wilsoj2

I carry both of these: A cag from Campmor: http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/s...mberId=12500226 And an OverSea Jacket from NRS: http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.asp?pfi...584&deptid=1143 The jacket is easier to pull on at sea. I find pulling something over my head while at sea in wind is not the easiest thing to safely accomplish.

I wore my MEC union suit under my dry suit last night during skills practice. I noted that the top (uppermost)zipper pull is encaesed in plastic and the lower two are rounded.

Definitely wicking layer closest to skin. Then I like wearing a union suit. My favorite is from MEC and is PolarStretch with triple zipper. I also have one from NRS. As things get colder, I wear a layer over the union suit - this layer varies according to how cold things are. My dry suit has booties and I wear an array of socks according to temp. Mostly Power Stretch fleece and Smartwool. A dry suit it self offers little warmth. As far as Kokatats's recommendation, as I recall thier own dry suit underlayer (which is a union suit) has a zipper.

>Interesting question....I often wonder for trips around >here.. at what level trip is the ability to roll required ? > Most outings I've been on a wet exit is required. Most paddlers I paddle with have a roll. The ww 'roll or die' dictum is rarely enforced in my expereince for sea kayakers. Besides being able to demonstrate a roll may have little relationship to actually rolling in conditions. > >So what's that all about?? A formal but, non enforceable >(by gov't) rating system ?? >thanks ..spdr The BCU system links skills. Each star level notes that a paddler at said level should be able to safely... e.g paddle as part of a group on flat water, paddle as part of a group in lumpy water, lead a group in conditions, etc... It is an elective system and only in force by the choice of outfitters, coaches, leaders or groups. I have often seen outings or classes list prerequisite of a certain BCU star cert or equivalent.

The BCU mode is; training - practice - assessment as a continuum. Often an oval illustration is used. If one is thinking of the Star system then it could be a spiral upwardly repeateding 'training, practice, assessment.' Sometimes 2* & 3* training is combined over a period of days. Many start at 3* for assessment. This has been, in part, because paddlers often were not aware of the BCU system until after they had an amount of training. There does seem to be a trend to 2* training and assessment in order to catch and train paddlers earlier in their development.

Congratulations! The more Starred and safe paddlers the better!

John Carmody gave me the same advice during the Sunday rock gardening session at the Downeast Symposium. I've tried to remember to employ it ever since. John basically said to leave ones legs on the bottom of the boat except when needed. It lowers the center of gravity and is much less fatiquing. I consciously followed this advice during my paddle around South Monomy on Saturday and it really made a difference by the end of the day.

It was good to run into you. David mentioned there was an NSPN group doing North Monomy. We didn't decide until Friday night where we were paddling Saturday. It was a perfect day for a paddle. Some shots of our meeting and the seals here: http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2721685130048488250NJkYIG

McNett Zip Care is good http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail....D=1159362500801 Zip Tech http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.asp?pfi...=1083&src=champ EMS usually has McNett Zip Wax which is what I have been using most recently: http://www.mcnett.com/page.cfm?pageID=541

I have a Super Nova as my back-up suit. It serves me well as such or when I want something lighter than my Expedition dry suit. The Super Nova is a SEMI-dry suit. This means that it is a damp to wet suit if you roll, side scull, wetback brace, or otherwise end up with your neck and/or head in the water. As a primary suit, I think it is best to go with a Gore-Tex true dry suit. BTW: I'm one of the people to whom Kokatat supplied a new dry suit because they felt the Gore-Tex was delaminating on the suit I sent in for gasket repalcement.

I have the Kokatat Expedition dry suit and am very happy with it. It has all the bells and whistles. I haven't used the hood, but find all the other features useful. http://www.kokatat.com/product_detail.asp?code=exp

Congrats on the new boat. Enjoy it and paddle it well. I think that the less wetted surface the less drag off the line. My Elaho DS and Romany are really quick from a dead stop but hit the wall much sooner than my Aquanaut. Under 4 knots wetted surface is the dominant factor above 4 knots waterline trumps wetted surface.

Did they have nice enough boats to acquire should they swim ;-) I'm in a dry suit for any water temps below 60F. Look at the photos from the Downeast Symposium. Dry suits predominate.

I had the knife to which you link. I was very happy with it and the sheath is still firmly attached to my pfd. Unfortunately the knife itself went missing during the Canoe Safety Test a week ago Saturday and is now on the bottom of Great Long Pond MDI. I now have Sea Snips.

>I had a similar experience. I took Tom Bergh's demo Aquanaut >out with NSPN leader training doing rescues and such on a >flattish day, and was thinking -- nice boat, but nothing >special. Then, on the way back, we ran into a choppy patch >and bingo -- the Aquanaut actually felt ~more~ stable in the >chop than on the flat water. Amazing -- it just seemed to >lock in. I understand that the Explorer and a few others >give a similar phenomenon. Actually my final demo of the 'naut was circumnavigating Peaks with conditions on the seaward side such that Steve Maynard brought his paddlers in and he greeted us when we arrived back at the boathouse with "Interesting seas!" We all know what Steve means by 'interesting.' I'm still working on building the confidence of dealing with the condtions of that day by choice ;-) What I mean to say is that the Aquanaut is nothing special in flat water except a kind of sexy boat with decent speed and moderate primary stability. However, in my experience it has unsurpassed manners (equanimity) when the seas get rough. Like David, I am a heretic and will assert that for my paddling, I think the Aquanaut is better behaved in conditions than the Explorer - I assume I don't loose any of my BCU certs for that statement ;-) >Or put another way... if you aren't capsizing occasionally, >you aren't pushing your limits and you aren't ever going to >get better. > >So... sploosh! > >--David. Again yup!

