djlewis

I use this (or something like it) -- just straps hung from supplied screw hooks -- no fancy cradles, struts or what-have-you. Seems a bit overpriced based on the simple materials, but it works. The only possible drawback I see is that there is nothing to keep the boat away from the wall, fence or whatever is behind it. But kayaks are tough enough, and you aren't going to play pendulum games with it. For one boat bought new, I did hang the big sheet of bubble-wrap that it came with on the wall behind. Scott -- is this what you've got, or did you rig something yourself? http://www.amazon.com/Harmony-3-Boat-Hanger-Set/dp/B003N8AL3M

But unlike before South Monomoy and South Beach got connected, you now need to coordinate the current around the tip of S. Monomoy with the current in the new cut. I see from this picture -- http://b.globe.com/VXkLIh -- that the new break is about where the channel comes in between Stage Harbor and N. Monomoy, which makes sense. Doing a quick check of the current and tide tables for a clockwise circumnav, I get that max ebb around the end of S. Monomoy is about 40 minutes before high tide in Chatham harbor. So if you give yourself three hours to get from the new break to the tip of S. Monomoy, you'll be exiting the break somewhat before mid-rising-tide, which means you'll be against the current in the break, perhaps near its max. So, the questions are: how strong is the flow in the new break and what's the timing with respect to the tides? Even if you are against the current, can you just push through and/or hop eddies? Also, being closer to high might be good if it is shallow. Did I do that right? Somebody want to check it and do a counter-clockwise timing? --David

Ummm... I hope it doesn't detach too readily -- like on Rt 95 at 70 MPH. Seriously, I'm not sure what your rack technology is, but "readily detachable" usually translates -- for all kinds of devices -- to "less secure", sometime a lot less. The price of convenience is often performance. All the more reason to use bow/stern lines IMHO -- remember, their purpose is not tighter tie-down but backup in case of failure. If you're going to drive into a ditch, however, because of the distraction, by all means leave them off. Just please do a sécurité call with your driving route.

He, Leon -- watsa problem? I agree with (and thought my post was consistent with) everything you say in your reference post save one point. For one, I called out, but did not specify, the tradeoff of the momentary pause that you so eloquently address in your post. The only thing I might differ on is "your paddle is pushing in the wrong direction against the water for .088 feet (about 1 inch)". My experience is that you need not push in that teensy interval. If you leave your grip a tad loose for that instant, the paddle will just ride with the (apparent) current past the boat and neither brake nor propel. But I can see I might be wrong -- maybe better to push that inch so as to have an inch more when you do pull. I'll leave the tradeoffs at that level of detail to you speedy experts. Anyway, my main target was Christopher -- and his ever-amusing style of calling anyone and everyone publicly on their foibles -- who was being a bit foible-ish himself in assuming there had to be braking. But hey, maybe I'm the foiblisher. That's all -- no need to get hot under the neck gasket. Are you still in Fla, where it's pretty hot to start with? Hope to see you soon for summertime paddlin ( )Peace. --David.

If I may interpret the lovely and talented (and fast!) Lisa, I think she meant that the experts leave their paddle loose in the water for that instant before it is fully buried. They do not apply forward (toward the bow) pressure to brake the boat. Instead the paddle rides ever so slightly backwards (toward the stern) for the ever so slight moment before applying sternward pressure. Or more precisely, the not-yet-fully-buried blade stays stationary in the water while the boat moves ever so slightly past it. There's obviously a tradeoff there, but the experts are experts (and fast!) partly because they calculate and execute such tradeoffs more skillfully than us ordinary paddlers. So, Sir Godfrey, you may have experienced a perverse image of the racer actually working to slow their boat down. But I think you should be a tad more charitable to your betters, that they might know whereof they speak, and imagine a more plausible interpretation of their -- thankfully brief -- description. And I do apologize for being far more wordy than Lisa, but when charitable imagination fails, perhaps detailed explanations become necessary. --David

