Ben Fuller

Dee, Fluorescent tape makes a dynamite cover for a dinged up black deck hull joint gel coat. The 1" is available in many snappy colors. Even a black on black boat can pop out of the woodwork with a stripe. The 2" really helps the all black carbon paddle blades.

From what I understand from NSPN members who have taken guide courses that I have taught, the trip leader course must be pretty similar. The only thing that makes club trip leading much much harder is that there is no control on the buy in. Some of the best written material on trip leadership comes out of the backpacking and climbing communities: like Graham's Outdoor Leadership.

Is there a way to get to GDN archives? Stuff from a few days ago is off the radar already.

It should float, so that if you want to use it outside of a protective bag you won't loose it when you drop it in the water. You need to use it out side of a bag if you want it to run on your deck as it's really hard to see through a bag in bright sunlight. It should have the largest screen / biggest numbers that you can afford. You should be able to up load routes and down load way points from mapping software. Both Garmin and Magellan products have these abilities. Ihave an older simple G-12 which is/was pretty bulletproof but does not flat. I escalated to one of the Magellan Marines, a little high end but durable. One of these days I will get the charting software for it. For me the read at 3 feet test aka on the deck of a kayak in glare was important. I prefer the ones without any thing sticking out in the way of an antenna.

We use the boat upright method all the time for doubles ( it's the only way) and for loaded singles. Also for people where the lift is challenging. Some people like Dale Evans in Georgia prefers it in the surf when rescuing novices as all he has to do is tell someone to right their boat and hang on. Requires no assistance. We have also found in very cold water with gloves it may be easier to pull the boat across when it's up right. What ever works. I have done them with the rescuee crawling across my boat to the upright and stable boat when there was a rock wall involved. First principles: commit to the other boat for stability. Get in a spot that lets you help the rescuee climb on. Practice both methods, upright and inverted. Practice nose to tail and nose to nose. Play with your boats.

In fact we did add a Saab wagon to the fleet, last fall, a 2000 stick shift aero which allows you drive scary fast with a load of yaks. But running the rack back as far as I can I need a pad on the roof to skid a boat up. If I made up a higher rack it would probably be fine. I was forced to come up with a slick way of forward tie down. I made up two 8" webbing loops with figure 8 knots, found some holes in the front end metal under the hood to poke them through. When I need them I stick them out and close the hood. Strong and neat. The fleet does include the 92 Saab with a bare 172k on it. It has electric windows which I have trouble remembering to run up. I am really concerned about what happens when it goes.

In the days of VW vans and 2x4 roofracks we made such exstentions out of another 2x4 , plywood and bolts. Solo loads of a 75 pound canoe up on the van. Its not the lift onto a regular car, its the convenience when in come to kayaks, stuff like sponging out the last bit of bilge water. For the bigger boats you need to find a couple of people.

So as I loaded a yak onto my 91 SAAB 900 with 300 k on it this morning, I was struck by ease of loading. Something taken for granted these years is being able to set the bow on the rear rack and the stern on the ground. The rear rack goes at the back of the rain gutters ( remember them?) The slope of the back is just right; I have single handed 100 pound plus boats like Sunfish onto these racks the same way. What is out on the market that has that same geometry? Most of the station wagons I have seen have the rear rack too far forward for this trick. Sedans too high a trunk and the hatch backs have become humpy. Pick up truck maybe? Any one have any proven suggestions?

Coping a scheme I saw in Georgia, I lashed a couple of pieces of water coolant hose, the black plastic ribbed stuff up forward to take the paddle shafts. Had to play with lashing method and spacing so the paddles did not stick out and were in far enough so that surf did not make them go away. Blades go under deck bungie. They are far enough forward so rescues can happen. Its one of those explitive deleted long cockpit boats.... Shaft are on either side of the compass which is on my forward hatch, and there is still a paddle park forward ( one threaded through poly tube to hold it up.) For chafe I did the KISS, put some SOLAS tape squares under the high wear spots. Especially useful under the forward paddle park. Ben Fuller Cushing ME all this stuff is on the Greenlander Pro. The other boats have same paddle park and Sola set up but I don't thrash them as much

We got other ways to relive our friends from the soft underbelly of New England, of their excess spending money. But we got to get you here first.

