson
  17. Barb: If this is your first touring trip, then a couple more comments that may be useful. Assuming you are following Gary's sage advice of having a bag for the gear that goes in each hatch, then fill each bag with the gear you expect to put in the respective hatches and weigh them. As a general rule you will want the hatches astern of the paddler noticeably heavier than than the bow hatch. Then get an impression of the weight of each item and try to put the lightest ones at the farthest ends. Very good idea to load the boat up at home in a trial run when you can take you time fiddling to get things right as opposed to being hectic as in a hurry to launch. Finally, on the first day after I load the boat up, I float it and verify that it looks properly trimmed fore and aft as well as from side to side. It can be a pain to deal with a badly trimmed boat, especially on the first day. Ed Lawson
  18. Barb: Keeping weight as close to your center of gravity is a good thing. This helps handling and makes achieving good trim easier. Personally I have never tied down water bladders, but some do. I have found placing one bladder behind the seat and one in front of the seat (both across the hull) a nice way to store them. The one in front of the seat provides nice cushioning for the thighs. I have never had an issue of them causing problems in rough water. The one behind the seat uses space that is often not used well, but that assumes the outfitting allows the space to be used. One reason I have never foamed out the area behind the seat. Kayaks are amazingly sensitive to total weight load and weight distribution. It does not take much to totally change the boat's personality. Using the space between the foot pegs is a good idea, but I would only put relatively light items there. Not sure i would foam out a bulkhead if it meant a very thick block so I was losing useful storage space assuming the primary purpose of the boat was touring. As much as I like foamed bulkheads, using foot pegs is no big deal. I would not put stuff next to front bulkhead and then put in a foam block. Seems to me it would just make life difficult and make the foam block even "squishier". Ed Lawson
  19. Boat is in good, solid condition with expected superficial scratches from being paddled on the Maine Coast. Designed for fast, long day paddles and extended touring trips. Early model seat which is very comfy. Hatches dry and hatch covers in excellent shape. Skeg works as it should. 49# without hatch covers. Selling because I don't expect to be going on self supported 7-10 day trips in the future, and it deserves more adventures. $850
  20. "but there was no coastal road: it would be remote enough. " What a delightful turn of phrase conveying the essence of true adventure. Ed Lawson
  21. Jim: If you mean when you started the program for the first time you did not see any chart info, then the issue is likely the vessel location is somewhere beyond the charts you have added to the program. Say for example, the vessel location is off the western coast of Africa. If you zoom out enough you should see the outlines of the continents and if you move to New England and then zoom in you should see rectangles and zoom further and the charts data data should appear. Move the vessel to your local area and then it should be good from then on. Getting charts "into" the program is a two or three step process. You download them, extract them if compressed, and then you tell the program the directory where they are located so it knows where to find its "catalog" of charts. Just downloading the charts will not make the charts available by the program. Ed Lawson
  22. Bill: If it were me, I would import the file to OpenCPN which would result in a nice chart picture, then select what you want to post for a trip report and print that as a PDF. You might find OpenCPN a nice tool for planning as well. It is serious software for serious work, but the features useful for kayak trip planning are easy to use once you play with a bit. Ed
  23. Bill: Is the issue of creating daily track files while on a multi day tour or creating daily track files of day paddles? If the former I can understand there is no easy solution even if process is simple. If the latter, wouldn't deleting the log after downloading the data after each paddle suffice? Confess this is academic for me as more interested in where I might go next than looking at where I have been. That said, I do like basic GPS info for writing log entries. Ed Lawson
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