Suz

I thought about you out paddling when I was working the store at the LLBean Paddle Event. Only interesting thing of note is that I met a woman who is going on a paddling trip to Iceland! All in all it was a day filled with envy, not quite jealousy!

I am imagining myself on my island alone and feeling the privacy and solitude. Look up from my front porch and see some woman (probably me) with her pants down and tinkling on the shore line. The rest of the men all doing something standing up under their sprayskirts and then lo and behold, they are all peeing. All that taking place on their little beach that they can only access at low tide. Sure we know it gets washed off every few hours, we know it's just a little pee... But when you get people regularly stopping at the same little beach (as it is situated in just the 'right' spot), how would it feel then the next time you put your towel down to take a nap or have the kids playing in the sand.

Just a quick response on the zipper issue... Scott is correct that all the way open or all the way closed is bad because it causes compression on the bumpers. As for the sunscreen issue - Scott's little problem is that he leaves it RUNNING down his face and then puts his drysuit on. That's his personal issue:) And now moving on to FROZEN gaskets. I had a few that I had hanging out in the barn one winter after a cold water workshop and found that as cold as it got, did freeze the gaskets. I brought them back inside and warmed them up prior to using them. I would imagine they would shatter if manipulated when they were in that frozen state. They certainly wouldn't have stretched properly.

I use those for spices in my camp kitchen... well not those specifically but some my husband supplied for lab testing. Great screw on lid and water tight. Never thought to use in my first aid kit!

The 303 "party line" is to do the gaskets every 4-6 weeks regardless of whether they are being worn or not. I will say the gaskets that are treated regularly last a heck of a lot longer than the ones that are not. I have some demo suit gaskets that are over 8 years old. The 10 year old ones went this year! I also like to wax the zips before putting away. Store METAL tooth zips anywhere other than fully open or closed. Store plastic tooth zips fully closed.

My solutions are not always the cheapest!

I really love these little bottles: http://www.humangear.com/gotoob/ I use the Go Tubb's for personal first aid stuff, also use them in my purse/car for personal meds. Personally, I like to use the smallest bottle of aspirin and ibuprofen that I can find for my regular first aid kit. I like them in their original packaging so that I don't mistakenly offer the wrong one to somebody. But I take groups out... If you don't, perhaps it doesn't matter as much. And the Go Toobs, I like them for loads of things. They are food safe and so can contain lots of foods to bring with you - you can put 8 ounces of Pesto Sauce in one - same for Hummus. I tend to bring lots of homemade foods so it allows me to package things up. You can then freeze the whole container and bring that with you and it stays nice for days. It also makes dispensing small amounts of food easy at the campsite so things don't get contaminated nor do you cross contaminate foods as you are not putting a knife or spoon into the container.

Surprised my husband and I didn't spy you on the water. We were only out for a quick overnight from Saturday mid afternoon to Sunday mid afternoon but in the same corner of water. Decided to just get on the water and out of the heat. Funny thing is that before leaving we needed to turn ON the air conditioner for the poor cats left home alone in the heat!

I can't get started without a lovely bowl of some sort of grain with nuts and dried fruit. What a great trip report Gary!

Hit the side of the boat a few times. I had one that used to stick like that.

Well, I don't carry one and don't know anyone who does. Also, I must admit, I didn't even know what one was until I google searched after your post:) I don't recall ever being surprised at the fog coming in... sometimes it moves in faster than you could hope/want but if you are observing, you will see the bank and the world disappearing as it comes in.

Al, P&H will order you the colored decklines that they use if you want. It is really hard to find a good quality COLORED deck line that doesn't fade . Personally, I switch mine out to the black and buy it all from Paddlers Supply by the spool. If black isn't what you want, you may need to order it through P&H and if you are going to that trouble, you probably ought to buy enough to replace it twice. Suz

I'm late to the post but will add that the bungee and deck line to use is the 5 mm.

I think that the only downside to a Pawlata roll is that it is very effective DESPITE poor body position or head position. That is a good thing and a bad thing... If you practice it a lot and are always lifting your head up at the end, the extended paddle will usually still bring you up. Then head lifting becomes a 'remembered'/practiced thing that is reinforced by the fact you rolled up... Personally I don't use and extended paddle roll until after my primary roll fails a few times. Once though I remember that I just kept trying and trying my regular roll and poor form and tired body caused me to finally pull my skirt. I then realized I didn't even try an extended paddle roll. DUH. I think it is because when one doesn't practice something, it gets forgotten. So, I would suggest that it is a useful technique to utilize and practice so it becomes ingrained and remembered.

