Brian Nystrom

I've been on vacation for the past two weeks, but I'm still working on pricing. There's one more source that I need to check with on volume discounts, then I'll report back.

Look up "slow learner" in the dictionary and this guy's picture will be there. How many times did he make the same mistakes? Imagine what would happen if he really got into trouble! "Film at 11..."

I've got some tutorials on fiberglass and gelcoat repair on my website:

http://briannystrom.com/?page_id=36

Someone needs to learn to count...the article only lists 4 common mistakes.

The video is nicely done, however.

Since there doesn't seem to be any interest in the club partnering with Sea-Lect, I'm pursuing this on my own. I'll report back with pricing information as soon as I find the best deal.

getting in...

weldwood contact cement applied liberally to both surfaces. wait 5 minutes or so for it to get tacky...place the piece. sit in the boat (bring a book) for awhile until that bond is secure and then later use weights, bricks, sand bag, whatever to maintain pressure.

If you follow the instructions with contact cement, which typically recommend allowing it to dry for 15-20 minutes before bringing the parts together (until the surface is no longer tacky), it bonds instantly (that's why it's called "contact" cement) and there is no need for sitting in the boat or applying pressure to the parts for any length of time.

Everyone,

Rick – if you’re looking for very hot weather then skip Florida. The record hottest temperature ever recorded in Miami, Florida is 98 degrees and Singer Island is usually 5 degrees cooler than Miami on the hot summer days. Even in the middle of the summer Florida is far from the hottest region. It’s extremely rare for the temperature to get above 97 °F anywhere in Florida.

Table below is from here

Large US cities where the temperature most often climbs to 100 °F (37.8 °C) or higher.

City Days a Year Above 99 °F

Phoenix, Arizona 107

Las Vegas, Nevada 70

Riverside, California 24

Dallas, Texas 17

Austin, Texas 16

Sacramento, California 11

Oklahoma City 11

San Antonio, Texas 8

Salt Lake City, Utah 5

Houston, Texas 4

Kansas City, Missouri 3

The videos that I posted show the worst shark days in late winter. Most days the baitfish are miles from shore and so are the sharks that follow them. If you’re afraid of sharks then Florida, California, Hawaii and the Carolinas have the most. But during shark season in Florida most serious paddlers stay in the numerous bays there.

Pru - Other than when I paddled far up the Loxahatchee River and other game reserves I’ve never seen a snake or alligator in Florida.

Freediving aside, I much prefer New England in the summer.

-Leon

True, but what's the average humidity in those places? I'll take 105 and bone dry in Phoenix over 95 and 90% humidity in FL any day! I find Florida heat/humidity to be miserably oppressive, which is why I will never live there.

Christopher, give me a shout offline.

It seems that older covers were more durable and I recall reading something about VCP switching to a lower VOC manufacturing process a few years back. That apparently affect durability adversely and there have been a lot of reports of molding defects, too. Between Linda, Michael and me, we currently have six boats with VCP hatch covers, all of which are stored either indoors (5) or under cover outdoors (1). When I checked them all this past weekend (some hadn't been used in a while), of the 17 Valley hatch covers (I have one Sea-lect cover on one boat), there was exactly one that didn't show any cracking. That was an oval cover that I replaced a couple of years ago. Most of the round covers had fallen apart (the centers fell out and into the boats) and the ovals were badly cracked.

There is simply no way that I'm going to pay for more of this junk, especially considering that Valley covers are more expensive than Sea-Lect. I'm currently exploring multiple sources for Sea-Lect covers and will report back once I have more information. Who in the club would be in charge of deciding if NSPN wants to work directly with Sea-Lect?

Brian:

Have you considered the new KS hatch covers for Valley rims? Just another option. FWIW, there is a kayak parts shop in Ossipee, NH (seriously) which stocks the Sealect covers and can order the KS ones. Nice people.

Ed Lawson

I hadn't seen the Kajak Sport covers for Valley rims before and checked them out on their site. They look nice, but I haven't found anyone online who's actually selling them, so pricing is somewhat of a mystery.

I've contacted Sea-Lect and they offer a club purchase program, so if there is interest, the club can join that. I'm also looking at purchasing from them through my business, if the club isn't interested in affiliating with them. Barring either of those two choices, Duckworks has the best prices, but Topkayaker has the ovals on sale for a similar price.

Linda, Michael and I need to replace a bunch of dead Valley hatch covers (at least 12) and we've decided to go with Sea-lect covers instead. Since there are a lot of people in the club with boats with Valley hatches, I was wondering if anyone has thought of doing a group buy so we can get them at a discount? I may be opening a can of worms here, but I thought I'd at least mention the idea. I'm looking into bulk pricing.

