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billvoss

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Everything posted by billvoss

  1. I do not carry my VHF on Walden Pond or most other bodies of fresh water. I normally carry my VHF (and PLB) on the ocean. Whenever I carry my VHF radio I follow the monitor 16 rule. My radio is a DSC VHF radio, so I also automatically monitor for DSC distress signals whenever the radio is on. I have not yet paddled on the ocean without following the "3 to Sea" rule. If the group is using a designated channel, I add it to dual watch or multiple channel watch. I am willing to set the squelch high enough that I only hear Coast Guard and local voice broadcasts.
  2. Yes my standard operating procedure is to follow the monitor 16 rule.
  3. I will only be there in spirit this year. Back pain currently prevents me from driving that far. Have a great time.
  4. I am still under "No kayaking" orders from my MD because of sciatica. So I will not be attending Black Friday. ? I won't be buying any pool sessions either until my doctor lifts the restriction.
  5. Welcome Kegzy, I look forward to seeing you at Walden in the future. Most years Walden does continue into the fall. Though the park closes earlier as the days get shorter which around now eliminates the after work participants. At the moment I’m sidelined with a sore back, and October 3rd I’m scheduled to drive down to Delaware for the annual Delmarva Paddler’s retreat. So I personally am probably finished attending Walden evening sessions for 2018. After the Delmarva Paddler’s retreat I usually have to wait for pool practice sessions to get regular rolling practice. However, while the day of the week may change, and next year’s sessions might be cross listed with AMC, I certainly hope the Walden Pond tradition will continue in 2019. A bit about my experience. I built my first F1 at the Delmarva Paddler’s retreat in 2010 in one of Brian’s workshops. I damaged it in 2014 and promptly built a replacement F1 in my garage. I don’t have much experience with “factory” kayaks, but I definitely like my F1. I use it at Walden. I use if for surf sessions. I’ve used it at reversing falls. I use it for day paddles. I have not used if for multiple day trips. It has been my go-to sea kayak since the fall of 2010. I think I was very lucky to have built an F1 at the end of my first year of sea kayaking. The biggest upside to any kayak you build yourself is the emotional satisfaction of paddling something you did build yourself. A possible upside to skin-on-frame kayaks is they can be custom built to fit you well, and can be customized to individual preferences. Skin-on-frame kayaks are generally light weight compared to most kayaks. Homemade kayaks definitely attract attention and conversation. “Did you build that yourself?” “How long did it take?” “What is it made of?” “How much does it weight?” Some days I think that is a good thing, sometimes when I find myself listening to a long story about the non-kayak boat some stranger's uncle built it seems like a negative. The biggest downside is a skin-on-frame kayak does NOT have a BULKHEAD! I can dump the water from a kayak with a rear bulkhead in seconds, but it takes a lot longer to remove the water from a skin-on-frame kayak, even if the skin-on-frame kayak has huge float bags. So the skin-on-frame paddler needs to be prepared to spend more time in the water (dry suit suggested), and needs to be prepared to train their rescuer on how to deal with a kayak lacking bulkheads in the midst of an emergency situation. A sea sock can immensely improve the no bulkhead problem. I have tried sea socks on Walden pond, but I have not yet found a sea sock that I’m willing to use on the ocean. Though some skin-on-frame kayakers swear by them. F1 specific issues. If you have read Brian’s websites, you know the F1 is a fairly stable kayak, has low drag at casual paddling speeds, and is quite maneuverable for a sea kayak. The F1 is not fast in a sprint, and has a very high back deck. That high back deck makes layback rolls more challenging, though my F1 really likes forward finishing rolls. The F1 is great and horrible for surfing. The F1 loves steep waves, and on medium to big steep waves you have a much better chance of being able to reverse direction on the wave than the longer sea kayaks. The F1 seems to be great for those huge Pacific ocean waves I’ve only seen in pictures. My surfing experience is mostly limited to the two to four foot beach break waves I usually encounter in New Hampshire. In those conditions my friends in longer sea kayaks can usually begin surfing before the wave becomes steep enough for my F1 to play. So I setup to catch most of my waves much closer to the beach than my surfing friends. Unless you are an expert surfer or have a very reliable roll surfing tends to cause out-of-boat experiences. Unless you are using a sea sock which stays on you are in much better shape using a kayak with bulkhead than a flooded skin-on-frame kayak during an out-of-boat experience. During day paddles in bumpy water, the F1 is better at some wave conditions than longer kayaks, and longer kayaks are better than the F1 in some wave conditions. That mismatch can mean the F1 paddler is working a lot harder or having a much easier time than their longer kayak companions. You will care more about scraping any kayak you personally built (skin-on-frame, stitch-and-glue, or stripper) on rocks and even sand than you would a kayak you bought. This can be an issue surfing, but also during rock play, or even simply day paddles. The F1 is a short high displacement sea