Brian Nystrom

A lot is going to depend on how much you want to spend. Companies like P&H offer a wide range of options for lightweight sea kayaks (as low as 25#), but less weight means more money. Companies such as Newfound Woodworks and Guillemot Kayaks offer a variety of lightweight wood/glass kayaks that are in the same price range as light composite boats. Light, seaworthy AND cheap commercial boats do not exist. If you have any interest in woodworking, you can build a boat in the sub-40 pound range in either stitch & glue (plywood), cedar strip or skin-on-frame construction. A skin-on-frame boat can cost as little as $200 to build.

Those are all very high volume boats, bordering on cavernous. Unless you're planning on doing expedition paddling, you'll probably be better off with something lower in volume. I would suggest you look for a design with a beam of 21"-22", 17'-18' long. It will be much easier to learn bracing, rolling and other advanced skills in a boat that you're not flopping around in. They're also a lot more fun for general paddling.

True, but it's much easier said than done, especially for some of us. True, it requires technique and practice, but the paddle float assisted reenter and roll is a different animal. I daresay that monkeys have better balance than most people and are far more athletic, too. I think your biggest challenge would be getting a monkey to stay in a capsized kayak. I don't agree, but success would also depend on the technique used. With a paddle float assist and using a side entry, it's really easy and technically it's not even a roll, as you are never submerged. You're just pulling yourself into your boat while being supported by the paddle float, then quickly righting yourself with a brace.

Sure, it looks easy in the video, but try it sometime. In the video, the paddler has light chop to deal with, but not consistent waves that will cause the boat to broach and make it very difficult to work your way in without capsizing again. Cowboy entries also require a keyhole cockpit, so if you prefer ocean cockpits like me, it's not even an option. Also, the higher the volume of the boat, the more difficult it's going to be to get onto the aft deck and remain there as you work your way up. A question for Leon: In your list above, why would you not use #5 (paddle float assisted re-entry and roll) before #6? In my experience, it's one of the most bombproof self rescue techniques and it sets you up with an outrigger that you can hold across the cockpit with a forearm as you pump it out. Technique #6 is more difficult, more more prone to failure and leaves you sitting there with a paddle float in your hand, which is not terribly useful.

This last statement is the key. Cowboy re-entries are basically a pool trick and I've never seen one done successfully on anything other than flat water. In the real world, it's largely useless.

What you're forgetting is that the swimmer's boat no longer has his weight in it, so it's going to ride considerably higher in the water, no matter what the rescuer does. Even leaning hard on the swimmers boat, I'll bet the rescuer cannot transfer more than 40 pounds to it. I also suspect that wave action exaggerates the situation in the photo.

I really dislike this stuff, as it creates a grossly distorted perception of what kayaking is in the minds of the general public. What's worse is that this is what makes headlines, along with kayaker rescues and deaths. It would be really nice if GMA or other national shows would do stories that highlight the beauty of kayaking coastal waters, rather than this adrenalin-junkie stuff.

That wasn't the main issue with S-H radios, it was the poorly sealed port for the speaker/mic (the pushed-in rubber plug is easily dislodged) and antennas that regularly loosened and allowed water in at their base. IIRC, some also had leakage issues around the on/off knob.

There may just be crystallized salt in the cable housing. The first thing I would do would be to run warm water through the skeg system to see if that frees the cable.

Hmmm, I'll have to check that out.

Actually, it could be as simple as the direction and intensity of the wind. Offshore winds blow warm surface water out to sea and cause upwelling of colder water. Given the intense westerly winds near the end of the storm, it seem quite reasonable for that to be the cause. In the microcosm of Cape Cod Bay, surface water temps vary dramatically on a daily basis, simply due to wind direction.

Christopher, I certainly do not advocate "non-rotation" and you don't need to push with your legs in order to rotate your torso. If you are braced against the foot peg with a straight leg, you can rotate your torso just as well as if you're pushing on it with a bent leg, as a touring boat with a back band will prevent you from rotating your hips the way you can in a boat without a back band. One can remove or loosen the back band in a touring boat to gain some freedom of movement and I know a few people who do that, but I doubt many people paddle that way. As for my reference to "fore-aft movement", what I meant was that some racing boat seats allow for a minimal amount of fore-aft sliding on the seat during the stroke. That effectively lengthens the stroke a small amount. Regarding opposite leg pushing, I have to agree with Leon. From a bio-mechanical standpoint, pushing with the opposite leg would reduce your ability to rotate toward the paddle side.