That's an interesting question and somewhat out of my realm of expertise. It makes sense that anything that works on a wooden ship deck should work on a land-based deck, but oil finishes are not terribly scuff resistant. Perhaps the addition of pine tar would improve that. I wonder if a 3-way blend with some polyurethane varnish might be more durable? My best suggestion would be to purchase a small quantity of each and do some test panels. Leave them outside for the rest of the summer and see how they fare.

As for tinting, the standard tints used for epoxy and gelcoat should work with anything oil-based and a test panel or two would help you to figure out how much you need to get the desired color. Commercial paint tints should work too, but they are coarser and tend to settle out of suspension and accent surface irrgularities (like wood grain), where the finer tints don't. Another option is to use artist's oil paint as a tint. It's very fine-grained and stays in suspension well (I've used it on skin boats). It's also thinner than epoxy/gelcoat pigment, so it should be easier to use. I guess it depends on the look you're trying to achieve.

You're welcome!

One thing that I forgot to mention is that if you're going to coat the tips with epoxy for increased durability, do that before you apply any other finish. Otherwise, you won't get a good bond between the wood and the epoxy.

I mix my own so I can be sure of what I'm using. With commercial "oil finish" products, you really have no idea what's in the can other than a lot of thinner. My personal preference is a 50:50 blend of pure tung oil and a natural resin varnish like Epifanes, but polyurethane varnish works fine too and is probably a bit more durable. You may be able to find natural resin varnish at a big box or hardware store; just look for oil-based varnish that doesn't say "polyurethane" on the can. Boiled linseed oil is a good alternative to tung oil, it's available everywhere and it's inexpensive. Don't use raw linseed oil, as it takes forever to cure.

As I mentioned above, oils and varnishes cure when exposed to oxygen so either keep your components and mix in the smallest containers you can find or use an oxygen blocker. It doesn't take more than a few ounces of finish to apply multiple coats to a paddle, so you don't need to mix a lot.

If you really want to see the beauty of the wood grain, sand the paddle to 400 grit (or even 600 grit) after you remove the old finish (I typically sand a new paddle with 80, 150, 220 and 400 grit). Apply the first coat of your blend with a rag, let it sit for ~5 minutes, then wipe off the excess. For the next two coats (at 24 hour intervals), use a piece of 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper to apply the finish. It will remove any roughness from the first coat and help make the surface even smoother. Apply the last coat with a rag again. The detail you'll see in the grain is amazing! If you're more interested in utility and getting the job done quicker, just sand through 220 grit, apply 3-4 coats at 24 hour intervals and call it done. It will still be beautiful and feel great in your hands.

To maintain the finish, wash the paddle down with fresh water, allow it to dry, sand it lightly with 220 grit and apply another coat or two.

IMPORTANT WARNING: Whenever you use rags to apply an oil or varnish finish, you must be VERY careful when disposing of them. If you ball them up and/or throw them in a trash can, the curing oil/varnish can create enough heat to START A FIRE. I recommend spreading them out on the ground or hanging them to let them dry at least overnight. This is not an idle warning; I have tested this personally with rags I used to oil kayak frames. When you see a balled up rag start to smolder and smoke after an hour or so, then open it to find that it's all charred inside, it gets your attention

The concern with laminated paddles is that if the wood is allowed to absorb water, the laminations may expand to different degrees and eventually damage the glue joints. The glue itself should be waterproof, so it should not be directly affected by moisture.

If you want the look and feel of an oil finish, I strongly suggest using an oil/varnish blend for extra durability. If you're diligent about maintaining it - which is easy to do with wipe-on, wipe-off finishes - I can't think of a reason why it shouldn't work fine. If you neglect it, you're likely to have problems in the long term, but that's true regardless of the type of finish.

If you want to use epoxy, remember that you need to varnish over it to protect it from UV exposure. You must also maintain the integrity of the finish so that water doesn't get trapped under it. Overall, maintaining an epoxy and/or varnish finish is more complex and more work than using an oil or oil/varnish blend.

My concern would be that any strong chemicals applied to the cover might cause the fabric to separate from the rubber underneath.

Let's correct a few things here.

Diluting oil or varnish does almost nothing to improve penetration, except on end grain. There's very little of that on a GP (shoulders and tips are about it), so you're better off not diluting it, as it just makes the resulting finish more porous. I must confess however, that I really love the scent of linseed oil thinned with turps...

Linseed oil does cure to a hard finish, but not a glossy one like varnish. Because it does not build to a thick film like varnish, it will never seem to be as hard and it is not as protective. However, it is flexible, so it will never crack like varnish can, which makes it idea for items like GPs that flex a lot. Since it seals the pores in the wood and it's also somewhat breathable, water cannot become trapped under it and cause dark staining (mildew).