Like Leon (yes, I agree with Leon -- wanna bet on it?! ) I think of the bow line as a last-ditch measure to keep a kayak from careening down the road should any part of the rails/rack/saddle/strap system fail catastrophically. I figure at that point, no matter what I do, my kayak and perhaps car are gonna take serious hits, but better that than my boat crashing through someone's windshield or driving them off the road or over the median. What I do -- run the line through the toggle loop *and* under the deck line and/or through the metal loop on the front bolt if there is one; IOW several attachment points. I realize they (or the rope) may all fail too under the stress of a loose boat flailing from a 65-mph moving vehicle, but I hope they will at least slow the boat down and ground it, and prevent it from becoming an airborne missile. I also don't pull the bow line guitar-string taut -- tent hitches rather than trucker hitches, the latter being known to break boats. I figure the straps' job is to grip the boat tight, and the bow line is, as I said, only for catastrophic failure. Question to Brian -- do you give the whole system a thorough inspection and serious stress test every time before venturing out, or at least frequently? One of the characteristics of "catastrophic failure" is lack of warning signs, the system having silently deteriorated to the point that the stress takes it over the edge without overt prefiguration. As a last ritual before getting in the car, I grab the stern and give it a good hard shove in both sideways directions. One time that revealed the straps were not tight enough. Note to Marc -- I think you could loop the bow rope cleverly around the base of the monkey fist to perform the above-stated last-ditch function. --David.

And thanks to you too, Les! --David

There are public domain versions of the NOAA charts online but I have never tried printing with them. I use MapTech, which I bought years ago. But it isn't cheap. What I usually do -- nope, *used* to do -- was use MapTech to print a multiple-sheet image of 4, 6, 9, 12 or even 16 sheets, tape them all together, then go down to Kinkos to laminate part of it at 11x14, with a chart on both sides. I got so good at that I could print a set and tape them all together accurately in about 45 minutes. That has left me with a great collection of charts for most of the places I regularly paddle, from RI to Maine. One drawback, however, is that trips often extend over more than one of those laminated 11x14's, since it's impossible to anticipate all the variations, and sometimes that is very annoying. Also, over the years, some of those laminates have delaminated and leaked. In the last few years, I have switched mostly to the pre-printed, full-size, double-sided waterproof charts that you can buy online or at many stores. But many of those are more at powerboat cruising scale rather than kayak scale. So they don't cover everyplace you'd like to paddle at a good scale. But at least when they do, they give you a full-size waterproof chart that needs no case. As for cases, I have found exactly one full-size case that both seals well and holds up over time -- Ortleib. There may be other good ones on the market now, but my Ortleib has worked for years, and I have stuck with it. I have a collection of leaky and/or degraded cases of other brands, if anyone would like one ;-) I'd be interested in more details about Rippedstop pages. I see them online for $2 per 8x11.5 sheet, which seems not bad. But what about stitching several together -- is that possible, and if so, how would you recommend doing it? --David

Here's the beach and route from Eastern Promenade... http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5846989 You can also (or used to be able to) launch from a dock just north of the ferry station, with the advantage of being able to park in the ferry terminal garage. --David

I hear that Carl Ladd of Osprey Sea Kayak does this very competently -- he'd be my first choice. My second choice would be United Divers of Somerville, who has a great gasket specialist contractor (or did a year or two ago). Yes, you could also send it back to Kokatat, but then you'd be without it for weeks, pay higher prices and shipping, and not get custom fitting (which matters less for wrists). --David

Same as Bill's answer. Assuming straight, parallel banks and parallel current (and neglecting turbulence effects), the time-optimum angle has to be 90 degrees to the banks, that is aim "straight across". Why? That will get you across in exactly the same time as if there were no current. It can't possibly be any faster -- the crossways component of the current is zero, so no boost is possible. There's pretty much your proof, without the formal math, which is just simple vector trig anyway. Too much time on yer hands, Leon?

>> I actually think it's fun Except maybe for the bruises. But how else would serious kayakers recognize each other away from their boats except for the bruised legs.

http://www.biologicalunhappiness.com/DSM-OCD.htm is probably the closest.

The Stohlquist suits do sound good. I too like neoprene neck gaskets. I have an OR dry top with one, and it is very comfy and just as watertight as a latex gasket, at least with the fit I have. I tested it by playing dolphin for 5 minutes, and not a drop got through. But the lower price on Stohlquist non-gore-tex suits illustrates exactly what I said -- every gore-tex suit comes with a built-in insurance policy, and you do pay for that -- plus the brand name.

