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. ;-)

Congratulations to Princess, an orangutan, who has recently achieved her BCU (Borneo Canoe Union) Three Star Award. It was a tough test, but she passed! Here she demonstrates her version of a sculling draw: http://image55.webshots.com/155/2/10/98/54...98puRGyy_ph.jpg While Princess lost points for the unconventional upper hand position and for endangering her shoulder with that poor form, she nevertheless showed excellent torso rotation and was able to move the boat powerfully in the desired direction. (And we thought this sport actually required higher intelligence.)

Most of the boats sold on eBay get shipped via Forward Air. The costs are in the neighborhood of $100-$150. You have to drop off/pick up at one of their terminals. Check their website for terminal locations.

This is the best online tutorial for the backdeck roll that I have seen. The mouse-over images only work for me in IE. http://www.chrisj.winisp.net/articles/backdeckroll.htm That said, this roll is harder to do in flat water, like a pool, than with the help of some hydraulics like surf or river current.

Haughty? Haughty? No, haughty would have been "You newbies have no business doing what you are doing, and I know because I have arrived as a superior paddler." At least that is what I was subjected to on this board a couple years ago. Shame on me if I were to now turn into one of same. Snide, OK maybe. Sorry. But made you think, right?

Ah, yes. Beginners encouraged to play in the rocks. In surf, in January, in wooden boats. Probably without helmets. Gotta love it.

Last week's post-Christmas surf session drew 12 boaters to Nahant for tiny waves, but good comraderie. I heard there was a fun time at Tides Restaurant afterward. A group of us will be surfing at Nahant on New Year's Day. Let's see if we can get another good turnout. Waves should be better this Sunday than they were last weekend. We'll meet in the parking lot next to the Tides Restaurant at 10:30.

You can order it at scuba.com. I'm still waiting for mine that was supposed to be delivered by the 24th. Luckily, it isn't cold yet.

I would suggest that you trim out only the tear. In other words, don't remove three rings when you can clean up the tear by just trimming out a small section of those three rings. Make a uniform shape without acute lines so that there are no new natural tear spots. This way the gasket should still snug around your neck with a very small area for leak potential. I've found that a very sharp pair of Fiskar's scissors work better for this kind of trimming than a razor blade.

A Christmas Day storm is in the forecast. Some of us are hoping for serious waves for the 26th, as we have a surf "expression session" in the works. Location TBD.

I'm posting this here so as not to get entangled in all the pool session "sticky" posts on the main thread, but here is the question: Who plans to paddle on the ocean this winter - say between January 2 and March 31? My sense is that winter paddling was quite the fad a couple of years back, but some really cold winters recently have dampened the enthusiasm quite a bit. Maybe folks are going out regularly and not posting show and go's or trip reports, I don't know, thus the query. I personally haven't had my sea kayak out since the first week of November, but I will be out this winter. Post here if you are interested in winter paddling. Thanks, Mark