FrankR

Thanks very much for the feedback. Leon, with all respect, the speed issue seems like a red herring to me - I suspect one would need to have a sustained power stroke to make a real difference. I also suspect that issues like boat weight, shape and material are also important. If I recall, there's a very distinctive wave form that you can see at hull speed - and I don't remember seeing that on a kayak very often. (What might be interesting would be some sort of real world test - for example, get 3 or 4 paddlers, each in a different size boat and have them race each other a fixed distance - then repeat several times until each paddler gets a different boat - see if one boat consistently outpaced the others, regardless of paddler. Then of course, you'd have to repeat on different days in different conditions...) Boat handling in rough water is certainly something to consider. Ty and Chuck - very much appreciate your long detailed feedback. I guess the bottom line is that it looks like a boat I can afford now (cost is a significant issue) and while not perfect, should be good to get me back on the water. If it doesn't work out, I can always sell it and try something else - its just another step on the journey. The only remaining issue is the durability of 6 year old thermo-form plastic (CarbonLite). I saw the boat and it looks pretty solid (and I think it fits me) - but tomorrow I'll call Eddyline and see if they have any sort of expected lifetime for the stuff.

Anyone have any experience/thoughts on the Merlin XT? - discontinued by Eddyline in 2007. I've been looking for a used inexpensive yak for a while and found this on CL for $600. I'm big - 5"10, 41" waist, 235#, size 12 feet and not too flexible, so I'm looking for a 'big guy's' boat. My ability is a step beyond novice - I had a WS Tsunami 145 a few years ago that I sold cause it felt somewhat pokey. I'm not looking to go camping or high performance - just near shore day trips. Also would like to learn to roll one of these days. What appeals to me (besides the price!) is the weight (CarbonLite - thermoplastic), the shorter length (what's the point of 17' if I'm not planning on carrying much more than lunch) and the (theoretical) fit since its claims to be designed for larger paddlers - haven't actually tried one out yet . I'm concerned about its handling (has no skeg or rudder) and the long-term durability of the CarbonLite - how does it stand up to UV, etc. From Eddyline's Discontinued Kayak page: Model Name Merlin XT 2001-2007 Len in feet - 15 Wdth in inches - 23 Cockpit inches - 35 x 19 Weight - 46 pounds Volume - 11.3 cubic feet Capcity - 390 Pounds Initial Stability - medium Secondary Stability - high Materials - CarbonLite Of course, before I buy, I'll actually try it out, but your thoughts appreciated. Frank

Based on my recent visit to Chappy on Martha's Vineyard, both images are quite old. The high level one doesn't show the Katama pond breach at all, so its at least 2 years old. The close-up looks more like last year. When I was there a few weeks ago, the Chappy side of the breach had a very distinctive hook - it's barely visisble in these shots. Frank

Haven't been there in years, but I used to sail on Salt Pond (Wakefield/Narragansett) as a kid. Protected water, but lots of boats. On the other hand, lots of shallow areas that they keep away from. There (was) a public boat launch and parking area in Wakefield, right off of Rt1 that gets you into the upper pond. (Ram Point Marina is one of the names I remember) - through the narrows is the lower pond - which is quite big with several islands in it. (Camp Fuller is on the lower pond). Great seafood in that area (Galilee(sp??), too.

Any idea why the Suunto Deck Mount (looks like its from EMS, not available at REI) is $25 more then the Seattle Sports, which is also deckmounted?? Here's Seattle Sports' description of the SeaRover (reversed the URLs in my first message - this is the correct one) http://www.rei.com/product/752705

I'm looking at these compasses (My REI dividends and the 20% one item discount would allow me to get one of them almost for free). # Seattle Sports SeaRover Deck Compass # Price: $25.00 http://www.rei.com/product/653748 # Suunto MCB Amphibian Compass # Price: $24.95 http://www.rei.com/product/752705 The Seattle Sports SeaRover looks like a new product - and its about half the price of the competition. Anyone have any experience with it? The Suunto is a floating hand-held mirror compass. I don't have any compass now - if the deck compass is any good, I'd probably get it, but if it looks like it might have some problems, I'd probably get the handheld. Comments?

You might be interested in this "folk" navigation technique - maybe you could make this part of your "practical" session. http://bearcastle.com/blog/?p=630 (I remember reading about this years ago - Google strikes again!)

How about 10 Kayaks instead of 12?

