Pintail

John, I have not yet found a dive shop that sells silicone grease in the quantities that I have in mind (I'm not talking about tiny pots of the grease with enough in the container to lube two or three air-tank gaskets). I mean those big tubs of the stuff that Sing has found online at bulk prices! Hence my reference to the twins. This is somewhere in the archives...

I don't know what you are complaining about, Ed; I LOVE ice-cream! In a perfect world, I might live on it and little else... What <are> you talking about? Headaches from ice-cream? Most weird... Actually, of course I know what it is you refer to and it has been covered here before: apparently the thing to do is to cover your mug with silicone jelly/cream; but I cannot remember where to buy same in adequate quantity. Those surfing twins know the answer, though. As long as your roll is half-decent (which I know it is), I cannot think of any reason why a sane person might subject themself to such seasonal torture! Isn't it something like riding the proverbial bicycle? Happy New Year, mate, to you and your partner-in-crime! Oops: I don't <know> the answer to your original question, obviously! Ha ha...

Oh, Beckers: I'm sure we can arrange to make your round aft hatch look oval-shaped! It might involve some crashing into each other in heavy surf...remind me to load <my> boat as much as possible beforehand! Tootle-OO, pip pip!

I really <like> the neo-Leonardo job; but there is <one> thing wrong about it -- that is a crappy specimen of a paddle (I feel certain that the boat depicted is probably an NDK Explorer -- I wonder who paddles one of those?). The paddle, however, is non-feathered, which is unusual, these days, and the blades are tiny and cheap-looking. Could we fix that? Come to think of it, neither am I sure about the character's facial expression? Regarding the newer picture of that all-yellow kayak: I like it because it's obviously me -- disguised as Himself, Mr. President...(ah, president of our club, that is!) Greetings to everyone at this holiday time of year!

and I have his telephone number, if you want it, Stoehrer-san!

Of course the boat in the Top Gear programme was a proper white-water kayak (I saw it on tv and thought it a fun contest); but surely this world does not need yet <more> motorised toys? Oy... For my part, there is no way I shall ever call one of those ugly contraptions a "kayak"; but then I am a snob where aesthetics are concerned -- as one of my mentors used to sign his emails: "Life's too short to own an ugly boat!"

You'll just have to wait and see, won't you now? Ha ha!

If there were a prize for the person with the greatest focus of mental powers with regard to common DIRT, we know who would win it, don't we?

Joe, thanks for the fast package! Delighted am I...

I have three Valley boats; but have never encountered this problem...

The best bit is right at the end, where Nick is surfing downwind in those lovely, big, meaty waves! As for the rescue -- the waves weren't so big, were they, Suz? (It seemed to me that it took a long time for the rescuee to get his act together again, once back in the boat -- remember that any rescue in cold water must be accomplished as fast as possible)

Quite right, Beckers! Of course this Brit is not knighted, although I have known one or two genuine knights in my time (one had been the Minister of Health before Uganda was granted independence, so he and his wife were correctly addressed as Sir John and Lady Croot -- which gave rise to some amusing moments on the telephone, when the servant used to answer the 'phone: was Mohammed actually saying "Sir John Croot's home" or was it "Surgeon Croot's home"?). I don't know where it came from or why it stuck -- same thing happened on the motorcycle list to which I used to be subscribed. Even B used to call me Sir Christopher sometimes, I seem to recall...where are you, B? You may come in from the cold now...

OK, OK, OK -- I'm still here and breathing a little more easily after the move to Fishtown. So, even I am fallible (occasionally) and acknowledge that I should have used "grammarian" (thanks, Ernie); but Ed is also correct: grammatist might have sufficed. If anyone thinks, just because we are concerned primarily with sea-kayaking here, that spelling and English usage are unimportant, then I believe such a person to be woefully misguided (yes) and part of the cause for the sad and general decline in present-day standards. Our language is a razor-sharp tool with the potential for high accuracy -- don't forget that! The founder of this website never took me to task for such tongue-in-cheek comments, so why now, all these years later? I care very much about language and shall not desist. Sooz-annie, I cannot attend tomorrow, due to work, or I should have liked to have been present -- to contribute my little bit! See you all later!

Oh, give me strength, great grammartist in the sky -- what I have daily to suffer at the hands of these outlandish types who torture my language... Suzanne, dearest: the word is "populace" (populas!) Deb: (elsewhere) "...confusion as to whom may assess whom..."? Huh? I believe you meant "...WHO may assess whom..." One is nominative and the other is accusative, dear! (Congratulations on your award -- goes without saying)

Whilst I understand how irritating a sinus infection can be, why do people show such apparent surprise at how ocean water does <not> cause irritation? <Of course> salt water cannot cause long-term effects: we COME from the ocean, after all! Your body cavity requires washing out? Pass the saline... Your electrolytes need replenishment? Pass the saline... Your doctor suggests you irrigate your sinuses? Dissolve that Morton's table-salt in tapwater... Excuse the semi-scorn: I'm simply surprised that you all make such a mountain out of a mole-hill. I <live> to be upside-down in the ocean! (I didn't say "the winter ocean", mind...) Written with a smile on me gob, Your friend, CDWG