Boiled linseed oil from the big box stores contains driers and there is no benefit to adding more. Raw linseed oil does not contain driers and takes a very long time to cure. Unless you're paranoid about the minute amount of cobalt that will be in the finish on your paddle, there's no point in buying raw linseed oil (I don't chew on my paddles much, so I'm not worried). There are polymerized oils that do not contain toxic driers and still cure quickly, but they're hard to find locally and somewhat expensive.

You can greatly enhance the durability of linseed or tung oil by mixing it 50:50 with varnish (either natural resin or polyurethane varnish works). You still get the satin sheen and soft feel, but it lasts longer.

With tung oil (my personal preference over linseed) make sure you buy 100% tung oil. Most of the "tung oil finish" products on the market (Formby's, Minwax, etc.) are actually wiping varnish and contain little or no actual tung oil. You pay a premium price for a product that's mostly just mineral spirits.

As for the specifics of Christopher's paddle, I agree with Paul. Sand it to bare wood, then apply either oil or an oil/varnish blend. The pores in the wood will probably still be mostly sealed by the factory finish, but that's probably a good thing in the long run.

Sir Christopher,

Yes, I'm guilty as charged, though I would point out that our (Linda's and mine) two-wheeled activities also include mountain biking, cyclocross and fat-bikes on the snow and sand. We keep talking about dusting off the boats and I'm sure that it will eventually happen.

On a somewhat related topic, while on a ride yesterday on the cape, I was passed by a couple of cars carrying a teal over white Surge and a yellow over white Anas Acuta. They appeared to be headed toward the Scraggy Neck area. Were these folks NSPN'ers?

I absolutely agree with Kate; ANY successful roll is better than a wet exit.

It sounds like your friend has been influenced by some dogmatic source, either in person or print. "My way or the highway" simply doesn't apply when one's safety is at stake. The utter stupidity of the idea that an extended roll should not be used if a standard roll fails should be self-evident. Whoever indoctrinated your friend with this lunacy needs a good slap up aside the head!

More to the point, while we don't know what they had when they left shore, we do know that they didn't have any of these critical safety items or skills when they needed them. That's really what matters, isn't it?

Linda and I saw the same thing at Town Neck in Sandwich last weekend. There was a line of broken ice ~200 yards offshore and slushy waves breaking on the beach.

A Greenland "storm" paddle works very well into a headwind, provided that you're familiar and comfortable with the required sliding stroke. If not, it may reduce your cadence and hinder your progress.

A full-length GP already has less wind resistance than a typical Euro or wing paddle. Plus, the fact that it works well with a low paddle angle allows you to reduce your profile and keep the paddle down in the lee of the waves, further reducing wind resistance.

I completely agree with those who favor paddling directly into the wind, as there is no benefit to tacking in a kayak; we don't have the advantage of a sail. The only time I've found it beneficial to paddle off-wind is when the waves are coming from an angle to the wind. Finding a balance between heading straight into the wind and straight into the waves is key in those situations.

Did anyone read the instructions for this?

This looks bad enough, but when you read the details, it's much worse. Essentially, you have to do a couple of steps that would be pretty much impossible with gloves, let alone if you're in rough water. It's definitely not possible to deploy it with one hand, or quickly with two hands.

The concept is interesting, but impractical, and the design is really poor. Also, I don't see a $75 single-use safety item selling well.

As a former ice climber, I'm well aware of the impact forces created in falls. How does that in any way relate to the use of tow ropes in paddling? I have no intention of ever using my tow rope for climbing!

Stepping back another post, when would one ever rig a tow rope between two anchor points and pull in the middle? Are you planning to shoot a kayak like an arrow?

If I was so inclined, I could cite all kinds of situations where ropes are put under high stress, but if they're not ever going to happen in a kayaking context, they're irrelevant to the selection of a tow rope. Also, if you're concerned about stretch and impact forces, for a given type of rope, the heavier and stronger it is, the lower the stretch and the higher the impact force it generates.

Again, this is all extreme overkill - and over-thinking - in the context of a kayaking tow rope, which is unlikely to ever see a force much greater than 50 pounds placed upon it.

The problem you describe is the main reason that I buy Gore-Tex rain gear. Over the course of 30 years or so, I've had a three pieces start to delaminate (one after more than a decade of frequent use) and they were replaced with no questions asked. One of those was a dry suit that would have cost a grand to replace. As for brands, buy whatever fits you best. Gore's testing system for garments guarantees that it will be waterproof, regardless of who makes it, so fit is the most important concern.

BTW, the dry suit above was made by a company that stopped using Gore-Tex (Stohlquist), so Gore replaced it with a Kokatat suit. You simply cannot beat their quality, warranty or service.