Appreciate all y'all's (phrase used in former life) help on this one. This is probably a postponement in a process, as the state will continue to fund the warden service from license fees. I expect this to come up again, but I think enough consciousness has been raised so that this time it will get input from the paddling community. We will fight real hard to make sure that anything that gets past applies only to residents not guests.

§13056-A. Nonmotorized watercraft conservation sticker 1. Sticker required; fees. Except motorboats subject to section 13056 or as otherwise provided in this section, a person may not place or operate a sailboat, rowboat, canoe or kayak on the inland waters or territorial waters of the State, unless a conservation sticker issued under this section is affixed to the watercraft. This section does not apply to watercraft used primarily in commercial operations that require licensure under Part 9 or to a rowboat used on marine waters for purposes of travel between a moored vessel and the shore. The conservation sticker is nontransferable and the fee is $10, $1 of which is retained by the issuing agent. 2. Exception. A person who holds a valid Maine fishing license or combination license issued by the department may receive one conservation sticker without a fee that must be affixed to that person's sailboat, rowboat, canoe or kayak. 3. Revenues. All fees collected by the commissioner from the sale of the conservation sticker must be distributed in accordance with section 10206, subsection 3. 4. Penalties. The following penalties apply to violations of this section. A. A person who violates subsection 1 commits a civil violation for which a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500 may be adjudged. B. A person who violates subsection 1 after having been adjudicated as having committed 3 or more civil violations under this Part within the previous 5-year period commits a Class E crime.

If you own two boats, you pay more than one 50hp plus outboard motor boat. If you own three boats, you pay more than a resident hunting or fishing license. I don't mind carrying my share of the water, but have a little problem when I get dumped on.

There has been little thinking so far. There was no opportunity for public comment. The actual text as to what was put out is not available. So we don't know yet if folks from away are going to pay. If they are not I reckon my dad who lives in Massachusetts will be getting a gift of a bunch of kayaks. The dump of dough to the DMR was obviously in recognition of the fact that there are a lot of non powered craft on salt water. Including fishermen's skiffs. I can just see the exchange some morning when a DMR officer has to haul a fishermen in for not having a sticker on his punt.

State of Maine Appropriations has apparently reported out a budget bill that will charge a 10 buck fee for non motorized craft as well as establish a wilderness visitor access card. I have not yet been able to find details out, whether it is a boat owner or boat based fee, or whether this will apply to our friends from out of state. The purpose is to help fund the warden service on the lakes and coast, the folks that go look for you. Right now most of this budget is coming from hunting, fishing and snowmobiles. So stay tuned. There may be a tax collector at the toll booth on the Maine Turnpike, looking for canoes and kayaks.

In looking at some of the materials and bio, it shows someone with lots of land experience and a serious river running background. Done this one before some times successfully. But these skills do not necessarily translate to big water when the weather kicks up. This is why we ( now speaking as a Maine Guide) try to make sure that guided groups up here have a Guide, much to the displeasure of some of the n-f-p church groups, educational groups, scout groups. Some of the best group management and safety that I have seen is evidenced in clubs like NSPN and ConnYak.

Hunt up a paddling erg. Cost about the same as a plastic boat if you want to buy one.

Never said infallible just had certain standards presented to them somewhat forcefully. The same for any profession. Whether or not you live up to standards or circumstances are beyond your control is what accident investigations probe.

