Ben Fuller

Gempler's does not seem to be selling rolls of fluorescent plastic tape any more. Anyone found an alternate source? I am out and have some new paddles to tape. Thanks Ben

We have been using it in block form in lots of outdoor apps such as boat skids so I am not sure what the use indoors is. Maybe the adhesive. I don't understand the use of velcro tape and other rough stuff for keel strips; seems to me that these are pretty draggy. Packing tape has no abrasion resistance and not much strength. I am going to order some up and try it out. Ben

Has anyone tried Ultra High Molecular Weight plastic tape? Better abrasion resistance than metal, teflon. I have used it in thin sheets on the bottom of a rowboat and it wins when it is around rock. You can get 18 yards of 3 inch for about 40 bucks.

50 cals can be retrofitted. But there could be a recoil and weight issue. An M-60 is much more use friendly doable. Worked great on my marine corps green boston whaler many years ago.

So why doesn't the CG, Portland Fire Department and any other people that operate outboard boat who expect to ground them from time to time carry a nice 12 foot long spruce setting pole? We got them in the MITA skiffs which go ashore hundreds of times each season. We have done some lower unit damage but its not been in grounding out. The hunter was not in a real kayak.... in a double paddle canoe as L F Herreshoff called them; today's rotomolded ones are a far cry from the elegant craft of Rushton, LFH and Bart Hauthaway.

I am in the process of rehabbing my 1978 Nordkapp SS. Its one of the first imported into the US by Ken Fink. It is what would now be called a low volume kayak ( the first S; they had a H that was higer volume.) Sized so that not much more than 9 1/2 booties will fit. I know that Nordkapps went through some changes. The M model had a built in skeg. Then there was the Jubilee and now another generation. I bought the old one without bulkheads and hatchs which I added, and it has a splendid solid bar foot rest. I added a rudder ala Paul Caffyn. Boat is reasonably light by modern standards for conventional layup at 57 pounds. Anyway I wonder if anyone out there has paddled old and new Nordkapps and for that matter other designs whose name stayed the same but which got tweaked. Any comments?

Like you I would have not done that run event though I have rolled in conditions fairly frequently especially in my serious whitewater days. But the Coast Guard does not have the ability to make a judgement test, I do not believe. They do have the ability to stop something deemed unseaworthy. Problem is that to most folks kayak crossing is unseaworthy. So it would be well to have some criteria that they could use. Certainly the willingness to roll in a seaway would be something that could have stopped the crossing right there. What kind of tool kit can we give the CG? So that they don't stop trips when they don't have to?

Yup, at the end of the day we have a judgement issue here. I wonder what would have happened if the CG had asked the paddler to demo a roll which would have been really the only reasonable rescue in 15 knots and 37 degree water. Can't or unwilling to roll, reel the paddler in. Objective test.

I should see Al Johnson who is the Coast Guard person responsible for monitoring boating fatalities in New England at a Maine Association of Sea Kayak Guides and Instructors meeting mid April and will ask him. What has been learned so far is that he did not have a VHF only a cell phone. He seems to have been wearing a wet suit not a dry suit, which if a surfing wet suit may not have been a bad choice. And he made a really really bad decision to do a solo open water paddle in what started out as a brisk winter day at 15 knots. I suspect that the CG will examine why they did not make him abort when they first stopped him. Ben

We will check on the cars per site rule; I have to check my correspondence with them. I know it is 4 adults per site, but that usally means two cars. Perhaps dropping off one cars worth of gear. It may also be that things are relaxes because they are setting aside one part of the site ( along the harbor). This all started with some skinny stickers thinking about inviting folks from the lower 47 to Maine; other folks would be welcome but there will a lot of skinny stick and SOF's and some pretty experienced teachers so would be a good opportunity give it a go. ben

Some of us skinny stickers have been interested in organizing a fall unstructured informal paddlers get together. We have done so. I have secured a base at the Hermit Island Campground the last weekend of September, 26,27,28. No program. There will be locals that know the area; Popham Beach is not far away, and some of us are familiar with opportunities for play in the mouth of the Kennebec. If the weather is foul there are opportunities to tour up river or if things are nicer, the nesting islands to the west are open after the end of August. But what we really want to see is if adults can getting together to see if they can have fun and maybe learn a few things. Thirty two dollars a night per campground which can accommodate two cars 4 people. Easy carry to the water and a pavilion for pot luck. We'd be along Harbor Grove. Wander around on their website to locate it if you are not familiar with the area. I have listed this on the QUSA web site as well. All the Hermit folks want is some idea of numbers, so if you are interested drop a note on this list or contact me or Ed Lawson who lurks on this list who is maintaining a roster which we will give the campsite. Money goes right to them.

All good advice; lobster pots also make paddling in the fog easier. Use them as moving ranges. On the Bremen ordinance, it may not be sensible it may be illegal, but it is. So for folks that paddle to Crow or Strawberry or Hungary, be aware that you are in Bremen waters. Hog Island Audonbon is in Bremen water. Thief is not nor is Round Pond. It would be useful to let people know if you are warned. Ben Fuller Cushing Me

Garmin uses proprietary maps. You can import and export named routes, waypoints and marks. If you want to import a track from the GPS you will need to turn it into a named route first. If you want charts on the 76 or on any of the other ones you need to buy them.

Double AA is essential to me as I use these things on other boats besides yaks when I might be a week away from being able to charge. My old Standard HX 350 has a pretty bullet proof aa tray, which actually was not a tray but a cartridge. The new M34 is which is now available as a with 16 hour li pak, maybe less so. Some O ring grease on the seals of these radios is good. Merits of the 34 is that it floats....but not high. If you put a clip on the lanyard it might not, so use it without the belt clip or hook the belt clip onto some minicell. Also some orange tape on same. I have had more trouble with the battery case seals on GPS cases. Toasted a magellan and got water into a Garmin 76 C case. Otherwise still wise to bag them unless you feel compelled to put into a PFD pocket.

I remember one year when Brave Boat harbor entrance was about closed out. I looked over my shoulder, rowing my ducker, and could see all the way into a double whitehall or some such that was ahead of me. Not many kayaks then. And a couple of us rescued a few kayakers that had gone out to test their skills on the breaks on one of the off shore ledges. Then there was the sight of Kinley Gregg in sliding seat boat going totally submerged as she ran inside one of the ledge systems. Off shore storm swell kicked that one up. Its worth doing if you have never done it or if you have.