Bill Gwynn

[http://www.kayakpics.com/gallery/112004]

Rick, This is such a great idea!!! Not having ever been to a symposium, I don't have a good feel for what the requirements are for the venue, ie lodging/camping, water conditions, surf, tidal rips, etc. I am going to the Sweetwater Kayaks BCU week/Symposium this February in Florida, so I will have a better idea what it's all about. Count me in to help however I can.

On the same subject. Is there any difference between a $13.00 S.S. Vacuum Flask from Walmart and a $35.00 one from REI? I need to get one.

Welcome back Werner. Glad to hear you had such a great experience out in NORCAL. I'm planning on going to Sweetwater Florida in February for BCU week, hopefully it will be the same great experience. Let's get together for a paddle so you can share some of your newly learned knowledge. I am especially interested in the rough water recoveries.

I bet the fastest route from the north shore would be to put-in at deer island in Winthrop and paddle across the harbor...LOL...

I just wanted to thank everyone that volunteered their time today. I had a great time and learned some new skills. Actually it was more like a revelation, being able to roll up to a static brace after a capsize, it puts a whole new spin on things for me. Can't wait to spend some more time with a GP. Thanks again!!! PS. I think I saw Werner's (AKA "The Man in Black") long lost sister. I believe she is known as "Black Magic Woman"... Nice new dry suit Suz.

My hat's off and congratulations to all that passed their 4* this past week at SKG. Your dedication and hard work has paid off. Can't wait to see you all and hear the stories you must have. I'm so bummed out I couldn't go, maybe next year, or maybe Sweetwater this February. Anyone else going to Sweetwater? [http://www.sweetwaterkayaks.com/]

Me neither on MAC Safari. I'll try my PC at work tomorrow. Actually...I just remoted in to my PC at work, and the pics are fine on PC with IE. I noticed the web page was created with MS Word. I guess this is Microsoft's way of "Keepin it in the Family". PS. Good trip report and Pics...thanks.

Whaaaaa...I missed out on all the fun. This damn cold iv'e got is kicking my butt. I'm going to have to paddle twice as much next weekend.

Hi Roger, You seem to be in a difficult situation. I would try to insist the retailer to get you a replacement suit. Retailers generally have resources either through their distributors or even with other retailers to get product they need. Sending it back to the manufacturer is an option, but who wants a brand new "repaired" suit. Plus the manufactrer is in England, so the turn around time could be several weeks, and you want/need a dry suit now. So, if the retailer can't give you resolution, I would get my money back and buy it somewhere else. I don't know how good of a deal you got. I just did a quick search on the net and found the Palm Stikine DrySuit for $599.

This is definetly something I want to do. Right now I am dealing with a nasty cold/flu, hopefully I will be feeling better by Saturday. Maybe this is something we could repeat for those that may not be able to make it this weekend.

We all met at Eastern Prom, 21 boats with 22 people (yes, one was a double) we left promptly at 9:30am in 3 groups of 7, and headed straight towards the QM2 which you couldn't miss anchored just SW of Fort Gorges. Man, that is a BIG boat...Uh...ship. We got close enough to be waved away by the Coast Guard, and then continued on to Peaks Island to demo boats, hang out, and have some lunch. After lunch a large group of us went for a fun little paddle around Cushing Island. The winds were brisk and the seas were bumpy with some 3ft swells on the outside of Cushing. I enjoyed watching some of the more skilled paddlers cruise in close between the rocks. We headed back to peaks to join up with the others and to pick up Paula's new Anas Acuta (congrats Paula...she's a beauty), then headed back to Eastern Prom past the QM2 on the way. A wondurful PPPO was had at "FlatBread" yummy pizza and cold beer. It was a great day. Here is a link to some pics I took. [http://www.kayakpics.com/gallery/qm2_100904]

I did not take the assessment (I knew I wasn't ready), but I did take the training on Saturday. Steve Maynard's training was outstanding, not only did I learn alot, but I got some excellent feedback as to where I stood, what elements I needed to spend more time on, and which one's were OK. The value you get from these training sessions from any of the HIGHLY qualified instructors at MIKCo is well worth the trip. We are so lucky to have such a highly regarded outfit like MIKCo so close by. PS. Congratluations to all that passed the 3*

The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries has a web site with lots of great video, photo's and information regarding our Great White visitor. [http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dmf/marinefisheriesnotices/white_shark.htm]

Send it directly to Kokatat. (800) 225-9749, 9am-5pm PST. They will certainly do the best job, and also warranty the work. Their turn around time is about 2 weeks. Their pricing is pretty good too. I just had My neck and wrist gaskets replaced $79.00 for all three.

Clapotis waves are created when you have a wave that bounces off a sea wall or rock ledge, (this is called a refracting wave) and heads back out into the incoming waves, you end up with a really tall peak when the two waves meet. The waves we had yesterday were not really Clapotis, but I didn't know what else to call them, they kind of looked like Clapotis waves. I believe they were created by the sand bar some how, and some of them stood up with tall peaks like a Clapotis... I hope I didn't confuse you, I think maybe I confused myself. LOL.

My brother and I put in at Pavillion Beach around 1pm in search of some confused seas to practice our bracing skills. We first headed over towards Cranes Beach, there was a liitle bit of stuff there breaking over the sand bar, but not as challenging as what we were looking for. As we looked further out, we could see fairly large breaking waves, so off we went. We had never paddled here before, and we were very surprised how shallow it was for quite a ways out, I would guess we were a good 1/2 mile off the north end of Cranes. We paddled all the way out until the water dropped off. Out here there was some good sized stuff 3-5ft, but it wasn't consistent waves, they were kind of all over the place, here one second, gone the next. We played around there, and worked our way across towards the tip of Plum Island, as we got close to Plum Island, there was really interesting Clapotis type waves, some of them looked pretty large and intimidating, well, we came for a challenge, so we headed right into it. I caught one that felt like 10ft, I'm sure it was actually only 5 or 6ft, I took off like a rocket for one heck of a ride, but then before you know it, the wave just dissapears from under you. We did have alot of fun. I had a couple of capsises with sucessfull rolls, and one unfortunate wet exit (rescue practice in these conditions was also something we needed to do). Of course we took some pictures that can bee seen here: [http://www.kayakpics.com/gallery/pi091104]

This was my second time surfing. The first time the waves were small and messy. This time things were much better. There were actually two breaks (inside and outside) the outside break was much nicer, bigger, more predicitable, and less violent breaking. It was also nice that the water was deep enough out there so I didn't have to worry about hitting bottom. It was a great day, and I can see how addicting the surf can be. My brother managed to get a good picture that can be seen here: [http://www.kayakpics.com/gallery/ldw2004/surf?full=1]

Where is the best place to get minicell foam? I will be foaming the bulkheads and back rests in three boats, so I need quite a bit. I've searched around the web, but was wondering if there was a local less expensive source.

Sorry to hear about your unfortunate incident. I know you had recently done some gel coat repair work. Are you going to try your hand at fiberglass repair work?

Ye haaaaa! I'll be there, I'm new at this surf thing, so don't laugh too hard at me when I eat sand, endo, wet exit, and a host of other silly things I'm sure I'll do to keep you entertained.

Yup, thats Werner in his new Yellow Explorer. His face must have been killing him from smiling all weekend.

Pictures are posted at [http://www.kayakpics.com/gallery/pird] I didn't get alot of pics, I was to busy paddling and having a great day!