brambor

wow. I hope he dealt with programmers before. If they are giving him an estimate of a few weeks ... I would say it could go to a few months. He better put up something like a blog with a clear title that the web site is under construction and with links to contacts at various Valley departments (customer service, marketing...) and where they'll occasionally post some news that are happening at Valley. A blog that does not look like an actual web site is better for visitors to understand visually that the REAL web site is under construction.

I conversed with the owner via e-mail. He was helpful and directed me to a distributor in the USA. Unfortunately they did not return my e-mail. I ended up just doing my repair all by my self and felt good about it. I'm a big fan of Valley, that's why I'm bewildered with their web presence.

It really shows how clueless the owners are about the importance of web presence in these days. Running adds in kayaking magazines and posting their web site in them is a disappointing negligence. If this happened to me as an owner i would redirect the site to a blog where i could answer questions and post news about my company. This would give the webmaster enough time to finish reading '.NET for Dummies'.

10:30 is perfect because at 11 it will be 2 hours before high tide. The put in is generally good 2 hours before high tide until 2 hours after high tide. See you there.

If the forecast for rain is 10% or so I'm thinking about paddling Cape Porpoise on Saturday. The forecast for Saturday at Cape Porpoise is: SAT... N WINDS 5 TO 10 KT. SEAS 1 TO 2 FT. based on based on this link and Cloudy in the 30's with 10% chance of precipitation based on based on that link put and park in here: 43.367750°-70.432419° Meet at 10AM, and put in when the tide comes close enough to go (about 30+ minutes). There will be about 4 hours of water to paddle. Not much distance but plenty of fun island hopping and possible rock play for those who know how. There is a nice lighthouse to visit, two geocaches on nearby islands that you can look for as well as an indian excavation site that we could check out (and not touch)

Is Saturday forecast for Rain? I quickly glanced and saw seas 1-2 feet, minimal winds and cloudy.

I am seriously reconsidering placing any caches on islands. We spend a great day on the water last Sunday and placed a geocache on Basket Island in Casco Bay. This is the third geocache placed by me. All three were placed on an island in an attempt to promote kayaking. First cache the dude waded through mud to Goat island in middle of October. Second cache the dude waded even further to Cape Island in early November. Today, December 1st the cache was first found by two guys who were in a Canoe :-) The guy actually called me and I told him NO it was a bad idea to take a canoe to Casco Bay. They did it anyway to much delight from nearby seals. :-)

Those are great shots, Doug. I especially liked: #8, 54, 58 and 71 but really you rode some great light through the whole trip. I wish I could have joined but we ended up leaving the kids and home and me and my wife enjoyed a nice 4 hour paddle in Casco Bay. It is incredible to get such weather at the end of November.

When I look at marine maps I am unsure whether it is possible to read which way the current will flow during outgoing or ingoing tide. For example (discounting wind direction) a circumnavigation of an unspecified island as observed on a map ... how will I be able to tell which way to go...clockwise or counterclockwise?

One issue I have with lack of bulkheads is that unless you use a seasock it is a pain in the neck to empty all the water out of the boat in case of a capsize. Also it is important to not that a question of FIT is not directly related to boat's length but instead to the amount of room for legs and size of the seat and width of the 'fit' at hips. The amount of the wetted surface also has to be taken into consideration but that is the same for everyone else. You don't want to buy a boat rated 180 - 240 lbs if you weigh 180 and you never plan on loading the boat for overnight trips.

wife and kids are going paddling anf that means.a local lake. Have a great trip everyone!

Tyson makes some great defining points. For example we load my son's kayak first so that he sits in the water more to resists the wind. When I said that 'any LV boat' I did not mean that any LV boat will work for your daughter. You still need to have her sit in the boat and see how it fits and what needs to be adjusted. My sons butt was too small even for the Mystic. I would have had to do some padding on either of the boats that we tried. Kittery had a Kevlar Mystic with great looking colors as well as a great looking fiberglass Mystic in sunburst and yellow. I think that SOF is also a great idea. I think we you take her with adults on a 6+ miles trip then if she were in a shorter boat she would have to work a little harder to keep up with the pack.

In addendum I would simplify the answer saying that basically any LV boat from top kayak manufacturers should fit a small person and therefore also a child. It might need a little bit of additional padding that can later be adjusted as they grow.

I went throught a similar process a few months ago. The Impex Mystic is a great suggestions and Kittery Trading post has a very nice one for a very good price. I did question the length, however, and ended up talking to a few more people who said a longer kayak that 'FITS WELL' is also a good idea because the length will help it to keep up better with the longer kayaks than the 15 foot length of the Mystic. It just happened to that I ran across a great deal on a used Valley Pintail. It fit my 11 year old son very well. I added a little bit more padding to improve on the fit. The kayak is great. I spent less and I feel this is something he could grow into really well as well as it could grow with his improving skill level.

:D :D

thanks Doug.

Leon, Let me know next summer if you need a fishing companion. Fly or spin will work with me. Rene

Wow. I would love to eventually graduate to fish for stripers off the nearby islands. I've done my fair share of fly fishing for stripers but the last 2 seasons have been disappointing. I think the fish might be hanging further off the coast.

Here are some pics from the paddle. It was a great day, I wish all winter paddles were this pleasant. Now if I can get in shape and hone my technique to be able to keep up with Leon, Gene, Tom and Bob. I usually just paddle with my kids so this trip was a reminder for me to get my butt in gear ! Thanks for a great day on the water. capricorn 5 P.S. I overloaded on the sock layers a little bit but otherwise was very comfortable during the paddle. Also my new drysuit from Peak UK is working great and I dig the crotch zipper! (figuratively speaking)

Today, I was installing the 85R Brunton Compass: The screws that came with it were a bit more longer and substantial. First I thought about making some kind of epoxy cups to cover the exposed screws in the bulkhead space and then I thought of simple plastic wall anchors like this: Those fit perfectly onto the exposed brass screws. A few twists later the protection was done without the need of epoxy mixing. This compass is larger than the Brunton 70P. Now my kayak reminds me of the opening credits from the series Police Squad

I would love to join if my kids won't want to paddle that morning.

I'll make my own. Thanks for the link Suz Rene

I'm no expert but it seems that this rescue could have been done with a fast rubber boat and a thermoss of hot cocoa.

I'll go back at it tonight. Spend some quality time in the basement.

I did put some silicone onto the screws (not directly into the screw holes) and I did put a little bit around the base. Thanks for the tip on the inside screws. I might take some mini rubber cups, fill them with epoxy and just glue them to the underside where the screws are.