Actually, you fund it. And me. And anyone who buys a dry suit from Kokatat. Or a gore-tex suit from anyone. Or maybe anything gore-tex from anyone. So, may as well "collect" what you paid for, that is, a replacement suit. (I did too!)

I like SmugMug too. I don't know much about their free service, since I gladly pay $40 or so/year for the "pro" version. Really clean interface and layout, and no software to download. But if you can take the download, Picasa does the trick too, and I think you get 1GB free.

I've had a Garmin GPSMap for years and have carried it on deck many times without a bag, so it's taken a lot of salt water in the face. I know it hasn't seen nearly as much water time as Lisa gives hers, but still the only thing that's gone wrong is that the flimsy battery contacts inside broke off and I am now making do with strips of aluminum foil, But maybe the older ones are built better -- wouldn't surprise me. --David

A hockey player is paddling a kayak on a truck. Where are they going and why?

Oh, so you accept the bet, even before you know what we're betting on?! In that case, make it $10,000 -- like a recent losing presidential candidate. You too can be a loser! Shake?

Hey, Leon, I'll bet you a hundred dollars...

Wow -- congratulations Lorrie! And with that lineup of coaches/assessors, it's an especially great accomplishment. --David

ROFLMAO -- "Everyone on the scene was covered with small particles of dead whale." As for leaving large chunks un-particalized, coulda predicted that.

Interesting. When we paddled Monomoy about a month ago, the water temps were distinctly colder than usual for that time of year in that place. I didn't use a thermometer or check the historical charts, but a dip of the hand made me pretty sure that it was on the chilly side -- I think I estimated 65-67, and if memory serves, it's usually well over 70. I figure there are always local variations due to the shape and location of the gulf stream and other prevailing currents.

How do I use the NOAA graphical site to determine swell direction? It's a tad tricky. First, look at the perimeter on the right; where the swell is largest (the color coding the darkest) is generally the "from" direction of the swell. Also, looking at the lines between different swell levels (the "iso-swell" lines) shows you the rough direction. But sometimes the largest swell on the perimeter is off the area of the map, like right now for Sunday. So you have to infer it from the symmetry. Today's forecast for Sunday is an example. You can infer the shape of the darkest patch to be centered about SE, which also fits with the directions of the iso-swell lines. But the simplest way is to go to the surfmagazine site (formerly swellwatch) and look at the arrows. BTW, I've always found those methods to be consistent. I have both of these bookmarked. There are other surf sites, but I use this one by habit (from swellwatch days). I don't know why the surf sites would exaggerate the swell forecasts -- that would just disappoint the surfers who would catch on quickly and stop using the site. The site doesn't make any money from bigger forecasts, do they? Or are the sponsored by concessionaires at the beaches? In any case, I have found the NOAA graphical forecast and swellwatch-now-surfmag to be pretty much in line. The nearcoos site is new to me, but it only goes out a day or so -- am I seeing it correctly? I looked at magic seaweed a year or two ago, ans it does the job too, as I recall.

I posted this site before -- on one of your threads, no? Did you see it? http://graphical.wea...ineDay.php#tabs Move to Sunday (an iffy forecast on Wednesday) to see why there is such a discontinuity at the NH-MA border (aka the Merrimack). The swell is coming from the SE, so the "shadow" of the cape extends to just about the Merrimack -- everything below is in the shadow, above is not. Looks like there is also a bit of shadowing and refraction from Cape Ann to accentuate the effect in this case. Confirmation from the other site I posted... http://forecasts.sur...ght_none_Sat_-1 But not as easy to see, as there is no one view of both the Cape and NH. I highly recommend these sites to see what is going on in detail, so you don't need to depend on the wide swaths in the standard NWS/NOAA forecasts. Whoops, looking more closely, I see that the two models differ a bit -- SurfingMagazine has the edge of the shadow a bit farther south, so the south and east sides of Cape Ann get 5', but the NOAA graphical puts the shadow farther north, sparing Cape Ann. Well, it's a long way off, and the two forecasts may well converge by the time Sunday arrives.