Ed, With all due respect to the Professor, surely those weren't mares' tails (notice where the apostrophe goes -- plural) last evening? Cirrostratus, more like -- in the most beautiful striations, I concur. Mares' tails look really feathery -- of which there was no evidence when I left work. While I am certainly not a meteorologist or a teacher, I <have> spent what seems like half my life in the sky (sometimes avoiding some real cr*p...) By the way, you got it quite right: of course the speed at which the components of the front pass by, or their apparent compression, indicate the steepness/gradient of the millibars, etc, etc. I loved the Columbus story, John!

By the way, if anyone should be lucky enough to find a Kokatat drysuit on sale and it has no bootees, then do not let that fact put you off: Kokatat are always ready and willing to attache said bootees for a very modest sum. My first drysuit (yes: I found it on sale) had neither bootees nor relief zipper: the manufacturers were fast and efficient and they are most friendly folks with whom to deal.

And an <ayah> is actually a child's nanny -- in one of the Indian languages (Hindi?) The word is certainly used in East Africa, as are many other Indian words (chai, dhobi, wallah, fundi, etc...)

Regarding <drysuits>, (sorry: we're going off-topic here), I believe a gentle ironing with a warm iron may help...

Beckers, This is hardly surprising -- in the tropics, amoebic dysentery is quite common and is potentially very debilitating. Similarly, in that case, the amoeba may burrow through the intestine walls to find a home in the peritoneum, liver, heart, etc...enough said! Tootle-OO!

I do not think you are going to get much in the way of response here, because I cannot think of many other Nordkapps around -- except mine! So I shall answer your queries as best I am able. (Note: Whilst writing this I see someone else has responded -- I do not agree regarding "demanding to paddle empty"). First: I <love> the boat: mine is the Jubilee model (2000), with standard hull (as opposed to the "modified" one, which had/has an extended, built-in skeg aft, so that the hull looks squared-off). When I first tried one, a couple of years ago in a pool, I instantly took a dislike to it (perhaps because of the low primary stability -- as I perceived it to be at the time). By the way: check the year of manufacture from the final two digits in the boat's serial number, engraved on the stern. So, give it a while and it becomes an enormously capable boat. You will find it very secure in rough water (not that I have had very much of that yet; but enough that I have total confidence in it) and it has excellent secondary stability. The front hatch on all Nordkapps until very recently has been the small Valley one (8"? -- same as the day-hatch) -- inconvenient, perhaps; but a drawback? Hardly... The bulkheads are of the concave/convex type, allowing for more flex than the regular, flat ones. My Pintail always gets gelcoat cracks under the bulkheads. The Nordkapp is not a Pintail, however, and does not spin on the proverbial dime; but it is quite playful. It surfs rather well and paddling downwind is grand! I hardly use the skeg -- I prefer to counteract a beam wind by edging. The boat paddles/handles absolutely fine empty -- I weigh about 150lb -- and of course it will excel as an expedition boat, for which it was designed, as you correctly point out. Regarding manoeverability, I consider it very easy to turn and draw and love to play among the rocks with it. It responds well to deep edging and firm handling (that means <you>). It is also a fast boat and I find I prefer the Nordkapp, overall, to my Explorer (now gone to another home). Lastly, I think it to have the loveliest lines of any kayak I can think of -- save for the aforementioned Pintail (and, perhaps, too, the Anas Acuta -- that remark to keep Paula and Bill quiet!) Does that answer your question adequately? I hope so.

I shall call you later today: might really like to join you! Haven't the foggiest idea about wx. forecast. Hey, I hear that you got married! Congratulations, Beckers!

I do not know what is on their respective itineraries for the winter; but you might investigate both Maine Island Kayaks (who have often run Baja trips in the past) and Steve Maynard, who has started to do same...

OMG, do I ever remember <that> day. It was rather windy, though, wasn't it? John's boat did go its own sweet, dramatic way: ouch! No, his old Pintail is now in the (comparatively) safe custodianship of Mr. Crangle, where it is likely to be (slightly) less abused, I believe! That one is yellow-over-white, whereas mine is all-yellow and I got it from Joel, seemingly many years ago. Yes, I still have the Necky Rip -- why? I hope you don't want it back? I shall email you shortly, Chief!

EEL, thanks for the figures, which look to be roughly on the mark. I suspect that what I actually experienced was perhaps even as much as gusts of 25kt (having spent plenty of time hanging around on airfields in my former life!) Passing Pebble beach, Long beach and Good Harbor I was laying off about 15 degrees to make good my intended track and then started to paddle further to my right in order to make for the landmass and its (welcome) lee. I can imagine that there might be some increase in local velocity due to the airflow rising and then descending over the cape (Mr. Bernoulli, venturi, wings, etc.) Professor John, I have a cute little Kestrel windguage!