Tell where you live and I can tell you who the stocks Kokatat who is closest to you. Suz

That item isn't stocked but anyone who sells Kokatat can order it for you. The Tropos Storm Cag is stocked and KTP does carry it. NESC no longer stocks Kokatat. Suz

Got mine last week but so far no time jump in. Looks good though - I agree that it is a good one to have on the shelf. Suz

Paul, CPR is an add on to the regular solo WFA. When I set up the classes myself, I add it on . It is then done on the evening of the first day for a couple of hours extra. Suz

Doug, Most vendors who are there don't use them anymore as it keeps it more open without the tents. Fire marshal does inspect at set up time to make sure that the tents are appropriate to use. Suz

Available in hardcover on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Art-Finding-Our-Way/dp/0674072820/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1366033021&sr=1-1&keywords=the+lost+art+of+finding+our+way Mine is on the way! Suz

I think it is useful for a group to have more than one stove. If I am leading the group and bringing supplies, I always bring more than one stove and my field repair kit. Can't choose to skip meals when someone is paying you for the trip or depending on you for it. My MSR Dragonfly failure was also in the fuel supply line. I think it was corroding from salt water/salt air usage. It was about 8 years old. I feel that the 'good' stoves should last a good long time and shouldn't be 'throwaways'. In that spirit, my husband bought a old Trangia stove with multi pots sets. Must be 50 years old and cost about $100 but will always work and nothing can go wrong with it.

Boil and Eat type cooks - Jet Boil - easy to use, quick to use (this is a canister style stove and so downside is you need to flatten and recycle the cans). Other brands are also making this type of stove now. They are called system stoves. When I got mine, they were the only real contenders. My two Jet Boils have performed well for 5 years. Only repairs needed were to replace the ignitor on one of them. It is prone to breaking when packing into itself. Optimus Stove - http://store.primuscamping.com/backpacking-stoves/multi-fuel/omnifuel-153-stove-w/bottle-pouch-and-windscreen/ This is my go to stove for camp cooking. It is reliable, can burn nearly any liquid fuel, field repairable and will last a life time. It has all metal parts and so will last longer than a stove with plastic parts. I would imagine that is why it is more expensive than others of this type. I own a few old MSR Dragonfly's. New models are considerably cheaper than the Optimus and have numerous plastic parts. This was what I used prior to purchasing the Optimus. One of the fittings failed on one of my Dragonfly's and I have yet to fix it. I decided to just save the one for parts for the other. I still use this stove but it is NOISY in comparison to the Optimus, which is noisier than a Jet Boil! Of course you could go low tech like Kate and make your own alcohol stove. http://www.jureystudio.com/pennystove/index.html While I do have one and admired the size and simplicity of it, I decided it was too dangerous for me. It burns dry gas and the flame is clear when burning. I had a little accident with one and no one was hurt but that was at home and I decided the risk wasn't worth using one in the field where an accident couldn't be managed as easily as it can at home.

Can only be achieved if you get a SUP.

I tried to camp on an island near Boothbay that unexpectedly had two goats on it. We tried hard to find a place to set up tents but while looking, the goats tried to eat our deck lines, our life jackets and our spray skirts that were on US. We ended up going to a 'no camping' island nearby and set up at the foot of the lighthouse - the only flat spot around. Wasn't an unpleasant place to camp but the people restoring the lighthouse arrived very early the next morning - but after we had already broken down our tents. They had a good laugh about the goats. I called MITA afterwards and told them they needed to note that there were goats now on the island and no where to set up camp. They didn't exactly word it that there was no room to camp!

Agree wholeheartedly. I think people like to share things like "avoid island 1 in spring due to mosquitoes" and such. Also agree with Rick S about sharing the names of the islands. Personally MY goal is to get people to join MITA so if I privately share the islands, it defeats this goal. I know of NSPN unpaid members who have been known to join MITA to get the trail guide but then not renew as they felt they already had the info they needed. They then proceed to utilize the old resource for guidelines. This is why I don't lend my old guidebooks out. I don't actually throw them away as I have made notes in them.