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jwhipple

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Posts posted by jwhipple

    whales? parlez vous francais?

    in General Message Board

    Posted

    I second (third?) the recommendation of Paradis Marin, if you want to camp.  The name means marine paradise, and that's a pretty good description.  It's right on the St. Lawrence just a few miles north of Saguenay; you can sit on the rocks and watch the whales go by, or go out and paddle with them.  I went with a SMSKN trip many years ago; they went July 4th weekend, which turned out to be a bit early for whales (though we saw lots of belugas).  Air temp was very hot but water temp called for a drysuit! That weekend coincided with Canada Day (their national holiday, July 1), so the big campground was chock full of Quebecers enjoying their outdoors — good for people-watching, probably quieter other weekends.

    Anyway, my two cents.

    Judy

    Winter reading

    in General Message Board

    Posted

    Apropos of cabin fever (inspired by Peter’s note about the party in January), who has reading to nominate for kayakers in need of winter distractions? Or maybe suggestions for friends or family to put under their favorite kayaker’s Christmas tree?

    For those of you interested in coastal processes who’ve wanted to understand what forces have shaped (and are reshaping) our varied coastlines, I suggest BEACHES AND COASTS, by Richard Davis and Duncan FitzGerald. It’s a college text, so is chock full of content, from global influences like plate tectonics and glaciers to local processes like longshore sediment transport and formation of tidal deltas (both important factors in the Crane’s Beach area, I learned). One of the authors (FitzGerald) is local, and some of his research interests are local, so a fair number of the examples are from New England. My only quibble is that the book tends to focus more on changing shorelines than rocky coasts (my favorites), but I suppose the rocky ones stay put for too long to be as interesting to researchers, beyond understanding how they came to be formed. As an introductory-level text, it’s written in fairly plain English, though it’s more of a reference book than something you’d want to read through from cover to cover. Also, being a text, new copies are pricey, though used copies and an ebook version are readily available online. If you’re interested in checking it out, here’s a link with more info:

    http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0632043083.html

    Another option: those of you 58+ with flexible weekday schedules might have interest in auditing FitzGerald’s spring semester undergrad course on the subject at BU’s Boston campus, through the university’s Evergreen Program (a fantastic program for auditors, by the way). The course, Introduction to Beach and Shoreline Processes, uses this book as its text, expands on it and makes the material very accessible. I audited the course last spring, and wallowed happily in the stuff all semester.

    Okay, now, who else has reading suggestions?

    Wood refinishing...

    in General Message Board

    Posted

    Thanks so much, Brian! And I note your earlier post in this thread describing an oil/varnish mix. Just to follow up, so I'm clear about it: do you recommend self-mixing it, and if so at 50:50? Or is there a pre-mixed blend (Formby or other) that you'd trust? Thanks ...

    Wood refinishing...

    in General Message Board

    Posted

    To add a wrinkle to the discussion ... I'm noting a few comments elsewhere online to the effect that LAMINATED greenland paddles shouldn't be refinished with oil, the argument being that the varying woods and glue involved need something more protectant such as epoxy, spar varnish, etc.. I'd be grateful for any thoughts you paddle wizards may have on this.

    Skeg cable repair

    in Boat repair, outfitting

    Posted

    Thanks, Jason -- good to know that's an option if a replacement knob isn't available. But more than likely, doing as you suggest (or replacing the knob, for that matter) is beyond my competence. I'll probably limp through the rest of this season with minimal skeg function, while figuring out next steps for dealing with it.

    Skeg cable repair

    in Boat repair, outfitting

    Posted

    Thanks for all your input, Gene! Though I'm sorry to hear you're inclined to agree with the "stripped" hypothesis -- was kinda hoping you'd come up with a miracle cure. But alas, it looks as if some replacement parts are in the boat's future. Meanwhile, I seem to have minimal skeg function, but that's better than nothing.

    Judy

    Skeg cable repair

    in Boat repair, outfitting

    Posted · Edited by jwhipple

    Hi Gene -

    Thanks so much for your reply -- it’s clear you know exactly what I’m talking about, and what you said makes perfect sense! So I went to my boat, followed your directions, and learned a lot -- but I didn’t get quite the same results as you. So if you don’t mind, I’d like to ask a few questions ...

    First, here's what happened. After retracting and immobilizing the skeg, then turning the allen wrench in the knob more than enough to back the set screw out of the hole in the sheath, I held the sheath with pliers and tried to slide the knob along the sheath to locate the hole. But the slider knob won’t budge laterally on the sheath (it's as if the set screw were still in the hole). Actually, no amount of turning the allen wrench in either direction seems to have much effect (watching through the knob’s side hole, the set screw appears to turn, but doesn't seem to be rising or falling). Finally, after trying to tighten the set screw in the hole (it never gets really tight), I freed the skeg and tried sliding the knob back and forth. It works okay for the first two inches, but if I slide the knob any further, the cable starts slipping inside the sheath.

    These results make me think that the set screw may actually be in the hole (at least partially), and that I can't properly tighten/loosen it (stripped threads, maybe?) But I don't trust this conclusion. Based on your own experience, do you think I’m still missing the hole? Or that there's something else at play?

    Because I can’t slide the knob to see the hole, could you tell me exactly where the hole is located on your boat? As you can see in the picture, my knob is halfway between two notches in the sheath, and the knob’s top and side holes are aligned directly over those notches. Logically, the hole would be centered halfway between the notches and on the same plane with them -- which means the knob is correctly positioned. But perhaps your sheath's hole wasn’t located there? Also, you said the hole is oval: is the longer side of the oval aligned with the sheath, or does it run across it? (My knob won't budge forward or back on the sheath, but has a limited amount of rotational play around the sheath, so I’m wondering if the oval's long side goes across the sheath.)

    And regarding the cable slippage, maybe the set screw isn't grabbing it tightly enough. But I also wonder if there are contributing factors at the front and back ends of the cable. At the front end (forward of the slider box, inside the cockpit), the ends of my cable and sheath are just loose, there's nothing there to prevent the cable moving in the sheath; maybe there's something I can do here to prevent slippage? And at the skeg end, there is a slight bend (not really a kink) in the cable an inch or two above the skeg. It doesn't look like a significant bend, but I have no experience with this -- perhaps it's putting added strain on the cable, contributing to the slippage under the knob?

    That's everything I can think of (in more than enough words). I'd be grateful for any and all thoughts you may have ... thanks!

    Judy

    knob.pdf

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