Brian Nystrom

Rick, Linda and I had the same pleasure of watching and working with Ken the week before. Great instructor, great fun! Can't wait to do more. How were the conditions?

If the suit is "brand new", it may be covered under warranty, so your brother may have to weigh the cost of a local repair against the inconvenience of sending the suit out for a free repair. I have a set of rings and disks that I made for repairing neck seals (per the instructions on Kokatat's web site). I don't have any seals, but if you can find a seal kit locally, you're welcome to use the tools. I did mine and Linda's recently, and it's actually a lot easier than it looks.

I use my dry suit 7+ months out of the year and it's on its forth season and with zero problems. The fabrics used in dry suits are specifically designed for aquatic applications and are quite durable. There is absolutely no comparison between breathable and non breathable dry suits in terms of comfort. "Dry suit" is somewhat of a misnomer when applied to non-breathable fabrics, as you WILL get wet from your own perspiration. Sweat accumulates, drips and puddles and there's no way to get rid of it without removing the suit. Probably the best testimony is that I don't know anyone who's regretted buying a breathable dry suit, but I know several who've regretted buying non-breathable suits. Spend the extra money once and be done with it.

I've had one other cancellation, so there's plenty of room for last minute participants.

Actually, they are "potential boats" and "potential paddles".

Between the 20' seas, logs and sharks, I'm really beginning to be glad I live on the east coast

Linda and I will be there.

"Don't paddle in conditions beyond your skill level and you'll enjoy the day and can be alot more aggressive and physical. I think too many people must be scaring themselves and paddling boats way too tippy for their comfort. I'll bet this kind of discomfort leads to "arrested development." I think this varies greatly with the individual. Personally, if I hadn't gotten into boats that were uncomfortably tender or into conditions that were beyond my ability, THAT would have arrested my development. Improving one's paddling skills is largely a process of adaptation, whether to new equipment, new conditions or both. As such, in order to improve, one must push their boundaries. The trick is in learning how far you can push. There's a fine line between an experience that inspires one to learn and improve, and one that's so frightening that it can cause a person to regress. I really don't think that we focus on rescues when planning a rough water experience or when we're on the water, but they do tend to become the focus when debriefing. On such trips, I tend to view the ability of more experienced paddlers to perform rescues safely and effectively as a necessity for allowing less experienced paddlers to push their limits. We are their safety net in case things go wrong. We also teach by example and seeing rescues first-hand can be a valuable lesson for those who aren't familiar with performing them. Sometimes, it's hard to envision what's possible until you see it demonstrated. The playing around we did at Wood's Hole last Sunday is a good example. It certainly expanded my understanding of the dynamics of moving water and sea kayaks. Watching Jed perform a T-rescue in 30 seconds was another eye-opener that comes to mind. Marvelling at Nigel Foster's grace in a pool was a tremendous inspiration. "Learning by osmosis" can be a powerful tool and I suspect that most of us have done more of it than we realize.

I understand that the take off speed of a Romany is ~70 mph. The lightweight construction of Greenland skin boat allows them to become airborne at only 55-60 mph, proving once again that they are superior to British "heavies"...um...at least I think that's what it proves. ;-)

Location: Waverly Oaks Park (Office/Retail/Warehouse) 411 Waverly Oaks Rd. (Route 60), Waltham Note: Boats US and Party Needs are retail stores within the complex that faces the street Directions: From 128 (95) Take Traprllo Rd. exit Head toward Cambridge/Boston Drive 4.5 miles Take a right at traffic light on to Waverly Oaks Rd. (Route 60) 1/3 mile on left is Waverly Oaks Park (Office/Retail/Warehouse) Directions to the loading docks. *********************** Building layout: Face the first long building in the complex that is parallel to Waverly Oaks Road. Boats US is on the left, Party Needs is in the middle, we will be using the last two loading dock doors at the end of the building on the right. The hours will be 9:00 to 3:00 or so, in order to give people time to pack up and make it to Adam's Chalk Talk in Burlington. Although this is not an "official" NSPN event, Richard will have liability waivers for participants to sign, in order to protect the organizers, the NSPN and the owners of the building from liability. As with NSPN events, safety is paramount.

Mary, You're certainly welcome to come and bring your boat if you like.

"BTW, where is the warehouse and what is the lighting like?" The warehouse is located at: Waverly Oaks Office/Industrial Park 411 Waverly Oaks Rd. (Route 60) Waltham Richard assured me that it is lighted and heated, but since it's only warehouse, it's probably safe to assume that additional lighting will be needed. I'll bring extension cords that can be used with supplemental lighting. "Is there a good source for stainless steel fasteners and hardware near nearby other that the Home Depot? The nearest West Marine stores are in Dedham & Woburn." I'm not familiar with the area stores other than the West Marine in Woburn. Perhaps some else can help? "I’ve found that working upside-down on a kayak sucks. Suspending it deckside-down and poking the head into a lighted cockpit makes things a lot easier." That's why I suggested sawhorses. I use them in combination with a short stool when working inside the cockpit. "The segmented freestanding ladders that can be folded into several configurations are good. Two in the shape of an A-frame can be arranged to hang the kayak by the car top straps passed over the ladder rungs. I have one folding ladder if someone else has another. There are also six sections of 26” wide by 5’ high ladder scaffold and braces. They could be used to make three workstations with some pipe insulation on the top crossbars. Let me know if you’re interested." Good suggestions, Don. At this point, I'm going to leave it up to the participants to take care of their own boat support needs. I've got my hands full with tools, foam and other supplies.