kayak. Especially if you are a big guy like me, that means your F1’s draft is probably deeper than any of your paddling companion’s which sometimes means you hit bottom hard where your companions didn’t scrape. One huge disadvantage of any custom built kayak is that unlike a factory kayak, you cannot take it on a test paddle. I was fortunate that I fit my first F1 well. I also made some minor tweaks to my second F1 that made me fit it even better which is rarely an option with a factory kayak. Last fall I built a Baidarka style skin-on-frame in another Delmarva workshop with a different instructor. To my extreme surprise, my Walden test paddles have not yet been successful enough for me to take the Baidarka on the ocean. That is a totally different experience than what I experienced with the F1. I might have to build yet another kayak before I will have a comfortable alternative to my F1. Some meetup, AMC, and even NSPN trips will specify that kayaks must be longer than an F1, and/or must have a bulkhead. They are generally trying to exclude beginners in plastic tubs which lack bulkheads. So leaders generally waive those requirements for me in advance, or don’t challenge me on it when I show up with an F1. However, most of the leaders I paddle with know that I have a reliable roll, teach rolling, and also like to surf. Your experience might be different. Though in general leaders tend to assume (sometimes incorrectly) than anyone who built their own kayak is a fairly competent paddler. Despite the downsides, I personally am very glad I went with the F1. I don’t want to discourage you from doing the same. However, I do want you to go in with your eyes wide open. It is a very nice kayak, but perhaps not quite as nice a kayak as Brian thinks. I know a number of local paddlers who have build F1 kayaks, and many of them used the F1s regularly for a year or more. However, I don’t know anyone else locally who is still using their F1 as their primary kayak. They have all gone to factory kayaks. I find it difficult to imagine switching to a factory kayak, though I’ll admit some of the http://www.sterlingskayak.com/ offerings look worthy of a test paddle. For now I avoid the test paddle temptations, and enjoy paddling sea kayaks I built myself. As for skirts get a custom skirt for your F1, where you send in a tracing of your coaming showing where you sit in the kayak. Get one with a neoprene deck and a neoprene tube. The downside of the various deck fabric reinforcement options is they do not stretch as well as a simple neoprene deck, which increases the probability of the skirt popping off during a roll. So don't think more is necessarily better for fabric reinforcement, though a little around the edges is usually not an issue. Both http://www.sealsskirts.com in upstate NY and http://www.snapdragondesign.com in Washington state make good custom skirts. I’ve had good experiences with both companies. Bill Voss
  6. I'm not going to make it this week, sore lower back. If anyone goes, have fun without me.
  7. I'll counter with arrive around 4pm, off the water at 6pm. I have to do an afternoon errand before Walden.
  8. Walden Pond State Reservation‏ @waldenpondstate Sep 9 Beginning Sunday, September 9th Walden Pond will be closing nightly at 6:30pm, the out gate to the main parking area locking at 7:00pm. The last 5:00am open (M-F) of the season will be on September 14th.
  9. What time do you want to get there Yong?
  10. Anyone feeling an urge to visit Walden this Wednesday?
  11. Looks like the "final" Walden was the first Walden of 2018 where they closed the park for capacity. Walden Pond State Reservation‏ @waldenpondstate Aug 29 Good year everyone. There might be more informal Walden gatherings in September, but the "calendar" events are now finished, and I will be in Maine this coming week.
  12. I thought about playing around with a sail on my kayak in NH a few years ago. Then realized that if I added a sail, my kayak might be considered a sailboat over 12 feet in length which must be regi$tered in NH. Decided I wasn't that interested in sails. If you explore sails in NH, you should probably at least double check if the kayak needs to be registered.
  13. This is the last Walden session I put on the calendar. Mainly because I'm scheduled to drive to Maine next Wednesday. Based on the hot weather forecast, this might be the first Wednesday of the year that Walden is "closed for capacity" and Plan-B applies. I'm improved but know I'm still sick because I don't feel like rolling my kayak. I'm also still coughing and blowing my nose. My bottom line is I'm probably not attending this week. Have fun without me.
  14. A sore throat has changed my plans to probably not attending.
  15. I'll be closely watching the hourly forecast, but as I post this the chance of thunder ends at 3pm with trace precipitation ending around 6pm. Near perfect conditions for another peaceful evening at Walden.
  16. I hope everyone has fun without me this week. I do not expect to attend. Hopefully, I'll be in Maine that afternoon.
  17. Leslie and I saw a LOON! It was less than two boat lengths away. First time I've ever seen a loon on Walden. Magic evening with wonderful blue sky until suddenly thunder chased us off about 20 minutes early.
  18. Sure, we don't have to cross the lake if people don't want to. If the clouds look ominous, staying fairly close to the put-in makes sense. P.S. I'm going to try my new kayak again today, this time with a different skirt.
  19. Who's up for braving the weather? Usual plan, show up 4:30pm or later, off the water about 7:00pm.
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