I was surfing for toy ships and found these folks - they build extremely elaborate ship models and a couple of full sized kayaks and canoes. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but somehow, I am. http://www.tradekey.com/product_view/id/65998.htm & http://www.handicraftscan.com/ProductSearc...?pCategoryID=31 & http://www.handicraftscan.com/LargeImages/669.jpg Also check out thier page on their building techniques.

Don't give up yet. That article is 5 years old - and the advanced computer they used was a Mac G4. I'd bet that techniques have improved significantly since then. If any of this can be automated then it would be a perfect parallel computer operation - something that could be distributed over the network, like the SETI project. By the way "motion capture" is another way to do this - it involves putting sensors on a subject and then capturing their 3D position over time. It don't know if it can be combined with rotoscoping or is a separate technology path.

Its called rotoscoping. Don't know a lot about it, but here are some pointers from the first page of a Google search. I think it has to be done frame by frame, which would make it pretty expensive in terms of time and resources. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotoscope http://www.toonyphotos.com/

Think I'll stick to dry-land rolling. Did you get beyond your first attempt? If anyone's interested, I found directions for entire sequence here: http://www.qajaqusa.org/gallery/main.php?g...9&g2_page=6

Have no idea what you''re talking about, but it sounds interesting. Is a kayak involved? For my next trick....

Also check these out http://allergies.about.com/od/noseandsinus...alsalineirr.htm and http://www.herbsforhealth.com/index.php?pa...=springcleaning

I just found this page called 'Kayak Rolling on Dry Land' ( http://www.creativepursuits.net/kayaking.htm ) and wondered what folks thought about it. Its details a series of fairly simple ways to improve balance, conditioning and rolling "muscle memory" while sitting in a white-water kayak in your yard. Think it would work for sea kayaks? Would it be worthwhile getting an old beat-up white water kayak to do this? Would it tempt the men in white suits to come and cart me away? Frank

I can't sit with my legs out straight for long periods. I need to be able to bring my knees up periodically so I need a relatively large open cockpit. Tried the Explorer HV and it doesn't work. The Assateague is much better. Best fit so far is the 35" long cockpit in the Solstice GT Titan (but I'd prefer a skeg to a rudder). I've tried the Scirroco and it was a torture bed - so that rules out the Gulfstream (its glass cousin). Want to do an on-water trial of the Aquanaut HV (might be better for me than the Q-boat), the Capella 173 and maybe a retrial of the Shadow. Further suggestions welcomed.

What kind of boat does vadim have? It looks like it has a huge cockpit - just what I'm looking for.

I'm coming!

Any way to view pix as slide show? I'd like to avoid scrolling the page in order to get to the controls for each picture.

Thanks Bill - Sig fixed, Fast Reply enabled All's well with the world. Your article was very helpful - maybe it should be made a 'sticky' on how to use this new toy - some of this stuff is a little obscure, at least to me. As for the links page, I wanted to use it and couldn't find it - so I was just asking. I didn't mean to imply that you folks are doing a bad job - as I said in my first note, I've worked on web projects and know its a huge job. (and if there's any way I can help, please let me know).

Missing Links? Can't find the old Links page section. Are they coming back - I found them very convenient.

I'm using a Mac (10.4.9). Same thing happens with both Safari and with Camino (uses Gecko rendering engine - just like Firefox) Don't think that's it - I think the sig's email= function is broken - besides, I cut and pasted directly from the BB code window This is the creepy stuff I meant - you see this when you go to the bottom of the message board index page, and click on "show detailed by Member Name"

Some minor stuff (and it really is minor). On the whole, great job! Putting up a new site is a huge amount of work - lots and lots and lot of (wo)man hours). I especially like how easy it is to find stuff now. And the Calendar - wow! A) Can't get it to stop quoting - the little +/-Quote Icon doesn't seem to do anything for me. I'd like to have quoting turned off by default - is that possible? The BB code characters don't seem to be working (see my sig). (and that's supposed to be a parens B, not a silly symbol, at the beginning of this sentence!) C) Not sure about the Quick Access stuff Is there any way to get the topic ID other than looking at the URL? D) Its seems kind of creepy to see a list of who's on currently and what the last thing they've read is....

So where was that restaurant anyways

I was watching this - at 2 days left it had no bids, but then "The seller ended this listing early because the item is no longer available for sale." Ended: Jul-21-07 19:03:50 PDTI Wonder if he got more than a $900 for it - what a steal! Frank