spider

it might be me but I just get a "cannot display" when I try to see the other videos...a couple of still shots show ok but not the others....?

Perhaps we are a bit tame with what we can do with the kayaks. Here's one fellow who certainly "pushes the envelope" I would say he comes from a ww background (sorry about the "head banging" music you can turn it down or off) here goes with the link hope you enjoy

Seems I was just reading something to that effect, but can't quite remember if it was the racing boat style boats or the surf ski. Either way it was a case where the wind blew them over and and one fellow was able to get back onto his boat.. the other not so fortunate and was found floating face down in the water. I think he had a dry suit, pfd etc..I'll have to search around for the article....

Yes, I was pretty bumed to learn of the motorized kayaks a while back . Sad to see it was a kayaker who came up with it. Just another jet ski...more motorized stuff to be dodging when your on the water.

How much time do people usually set aside for going around Plum Island ? I'm thinking somewhere between 6-8 hrs. I have the estuary side (west) pretty well figured out. At some time the tide divides and is partly with you then against you wether it is flooding or ebbing. (and of cousre don't want to be running out of water.) But on the open ocean side (east) are there also currents that work for or against you depending on the tide ? If so do you get more of a ride from an ebb or a flood tide on that side or is it meaningless ? thanks spdr

Yes, it was the flip side of the coin I was thinking about. I know that there were festivals and celebrations as in most cultures. I'll keep an eye out for that book. Sounds Good . I usually read anything I can get my hands on about life for them before and after contact with outsiders. Jon Waterman's book "Artic Crossing" is in many ways somber look of what has happened to the Inuit after years of exposure to white people. (and of course Farley Mowat as well) I think he keeps the perspective that is observations can still only be filtered though his views of being an outsider.. but he does try his best. I think one thing to mention as this thread drifts is the Inuit are living the life for real...the others were just out there playing games.

Geez, I would say that fellow was not the "life of the party" that's for sure. I don't know if the whole culture was based on that..or he was the guy who never got invited to anything...

Some may already have surmised that I have a one boat with a skeg and one with a rudder. (ok I do have a few others). I know that certain eddies change in relation to the tide etc and water bubbles, boils, rips and.... well etc.... etc... I use the skeg as the mood strikes me, but when I know there is going to be some definite stuff ahead I can never seem to make up my mind which method would be of the greatest help or hinderence. The boat with the rudder is usually used by friends and I'll have them drop it down when we going through any"funny" stuff. The other day I started wondering if I was giving them good or bad advice. I suppose it's 6 of one and 1/2 dozen of the other...

I've been wondering ...when going through "squirrely water" like eddies and rips etc. Is it better to have the skegs or rudders up or down ?? I've mostly been thinking ...deploy them and keep them down.. but... on the same hand are you more apt to have them "trip you up" in the current ?? Thinking of ww kayaks , for example, they are always in and out of eddies and are smooth bottomed. Thoughts on the subject ??

I also have read about that before in relation to climbing and what not. Also there is a belief that we are all born with varing levels of a "Fear Gene" or lack thereof.. What would make one person afraid of heights yet the next peson would go bungee jumping for example. Why some people would recognize the danger in paddling something and the next person says what danger? I think the old way of saying it was "not being able to see beyound the end of their nose."

I think he summed it up in the interview saying " we were carried away by our own testosterone" (I have know idea if what there ethnic backgrounds might be... nor am I interested)

I couldn't quite get that link to work...

Ok, I'm curious are you talking long boats or short boats ? I came across a web site : nesurfkayakers.com Looked interesting, various types of boats etc. also read with interest one of the threads there on surfng etiquette...primarily the interaction between surfers and kayak surfers. Do you have to deal with any of that or is it a more remote location ?

Good ideas Blue Water is beyond my abilties but the Google Earth was fun, plus able to view it from above or on the flat.. and flat it is out there. thanks

Ah, now that you have done it I thought I would ask if you have any pointers about the Parker River area where it comes out into the sound. Are there a couple of "islands" there that get submerged as the tide fills in ?

Well I expect to be a bit like a mouse in a maze on this trip. Anyone been in there poking around ? (That would be near the section of Parker River called the "thorofare ") I have found that the main problem in through the backwaters is that you lose your field of vision... as the tide goes out.. till you just see the sides of the creeks. I'll be doing an overnight in there but hopefully not sitting in the yak in the mud. Any words of wisdom like always keep watch for buoy # 30 then turn left after the 3rd egret etc.

Thanks I remember when I first got a good skirt a few years ago I thought they were literaly water proof. Now a few years later it does seem to wet through even faster. It doesn't much matter for a afternoon or day trip...but after several days I started to wonder. I wonder the same about gore-tex skirts. Gore-tex has a reputation of losing it's water repellency (at least in the hiking world). I would think the skirt would do the same. Is that also true of the drysuts? Good for a couple of years then they start to wet out ??

Hope you have nice conditons for Castle Neck. I did it yesterday. Very pretty esp. around Hog/Choate Island. "Picture Perfect " views.

Any Good ?

[ "Every time I roll I am welcomed by the trickle of water down the spray skirt tunnel. Another factor is that when you lean you may be pulling the skirt up from the combing on one side allowing water to enter. These and perhaps other factors are those that no waterproofing is going to completely solve. I also think you may prefer the small amount of water that accumulates to the heat of a waterproof skirt." Yes, I found myself wearing my lightest hiking clothes beneath my skirt..umm I don't know if that sounds right. Semi dry top or windshirt and I was comfortable all day. Semi dry bottom or wet suit shorts and felt I would have been drier wearing "Depends for seniors". WW kayaking or SOT's I expect to get wet, but not for flat water touring. I watched and most all the water came off the paddles. Even if they dripped on just a small portion of the skirt it would wick it along and eventually the whole skirt would wet out. Thought on the warm days the skirt would dry as fast as it got wet but not so. Dy suits cost a fortune and would have been way over kill on such lovely days. I thought of Scotch Guard. Are there Gortex spray skirts out there ? Are they any good ??

Ok, I checked it out to see what all the talk was about. Fine looking fellow. Wish I looked so good doing half as much. Had the guy paddling his brains out by just dragging the little dot thing back and forth at whatever speed you want. He didn't even work up a sweat ! Not the end all of end alls but nice stuff to go along with all the other info out there in video/ computer land. dare I say it was fun...

Is there any waterproofing wash in or spray on for neoprene ? I just came back from a week long kayak trip and on about the 3rd day I said to myself: "I've been on week long canoe trips and I don't remember feeling like I'm always sitting in a puddle on a perfectly beautiful, dry day" What up with that? So I took my one and only large size trash bag..ripped a hole in the bottom fed the front of my sprayskirt with the grab loop through it and was once again a happy dry camper. Talk about low tech solutions...no one to see it anyways except an occassional wayward moose or two. but whats a better way to go? After all we pay a pretty penny for those sprayskirts...

nice updates ..what a huge resource of info !!

Thanks for the different responses It wasn't till I was at the doctors office for an undiagnosed problem did I start to wonder if the two issues might be related. Asked for a symptom I said it "feels like you when you get a bunch of water up your nose" and for how long "oh about a month". After I left the office I started thinking...you know about a month ago I was doing some rolls and.. I'll follow it through with a trip to an ear, nose, throat specialist, but it's good to know that others have had various issues over the years.

Hi ..anybody ever have any sinus problems from rolling ? Forget their nose plugs and have a problem ? I've done my fair share of rolls but am wondering if some people get an occasional problem ?...Kind of like people getting "swimmer's ear" problems ...?