Racers use boats without backbands and with seat that allow a degree of butt rotation and even fore-aft movement. With that type of setup, pushing on the footpegs adds power/length to the stroke. OTOH, pushing hard on the footpegs in the average touring boat, which does not allow for rotation or fore-aft movement, is a complete waste of energy. As was stated above, all it does is make your feet and back sore, without any performance improvement. All you need to do is to resist the force of the paddle stroke which is why paddling with straight legs (Greenland style) is just as effective at moving a boat and it's more energy efficient, since you're resisting the paddle force with your bones rather than your muscles. It seems that many people equate getting a pumped feeling in their legs with paddling efficiency, but there is no correlation between the two in a touring boat.

Be careful about using alcohol to remove epoxy from your skin, as it thins the epoxy which can allow it to penetrate more, which is exactly what you don't want. Soap and water is better, or vinegar will neutralize epoxy and it wash off easily. Denatured alcohol is great for removing epoxy from tools and surfaces.

I'm glad to hear that everything worked out for you. Some people are allergic to epoxy and apparently you're one of them. I would strongly suggest that you wear a chemical respirator in addition to gloves, as it's possible that the (generally minor) fumes from epoxy could also irritate your lungs. Also, be very careful if you do any sanding. It's possible to become so sensitized that you can't be anywhere near uncured epoxy, but fortunately once it's cured, it's inert and non-allergenic. Minimize your exposure and contact, and you should be fine.

Simple, look for a good used boat. Check Craigslist and the classifieds on paddling.net. You can get a great boat and save a lot of cash.

Being somewhat familiar with your long-suffering boat, I would probably just take the path of least resistance and reinforce it from the inside with fiberglass. I'm not sure the boat has much life left in it and that should be enough to extract the last gasp or two. Here's a link to my Webshots stuff. You'll find glass repair info, should you decide to do a full repair, rather than a "Band-Aid". http://community.webshots.com/user/brian_nystrom-reg

No, that's biaxial glass sewn to a layer of mat. All you need is plain 6 or 9 ounce woven glass or tape. You can get it at pretty much any marine supplier. I've even seen it at Home Depot. Correct. I've used Evercoat products many times, both their glass (cloth and tape) and epoxy. That was what my local Home Depot carried, though I'm not sure that they do any longer. I just happened to spot it when I was there looking for something else.

It does sound like you've got some glass damage, so repairing it is a good idea. However, I would recommend that you get glass cloth rather than mat, as it's stronger and uses less resin than mat. 3 layers of 6 oz cloth or a couple of layers of 9 oz. tape should be sufficient to reinforce the cracked area. I would recommend epoxy for the repair, rather than polyester resin, as again, it's stronger and it's far less noxious to work with.

I've got some gear I've been meaning to unload...

On the contrary, I would say it's VERY consistent with experience of AVERAGE paddlers who are not strong swimmers. It's also quite consistent with people who don't wear PFDs. There is always variation within any population, so no rule of thumb can be 100% accurate, but the 50-50-50 rule makes a strong point that's easy for people to remember. If it sticks in their mind, it is more likely to make them think about their safety and their actions, which is really the point. It seems to me that 90% of the battle is just getting people to recognize and understand the dangers they face on cold water.

Installing latex booties is an easy DIY job. I have pics and instructions in my Dry Suit Repair album on Webshots: http://community.webshots.com/user/brian_nystrom-reg You can buy the booties and cement locally or through OS Systems (http://www.ossystems.com). They offer them in several sizes, so you should be able to get one that's a reasonably close fit, which is key to making them easy to use. Unfortunately, it seems that most of of us learn that lesson too late, after we've wasted money on less expensive, but less functional gear. We inevitable end up spending more than if we had just ponied up the big bucks in the first place. It's a classic case of "false economy".

A properly fitted full wetsuit should allow almost no water to enter, just tiny seeps at the neck, wrists and ankles. The drier it is, the warmer it is. A skin-tight drysuit doesn't make a lot of sense, since you give up one of a drysuit's biggest advantages: versatility. A loose dry suit allows you to choose your under layers to suit the conditions. You can't do that if it's skin-tight.

The simple solution is the same as for neck and wrist seals: talc Powder the booties inside and out and you'll have no trouble getting into them or getting them into your footwear. I agree that ANY booties are better than ankle seals. Latex booties will typically outlast neck and wrist seals because they're not exposed to UV, sunscreen, etc. Just don't walk around in them.

Which also happens in a lot of areas whenever there's flooding. While it's obviously less than desirable, it dissipates quickly under high water conditions and leaves no lasting effects. There are many types of bio media and they all do the same thing, that is, provide increased surface area for bacteria in filtration systems. It's a temporary problem and nothing more than a minor eyesore. In the overall scheme of things that can end up on beaches, it's pretty minor. I'd much rather see bio discs than medical waste, for example.