Phil Allen

Power boat, night, skipper had "had a few", but no, not a lobster boat.

Sea Kayaker (mag.) story this month from one on a LAKE in Maine from a few years ago. But stats I dont got

Is it time for more traffic cone orange boats?? or would that really make us speed bumps? Phil

Joe seems to have gotten what he needs, but for others looking I'll recommend a pyramid type tarp shelter such as a black diamond megamid, Mountain hardware Kiva, Sierra designs origami and golite hex. While more constrained in setup options than a flat tarp, all they require is a central pole (paddle) and anchoring, and they're really quite bombproof. I know many folks who have waited out blizzards in them quite comfortably during winter skiing trips, so a small gale shouldn't be a problem. Phil

Hi all, I was looking over my kayaking history, and realize that while I've been out in some "fun" conditions, I taken little formal training or coaching to deal with them. I guess I'm looking for some recommendations on training with good coaches/instructors this summer that would be appropriate training for ACA/old BCU level 4 prep. And if anybody can recommend good safe places to practice in said conditions, that too would be appreciated. Thanks Phil

Careful, there's a reason they call them divorce boats Phil

timing dependent, I'm interested. Phil

Google is your friend (and a great distraction when I'm supposed to be writing a proposal). There is a watercraft safety bill working its way through the legislature in the State of Maine. Proponents summarize it as gradually requiring a once in a lifetime boater safety edu. course. Full text can be found here : http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bill...ts/LD206701.asp A quick scan didn't turn up anything kayakcentric. Phil

There is a story in this months Sea Kayaker about a powerboat kayak collision. But it was at night, on a lake and the powerboat was going ~50mph by their own admission. Amazingly, no one was injured though the kayak was trashed. Not sure that a flag would have helped. Thinking about it, if kayakers were made to have a flag 4' off the deck, what would that make us look more, or less, like a mooring buoy or lobster pot???? Phil

WFA-h20 was a great learning experience. I haven't done FA since boy scouts, so I was long overdue for a refresher and Todd and Ryan knew their stuff and were able to convey much of the "why we do this" in a reasonable and understandable manner. I'm definitely looking to do some incident management work this summer, so Les, if you organize it, I'll come (scheduling dependent of course). Phil

One feature to mention (though I dont have one of these yet, I've been window shopping) is that the Valley lists zips that provide access to the PFD. The others dont list access to the PFD. Since that's where us yakkers are / should be keeping the majority of our safety gear, this could be considered a strong selling point. Phil

Hi Alan- Generally called a "seal suit" or a "storm cag". Vendors/manufacturers I know of are kokatat (waterproof/breathable tropos), Expedition Essentials (windproof/water resistant parachute cloth) and Valley (treated cordua, I think). If you're near New England Small Craft, they had the Kokatat on the rack a few weekends ago. Phil

Oxidation. To be fair to the un-named manufacturer, it got left in Osprey's van during NSPN/ACA l2 trip leader training and took a circuitous route back to me last summer. By that point I barely managed to rehab it, but the oxidation caught up over the winter. Phil

Hi All, I need to replace the carabiner(s) on my tow rig. Anybody have a good variant they want to recommend? Thanks. Phil

Gene has the details right. Kevlar is amazingly tough, but rather flexible. That's one reason it works in things like flak jackets. Carbon fiber is also extremely strong for its weight and rather stiff. So many current light weight lay-ups use carbon reinforced kevlar or carbon reinforced glass to get the best mix of strength to weight. The only downside if I remember my chemistry is that the epoxies used for carbon and kevlar are different, and more difficult to work with, than those used for fiberglass. So doing repairs at home is more challenging. I'm sure others can clarify that last point. Phil

Rob- not sure you got the URL right. No .html and spaces in the name? Phil

L- Thanks. What's her Login name? P

Hi All, Yes, I am aware of straps that could/would/should keep normal glasses on my head. I do like the chums more than croakies for their adjustability, but have almost lost glasses using both (they were kept in place by the helmet). I'm more interested in some of the variants like Deb's recSpecs as they should provide better coverage, wind protection and might be more abuse tolerant than trad. glasses. Not sure if I will run them as bifocals both as a cost cutting measure and because my near vision is 20:15 (its the near-far transitions that are getting painful). Phil

Hi All- Well its time for me to get new sunglasses (prescription) for the first time in several years, so given that I'm on the water alot I thought I'd ask everyone what they like. I've been eyeing some of the newer variants that have integrated straps (like seaspecs )but haven't had any experience with them. Anybody know how well they work for day to day stuff? Any and all advice appreciated. Phil

Joe- I assume by "a stop" below, you mean ~2 fold difference in light intensity? Phil

also, I just discovered "EarthNC". They sell digital charts for google earth, but also have a limited online KMZ layer for coastal navigation (registration required). So if you want to set your GPS to the red nun off of Little Calf Island in the outer boston harbor, its there. I've only just begun to play with it, so more later. Phil (ps. no affiliation with EarthNC)

Google earth will give you lat lon in DMS, digital degrees, degrees digital minute and universal mercator. Can be set under the preferences, as Rick mentioned. One of those should be directly compatible with your GPS. Or if your computer handy, there are ways to get back and forth communication between google earth and some GPS units. Phil

Gene- Any idea of the water temps? Phil

Blaine- Since someone else suggested Charles River, I'll add that they're the company that does the season pass. Also, if you can hold out till mid summer, when MA has done its tax free sale day the last two years, they've sold their boats for <$2500 (the tax free limit). That can be a great deal on a high end boat. (Though no promises that they'll do it this year). Phil

Blaine- Everyone's given you great advice. I'm not sure where you're located, but my wife and I took advantage of a local oufitters "season pass" program for a year or two before we bought our boats. With the pass you could take out any of the boats they had for demo's on the river, and I believe the current incarnation allows for up to two weeks off-site use. Continued use of individual models over several days definitely influenced our final decisions, and we ended up with boats that were much more playful than those we were initially interested in. I don't want to advertise for them on the general discussion site, so PM me if you want more info. Phil