Michael_Crouse

Those waves have nice long periods, I was thinking about sloppy stuff that's hitting you every few seconds. Besides one of those guys is holding his paddle upside down, clearly he doesn't know what he's doing! ;-)

I would say in some situations it could be dangerous, like big surf, but 99% of the time I say extending or sliding your hands is fine.

You can also use a paddle float if your back band goes. See I told everyone those things were useful! The nice thing about the foam is it's pretty foolproof, it's not going to rust, snap, etc... I've seen people drill holes in the foam and store things like flares, emergency kits in a Nalgene bottle, and other small stuff.

My Exped Siris (no longer made) can be packed together, buy since the fly is usually damp I seperate them. The poles actually attach to sleeves in the fly and the body hangs from the fly. I can take pack up the sleeping bags, mats, etc... and stow the tent body while I'm under the fly and out of the rain. For breakfast I recommend always bringing one no cook breakfast or some snacks in case you have launch early to get the heck off the water and avoid some bad weather.

If we listened to all the warnings we would never wear cotton and the worlds supply of down must be unusable since if it's near moisture it immediately absorbs it, never dries out, and tries to kill you ;-) Cotton in camp is fine, I usually wear synthetic but I tend to pick out stuff that's soft and comfortable, in other words it feels like cotton. As far as fire resistant fleece is horrible but wool is nice. The fire issue is big with me since my biggest fear used to be people who overprime their white gas stoves while wearing fleece. Treating a bad burn is not something I ever want to do.

For years I used a cheap slumber jack over bag and a Marmot black magic bag liner. Combining the two covered me for almost three seasons. You didn't mention sleeping pads, which you should think about since a lot of companies are putting sleeves (instead of insulation) in the bottom of their bags. This means (if you go the route) you will be tied to a manufacturer for your entire system. For a cheaper down bag I like the MEC gossamer (I'm 99% sure that's the model) it's inexpensive, down fill, and it's a tapered rectangle with a full zip so you can use it like a quilt. It also comes in three lengths/sizes, so if you're 5'5" you're not stuck with a bag that will fit someone who is 6'+.

I'm saying that a rack rated to hold 1000lbs with a 6.5 foot spread that is bolted to a 1/2 ton truck is going to be much more capable of carrying a few kayaks than a rack rated for 150lbs with 3 feet of spread. Bow and stern lines can snag on all sorts of things and damage a kayak, never mind the chance of someone yanking on one when the kayak is unattended in a parking lot. The chance of my kayak being damaged by a bow/stern line is far greater than the chance of my rack failing and needing a bow line.

6.5 foot spread on my trac rac, that's rated to carry 1000lbs. If I'm going a long distance I will use extra straps. My rack safety check is 1) grab the rack and shake it, the truck moves and the rack does not shift 2) grab the boat and shake it, the boat does not move on the rack, the rack/truck moves Then I drive I personally do not like bow and stern lines because of the risk of catching them on something and damaging the boat. I do use them on a rack with a short spread.

At 190lbs the zephyr 160 might actually be too big for you. No matter what kayak you buy you'll probably want a different one within a year or so, so don't sweat it. I would rate the north shore Atlantic above the Tsunami. Fiberglass for $1300? http://maine.craigslist.org/boa/4966105054.html That one is short and playful Fiberglass for $1000? http://maine.craigslist.org/boa/4952824916.html That one is a straight and fast kayak There's also a glass aquanaut for $1600 but that might be too high for you, although I would say it's the better choice. Don't rush, try a few, make a list and wait.

I've carried 3-4 kayaks on my trac rack with nothing but foam. All kayaks on their sides, foam between the kayaks (to avoid scratching) and lots and lots of straps. Kayaks strapped together, kayaks strapped to the opposite sides of the rack so they were pulled against each other. It worked amazingly well. If this is for a one time trip you can probably do it without purchasing any additional gear.

Small Boat Journal did a great write up on the Sunfish years ago. It pointed out all the things that were technically wrong with the design of the boat, the hull, sail rig, etc... and showed that improving all those little things would not do much to improve the boats performance. It reminded me of an article in sea kayaker where Chris Cunningham built a kayak "by eye", 17ft long, 22 inches wide, divide the boat into thirds and put the cockpit at the back of the middle third, etc.... It was a really nice kayak and and compared to one designed in CAD with computer drag analysis, etc... it was still a damn good performing kayak. Sometimes simple and smaller is better, owning a small boat usually means more time on the water.