What is even scarier is the apparent experience of the trip leader. http://www.onkayaks.squarespace.com/journal/ If this gets to the point that they look for professional guides from this part of the world to comment things will not look good. The be all and end all of professional guiding is know where your clients are all the time and for those of you who have gone to the trouble of getting licensed you know that lost paddler, weather and navigation are the corner stones. This is exactly the reason that no one who is not licensed in State of Maine is allowed to take a commercial trip out. There are camps and other 'educational' groups that try work arounds. This would be a potential result.

Those aren't old wooden lifeboats, those are mostly 6 oared Cornish gigs, most of them built in the last five years. They are fast. If you are racing find one to draft. Conditions can be entertaining. There are times I have come in with PFD fully iced up. NW breeze and crossing the Hull Gut current. Have fun.... Ben Fuller, Cushing Me

Most entertaining and paddler relevant Beaufort definitions are the ones that Derek Hutchinson wrote. Some loose quotes 0 ....long trips by coracle possible 1..... Very Easy ....take the open Canandian 2 .... Easy.... take the open Canadian back in ( Derek has never been on a big Maine lake when the breeze kicks in and you have miles to go ) 3 ..... Fairly easy....flag flutters straight out 4 ..... Moderate....proficency standard head for shore unless wind onshore 5 ..... Moderately difficult.... Hard work into wind for inexperienced, proficiency standard in sheltered water near shore. (this is where you will see planing sailboats flying along sometimes capsizing, and cruising sailboats rail down and maybe a reef or smaller jib) 6 ..... Difficult....Rescues will be difficult. Small craft warnings. Proficiency man in trouble (Lots of capsizes on the race course, most committees will not start small sailboat races. Larger boats reefed.) 7...... Very difficult....Must be strong and experienced, kayaks hard to turn, difficult to make headway, wind catches at paddle blade, communications very difficult {This is also when the kayak gets blown off the rack when you are trying to tie it on. The wind paddle grab is real indicative.} 8 ..... Dangerous....Experienced man may handle in sheltered water, open sea paddlers at limit, fight all the time, each paddler look out for himself, rescues impractical 9 ...... Extremely dangerous....fight for survival..... try a prayer, I find these work. He also notes that winds of almost hurricane force can be doped with if the waters are sheltered. I can vouch for that having set off as an experiment when Hurricane Bob hit; I was in Kickemuit River. To my surprise I was able to paddle upwind. Turning I did not brace as hard as was needed and was blown over. I did not think about this and managed to get blown over a number of times trying to roll up into it. Bailed and swam boat downwind 100 yds into the beach.

If it is a straight fillet bond without cloth wrapped around it, some heat from a heat gun may help. Works great on fastenings that have been embedded in epoxy. There a big soldering iron applied to the tip is the item of choice. Brian is talking about the tooth attachment to the Fein tool. It's one of the handiest things around for flush cutting. The teeth are soft so don't push too hard. You can touch the teeth up with a file and vice for a long time. There is also a tool that looks like a putty knife. Heat that blade up and you can go through fillets fast.

Found the same thing with assisted entries, in on your back, between the boats. Its handy to have it around with new guide types who are used to similar equiment. Makes them open their eyes. But the hassle factor is enough so that I don't usually teach out of the Nordkapp. Mine as an SS probably is a little lower in the back than the H series.

Ocean cockpits have the additional advantage of making dealing with chart cases easy. A nice hard surface right in front of your instead of having to lean way forward or rig your chart case to flop over your spray skirt. About the only thing that is a little tight ( and my boat is an old Nordkapp SS ( low volume ) is sticking your feet in when you are face down on a paddle float or T rescue and then rolling into place.

Postman brought my copy of Eastern Arctic Kayaks, by John Heath and others. Just out from the University of Alaska press. For those that need some how to's Greg Stammers piece on GP use is worth the price of admission alone. Lots of drawings of boats, sequential shots of rolls, history of boats. Heath, Arima, Golden are some of the other authors. Its not a fancy this is how you do x book in glossy color that is dated in a year or two. This is one that you'll keep and look at long in future.