Yup. Someone once put it as "Smiles per mile." I can give hosts of reasons why after demoeing about two dozen boats I chose an Aquanaut as my primary boat. Honestly, the real reason was it put such a smile on my face the first time I paddled a 'naut out from MIKCo into the chop of Casco Bay. It did help that both June and my wife said that I looked so comfortable and at ease in the boat that it genuinely seemed that it was my boat. Tom, of course, wouldn't even entertain selling me an Aquanaut until I had demoed even more boats and taken the 'naut into real conditions. As long as the boat is capable, the rest is personal. Any of us not in Explorers at the Downeast, or any other BCU related symposium, were/are in the minority. Yet, I heard no one say that someones Nordkapp, Legend, Anas, Avocet, Mariner, Greenlander Pro, Aquanaut, Montauk, Force IV, etc... boats were not capable or inproper boats. Someone deciding among capable boats that can do what the paddler wishes (e.g carry enough gear, not get blown about too much, not be unpredictable in conditions, etc...) should decide on the boat that feels best when the paddler is in it in the conditions the paddler will encounter.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a known Aquanaut advocate ;-) I demoed a Force IV at the symposium and was very impressed with the boat. At 6' & 170 lbs it fit me very well.(I understand the hulls of the IV & V are the same) It seemed faster than my Aquanaut, though took more of a finish to roll (probably highly subjective take on that). It did seem to weigh a LOT less than my ProLite Aquanaut. The Aquanaut feels more fluid through its stability curve than the Force did - this may be the same as your description of creamy. I've heard some very good things from folks who've paddled the Force boats in real seas. Don't base your experience of Aquanaut secondary on David's (if you mean David Lewis). His Aquanaut's seat in at least an inch higher than mine or any other I've seen. I find the Aquanaut has extraordinarily solid secondary. I did all my 3* training and assessed successfully in my Aquanaut - though if I were to do it again I'd use my Romany ;-) I think the 'naut shines in chop and challanging seas. No one I've spoken to has not been impressed with the boat's manners when the sea gets lumpy. I found last Sunday that it surfs pretty well as well. In some ways I like the way it surfs better than my Romany. It does take more to turn than an Explorer, but not more than a Force boat. If the fit of the 'naut is more comfortable, it might be the better boat for you. I find the cockpit a bit broad and have changed out the Valley backband with a Bomber which I have set so I'm about an inch forward in the seat - I'm getting better thigh contact. There are usually a few used Aquanauts around. It shouldn't be difficult to find one at a good price.

For me Sunday's rock gardening (Steve referred to it as 'rocks and ledges')was a salient moment of the Symposium. We had a great crew of paddlers and two of the finest coaches to be found. It was grand!

>You are welcome to use my White's. I will NOT be taking it >to the symposium. If it's THAT cold up there, the whole >event is in trouble! :^D >I'll throw it in my car so it'll be in Gloucester if you >need it. > >Rob Dry suits were part of the initial discussion in planning the symposium. The consensus was that most interested paddlers either have or could borrow/rent a dry suit for the event ;-)

There are four that I know of going from the Albany, NY area. I have at least two other friends going (one from NH and one from MA.) I doing Traditional (Greenland) am and pm on Friday, Canoe Safety Test on Saturday, Navigation I on Sunday, and Tides & Currents on Monday. In case someone has not yet heard: In addition to the previously announced coaches, Tom Bergh will be present.

I was hoping for some visual tag that would be the symbol(s) for levels. Oh well. As discussed on Wet Planet, the current ACA levels seem much closer to BCU than in the past.

What's the ACA equivalent of stars?

Do you mean you want a boat for modest touring or you want a touring boat that does not weigh a lot? The NDK Explorer is often considered the best all round expedition lenght touring boat. It is confidence inspiring and capable of handling anything. However unless you get an Elite layup Explorer it isn't going to be light (in case you meant a boat that isn't heavy) and no one I know recommends the Elite layup (even though my Romany is an Elite layup and I love that it weighs so little, I use my Aquanaut for the rocks of Maine) There are a good number of great 17'+ boats available. Demo a range of them (especially Valley boats) before you decide. IMHO, Cape Horns are not the same class of boats as an Explorer.

This winter we sent our dry suits into Kokatat for gasket replacement and examination and they replaced my suit with a new one for the cost of the gasket replacement - they said the Gore-Tex was starting to de-laminate in a location (it was still keeping me dry). That being said, Celia's neck gasket blew while we were in Maine last summer - within a year of getting the suit. My gaskets were clearly approaching failure after one year of use. We have had very good response from Kokatat. Telephone seems to be their preferred communications medium.

Last year we were in dry suits just about into mid July in Maine. Any water below 60 degrees is much safer in a dry suit. A good breathable dry suit with booties and relief zipper can become your most favored gear. We have one 5* trained friend who says he loves his drysuit more than his Explorer ;-)