markstephens

http://www.nspn.org/htdocs/dcforum/DCForumID6/400.html http://www.nspn.org/htdocs/dcforum/DCForumID6/383.html

Nick: WTF? I hadn't noticed you having any problem with using club message boards to try to make a buck off kayaking. You don't seem to think using forums like this for free advertising is "bad form". You're a hypocrite. I don't owe this forum anything. If I choose to remove material that I put significant effort into developing and sharing here, for free, that's my business. If people want to make a stink over it, then I won't bother to in future.

No, nothing like that. Some of these stories may appear in print publications and just need to be sure there are no copyright issues.

Probably the degree of looseness of the gasket.

The gasket doesn't need to be very tight because the pressure of the water is going to press it against your neck. I don't know, Dee. That may be true if your head is submerged, but if you are swimming, that pressure is going to vary and you may scoop water in through the neck gasket. (Been there.) Also, if you are in heavy surf, the firehose pressure of a breaking wave crashing down on your head can force water in through a loose neck gasket. (Been there, also.) I've been very cold and wet in my drysuit when I had a loose-fitting neck gasket. Have since replaced it and plan to keep it quite snug, at least for the type of paddling I do.

I got this note from Jim Rice, a marine biologist who used to work for the NE Aquarium and now works in Oregon: "Hey Mark, You made the right decision. That was a juvenile gray seal – a particularly nasty critter to wrestle with, even with a team of trained people. They have big sharp teeth, and are none too shy about using them. Unfortunately, entanglements of gray seals are pretty common – and usually hopeless. We used to try to disentangle animals if we could get to them, but they would usually flee to the water as soon as we approached them."

What, David, you don't like my new look? Blond is beautiful, man! I don't think that photo has been digitally manipulated. I've seen the original film print and it has the same yellowness and washed out look. The lighting there is definitely special. The color of the water and even of the fish was noticeably different than elsewhere around Nantucket/Vineyard Sounds.

It was quite an animated conversation between would-be human rescuer and wild animal. The net would have had to be cut off. It was very tight. I couldn't risk a bite or getting slashed by sharp claws out there in the middle of nowhere. It is a neat photo, though, giving an accurate sense of the bleak, horizonless, nearly featureless wildness of that place.

Um, yeah Brian, those would be CARBON greenland paddles, right? I've seen what ice can do to a toothpick. Oh, that's right - it was YOUR toothpick!

Not sure who the unreputable source is, but I think it is the North Bay all over again. Seductive good looks, fast, but "tender" to handle. Lousy in wind and following seas.

You probably cannot carry on your paddle. I was not able to when I went to Alaska last summer on American. Yes, I was told it could be used as a weapon.

@*#&!!

I was with a bunch of my South Shore kayaker friends on Saturday night and we were all talking about going skiing Sunday, not paddling. No one that I know of was out Sunday.

Karen: You know how much I support such a worthy cause, so if you will just buy me a plane ticket, I will be glad to carry that extra bag for you. ;-)

Yes, and pay attention, Jason. No more putting my back out just lifting your bow loaded for a mere two-night trip, in hotels no less. ;-)