You guys are making me miss my Hobie 16, I don't miss trailering it and raising the mast, but sailing it was a blast.

My apologies, we had discussed the Corry and I like it but I really do think the blade needs to match the boat. I only use the Corry with my fastest sea kayak, it does not feel right with my Aquanaut HV. Then again since I liked my first paddle, a 240cm Lendal Nordkapp (old model, bigger blades) I may be a numbskull who would be happy paddling anything.

Our class was certainly intense, hey it's break time, feel free to practice giving these oranges shots of insulin (if I remember currently). The first scenario we did I was a drunk driver who immediately got the point of scene assessment across but getting my (fake) blood on everyone who rushed in, then I was back boarded and evacuated since I had killed the other person in the accident. It was definitely set up as a moral/triage issue. Most critical case gets the immediate care, or as the instructors asked "what's going to kill this person in 5 minutes?" That said it was fun and it wasn't all doom and gloom and we learned a lot. Sam splints are awesome, as is duct tape , bandanas, etc... It was interesting that a lot of the gear they used we don't carry. Who uses a closed cell foam pad in a kayak? Trekking poles? Yes we have rope (tow lines, deck lines) and a couple of pumps could make a short splint..... oh this is fun, who wants to volunteer to try a paddle float neck brace? ;-)

Thanks for the great report! My WFR expired years ago but someday I'll take it again. It's definitely an intense week and those simulations can really put you through a lot of stress. I recall meeting at the beach at 10:00pm in Bar Harbor in March for our night time scenario. I was lucky enough to get the patient who was instructed to vomit when the back boarding was 99% complete causing them to shift.... then attempt to back board them again... repeat 4 times then die.... ok onto the next patient. Our instructors definitely pushed us through our weaknesses. I felt so prepared and confident when it was all over it was great. I think our class started with 26 people and 18 of us were taking the final test. Nice job on the casts/splints they are BUF (Big, Ugly, and Fluffy)

Agreed, for a new paddler the paddle float is the first thing in their line of defense, for an experienced one it becomes the last but I think it should still be there.

Several paddle floats to fill up a flooded/holed compartment As a foot brace when you lose one As a back rest when yours fails Stabilizing a paddler who's being towed. For the minimal space it takes up I will keep carrying it. If you haven't used it for years you might want to make sure it still holds air.

#1 rule for me is that the spare is something you will happily use instead of your primary paddle. That longer heavier paddle might seem like a good spare but when you break your nice carbon paddle on day 2 of a week long trip and you're stuck using it you'll rethink that logic. Trust me on this one ;-) Having said that you can certainly have different spares, the fiberglass version of your paddle for longer trips, a smaller blade for a windy trip, a bigger blade for surf and rough water, a toksook to defend yourself with, etc.... Some folks use greenland paddles as spares but I could never paddle at a decent speed with one.

Maybe Werner should add those :-) stickers to all their paddles, not just the kids sprite model? I've also seen SUPers holding a bent shaft paddle backwards.

You could always try 3 mil plastic instead of 5 mil or do the tyvek without the grommets. The advantage of the factory footprints is that you can usually pitch the tent in a fly/footprint "lightweight mode", I have never seen anyone do this so it's obviously not much of an advantage.

I have either purchased the factory made foot print or made them out of 5mil plastic. OK the plastic is heavier and it lacks the grommets but it's cheap, really cheap. I bought a big roll and I've made footprints for several of my tents.

Might be handy in bear country? Nope bears swim, not just polar bears.

I did the same thing with charts of squam many years ago, they were double sided so one side looked like the one you posted but on the other side I added compass bearings for the crossings, put ins, etc... They were 11"x17" and laminated, I made many of them and gave them out so (hopefully) everyone on the trip learned some navagation and they all got a chart to keep for their return trips.

http://store.apple.com/us/question/answers/iphone/is-the-compass-in-my-iphone-magnetic-or-gps-generated/QFJAXH2FFTU9A9X7X Seems to be magnetic

Someone I know had the GSI pressure cooker loved it..... until he had to clean it at camp. We have a GSI wok that works great but we plan our meals to bring the wok or the cook set, not both. I suspect the Dutch oven would be similar.