Gillian Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Okay well that title would be an exaggeration but what a blast out there yesterday. The Harbor was a lake but once we got around the corner towards Marblehead there were some great rocks to play in along the way, and some great waves breaking over a couple bigger rocks about a quarter mile off shore. Kevin, Brian and I headed out at 12:30 ish for the paddle and I am loving the new avocet - losing 2 feet of boat makes a BIG difference when trying to do a quick turn in the rocks - there were only really 1-2 footers out there so it was great fun without having to really worry much . . . My legs are black and blue from the damn seat in that boat (avocets are for people with no hips) but even despite needing to put a new seat in i feel more confident in that boat . . . Luckily the storms didn't hit until the three of us were settled in having dinner on the deck at Finz, comfortably into our second or third drinks, and all agreed it's much more fun to watch a storm come in while nice and tucked in on land, rather than the "oh shi* look at that" from the water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick stoehrer Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Okay well that title would be an exaggeration but what a blast out there yesterday. The Harbor was a lake but once we got around the corner towards Marblehead there were some great rocks to play in along the way, and some great waves breaking over a couple bigger rocks about a quarter mile off shore. Kevin, Brian and I headed out at 12:30 ish for the paddle and I am loving the new avocet - losing 2 feet of boat makes a BIG difference when trying to do a quick turn in the rocks - there were only really 1-2 footers out there so it was great fun without having to really worry much . . . My legs are black and blue from the damn seat in that boat (avocets are for people with no hips) but even despite needing to put a new seat in i feel more confident in that boat . . . Luckily the storms didn't hit until the three of us were settled in having dinner on the deck at Finz, comfortably into our second or third drinks, and all agreed it's much more fun to watch a storm come in while nice and tucked in on land, rather than the "oh shi* look at that" from the water glad to hear you had a good time. we missed you at the tows/rescues thing at pavillion...waited on the beach for as a bit and then figured you were a no show. outside of plum was 2-4 with almost no wind and pretty good fog....great conditions to practice tow/rescues and do some essential nav (which way is safety?) really nice day. had one gent's tow rig snap under very little stress....glad it happened on a training and not when it was important! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillian Posted June 30, 2008 Author Share Posted June 30, 2008 glad to hear you had a good time. we missed you at the tows/rescues thing at pavillion...waited on the beach for as a bit and then figured you were a no show. outside of plum was 2-4 with almost no wind and pretty good fog....great conditions to practice tow/rescues and do some essential nav (which way is safety?) really nice day. had one gent's tow rig snap under very little stress....glad it happened on a training and not when it was important! oh bummer!!! i'm sorry you were expecting us, i had actually suggested maybe another time as i thought it was only me you kevin and judy who had confirmed . . . did you have a lot of folks show?? the morning would have been great for tows and that's actually cool that somebody's snapped during practice - we were trying out some new tows we did and realized we needed to make some adjustments to ours as well - definitely good to know about changes you need to make before you really need it . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick stoehrer Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 oh bummer!!! i'm sorry you were expecting us, i had actually suggested maybe another time as i thought it was only me you kevin and judy who had confirmed . . . did you have a lot of folks show?? the morning would have been great for tows and that's actually cool that somebody's snapped during practice - we were trying out some new tows we did and realized the short tow was too short and the long tows which we daisy chained so they weren't too long, were still longer than we wanted to practice when you don't really need it is key . . . only 2 but that was fine...we got lots to do and it's nice when you can have a conversation without having to shout to be heard in a larger group. great day with the fog and the swell..made for a "real" enviroment where keeping some things straight were not just paper exercises. yes tow length was an issue in our group as well...even in the little swell we had you could see where the rafted tow very quickly got too close to the tow-er unless you had a fair amount of line out. and the breaking of the tow rig was just good fortune really (well...maybe not for sean, it is after all his money we're spending!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillian Posted June 30, 2008 Author Share Posted June 30, 2008 only 2 but that was fine...we got lots to do and it's nice when you can have a conversation without having to shout to be heard in a larger group. great day with the fog and the swell..made for a "real" enviroment where keeping some things straight were not just paper exercises. yes tow length was an issue in our group as well...even in the little swell we had you could see where the rafted tow very quickly got too close to the tow-er unless you had a fair amount of line out. and the breaking of the tow rig was just good fortune really (well...maybe not for sean, it is after all his money we're spending!) we're testing out daisy chaining our long tows with a carabiner clipped in the middle so you can do a quick release before you clip in, if you assess that you need a long tow for big swell. after yesterday we decided we needed to daisy chain a bit more to make a good medium length tow. kevin tested out the new quick release stainless steel "thingy" (i don't know what it's called) for his short tow that connects boat to boat, and that worked great. they're kind of expensive - i think maybe $40 from west marine but it's really worth it . . . kevin, what is that piece called?? i'm glad you guys had some good conditions for tow practice and fog too is a bonus!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
risingsn Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 we're testing out daisy chaining our long tows with a carabiner clipped in the middle so you can do a quick release before you clip in, if you assess that you need a long tow for big swell. after yesterday we decided we needed to daisy chain a bit more to make a good medium length tow. kevin tested out the new quick release stainless steel "thingy" (i don't know what it's called) for his short tow that connects boat to boat, and that worked great. they're kind of expensive - i think maybe $40 from west marine but it's really worth it . . . kevin, what is that piece called?? i'm glad you guys had some good conditions for tow practice and fog too is a bonus!!! Daisy chaining... OK I'll jump in. I have 2 tow rigs (NDK & Palm), both w/ 40' of line. I start my daisy chain some where in the middle working back toward the belt ending @ the shock bungie. I make it short enough so that the bow of the victim is about 3'-4' off my stern. It is secured w/ a SS biner which is tied to the end of the line. This allows me to simply reach back @ any time & pop the biner to go from a short tow to full length. Out of curiosity, who manufactured the failed tow rig? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick stoehrer Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Daisy chaining... OK I'll jump in. I have 2 tow rigs (NDK & Palm), both w/ 40' of line. I start my daisy chain some where in the middle working back toward the belt ending @ the shock bungie. I make it short enough so that the bow of the victim is about 3'-4' off my stern. It is secured w/ a SS biner which is tied to the end of the line. This allows me to simply reach back @ any time & pop the biner to go from a short tow to full length. Out of curiosity, who manufactured the failed tow rig? either a palm or a kokatat...it was a short tow on the back of carney_s pfd....used either half or quarter inch webbing and had a one of those plastic fastex side release buckle. i didn't examine it after it broke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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