Nigel advocates using only the back half of a sweep stroke in some situations. You can use one or more of these in rapid succession to intitiate slippage at the stern, then switch to a bow rudder when turning upwind. The stern draw is similar to a hanging draw, except that the paddle is held well aft of the cockpit and it pulls the stern around. A sweep or half-sweep into a stern draw will accomplish much the same thing as a sweep into a bow rudder, but it's less stable and when turning upwind, you risk having the stern swing around and overrun the paddle, causing a capsize. IIRC, Nigel recommended the sweep-to-stern-draw for turning downwind from a beam-to position. The idea is to anchor the stern and let the wind/waves push the bow downwind. With a stern-draw-to-bow-rudder, the bow is anchored and the boat is swinging away from the paddle and cannot overrun it, so it's safer to use when turning upwind.

You're in, Peter. By all means bring your boat.

You're in Mike. Feel free to bring anything you think might be useful.

You're both in.

Thanks Scott. Since the Chalk Talk doesn't start until 4:00 PM, I think I'll keep the workshop on Sunday, starting at 9:00. That will give us six hours to work on boats and still have time to get to whatever venue Adam ends up at.

Lacquer thinner will remove it. 3M also sells a special remover, but it's not necessary. I've added you to the list.

Sure Sean, you're in, but I don't claim any expertise in outfitting whitewater boats.

Adam, I'll try to be there, too. Is it going to be on Saturday 11/22 or Sunday 11/23?

Richard Najarian Sean Noonan David Lewis Leslie Beale Sean Kimball Deb Dempesy - no boat Mike Kulick Don Eva Gayla Hughgill Peter Kalanzis

Thanks Dee, I hadn't noticed that. Either day is do-able for me. I plan to attend Adam's session, too, if possible.

Thanks to the generosity of Richard Najarian, we have enough heated, lighted warehouse space in Waltham to accommodate around a dozen boats on the weekend of 11/22 & 23. Since Adam is running his "Rough water chalk talk" on 11/22, we'll do the outfitting workshop on 11/23. Interested parties should respond here. I'm in the process of obtaining black deck line and bungee cord in bulk. If you want other colors or reflective lines, you'll need to bring the materials to the workshop. Also, please bring scissors and a cigarette lighter or small torch for cutting and melting the ends of the rigging. I've been able to obtain SOME wood beads for deck rigging, but if you're interested in installing beads on your deck lines, you should probably hit your local craft shop (Michaels, AC Moore). The beads I use are from Lara's Crafts and the part numbers are 10006 (3/4"/19mm) and 10007 (1"/25mm). They run $2.99 for bags of 27 and 18, respectively. I'll bring a drill press and bits for drilling out the beads to fit the deck line material. I will bring minicel foam in 1/2", 1", 2" and 3" thicknesses. This will give us materials for hip/thigh/knee padding, seats, backrests, bulkheads/bulkhead pads, masiks, bilge pump holders and anything else that we can dream up. ALL participcants are strongly encouraged to bring safety glasses (or eyeglasses if you wear them) and an organic vapor respirator for protection from glue fumes. These items are MANDATORY for those doing foam work. We'll do our best to keep the fumes to a minimum, but they're unavoidable when working in the vicinity of contact cement and cleaning solvents. People interested doing "foam art" will also need to bring contact cement (Weldwood Gel is recommended), a Stanley 21-115 Surform tool (the small red one), a pint or more of lacquer thinner (for cleaning surfaces) and a roll of paper towels. All of these items are available inexpensively at your local home center and have uses beyond working on kayaks, so their worth owning anyway (a respirator makes cleaning the shower much more pleasant). If you wish to share tools, by all means arrange to do so. I'll bring some knives, saws, 80 and 150 grit sandpaper, pencils, pens, markers, some pattern stock (cardboard) and assorted tools, but feel free to bring anything that you think will be useful. If you have questions, please ask. BTW, DO NOT be tempted to buy water-based contact cement. While it may be more environmentally friendly, it doesn't work for our purposes. If possible, I'll bring a band saw for cutting thick foam, but that may depend on the weather, as I don't want to trailer it around in the rain. We can also do things like installing back bands, pad eyes for deck rigging and so forth. If there's something specific you want to do that I haven't mentioned, feel free to ask. If anyone has problems sourcing any of the supplies they need, let me know and I'll do my best to find them for you. All materials will be available at whatever they cost me. If you need specific pricing, just ask for a quote. I find that sawhorses or other stands make working on boats much more enjoyable. I have a few that I can bring, but nowhere near enough to go around, so if you got 'em, bring 'em. Carpet scraps for resting a boat on the floor are another alternative. The emphasis of this workshop is on outfitting rather than repairs. If you have a minor repair that needs to be done, by all means ask about it. Ultimately, I'd like to do a workshop on boat repair (fiberglass & gelcoat) and latex seal repair, but those will have to wait for another day. Both of these activities generate truly nasty fumes and I don't want to combine them with the fumes from the contact cement or with each other. I think that's everything. See you there! Brian

I have two tows with me at all times. The first is a 3' contact tow that's attached to the deck rigging in front of the cockpit. It can be used on either side of the boat, with either hand. It's purpose is mainly for use where "Quick and dirty, clip and GO!" is the rule and speed is critical. A good example of this would be when pulling someone away from rocks or surf. I can clip to their bow or stern in a heartbeat and get them moving quickly. This short tow can also be used with an unstable paddler, by having them lean on my boat. For open water towing, I use a longer tow rig. I have it daisy chained to ~20', but it can be adjusted shorter or be extended up to 50'. The bigger the waves, the more distance you need between the boats in order prevent a collision, particularly when running downwind. The long tow is also useful if you need to throw someone a line.