jdkilroy

I would consider keeping an inflatable paddle float handy if your choosing between various inflatable items. I like the idea of having something that a compromised paddler can use to stay upright/stabilize themselves if there are only two of us and I need to tow; ie sea sickness. Float bags aren't a bad idea to have in place anytime you're rock gardening, playing in surf etc. but it would be more of a production to modify one to act as a paddle support if that was all you had. Jon

Sherry, There will be no end of advice available regarding boats on this forum but the best thing you can do is to get out there and paddle as many as you can. It's clear that no one here has actually paddled the boat you're considering and there is no substitute for your own personal experience with any given boat. The major boat manufacturers have finally realized the need and demand for appropriately-sized boats for the the "smaller paddlers" and you now have several great designs to choose from. These latest models have been designed from the get-go to be lower displacement hulls and not just modified versions of the original full-sized boats. Have fun, take your time and know that there will always be another boat that seems to suit your needs a little better than the one you currently own... Jon

1820 just home from work phone rings.. hey...? You want to go for a paddle? Sure; ocean? I'm not into the lake and the bugs... sounds good, I'm next door taking care of the animals, I'll be home in a couple minutes. Driving to Portsmouth: you know what the tides are doing? nope, but it was high water near 1600 Sunday so it should be up pretty good; add a couple hours 2000 Launching from Goat Island what a nice night. Its getting dark... yeah, I can see your Pilgrim pretty well though. we should just paddle inside the harbour. ok, which way do you want to go? just around Pest and Leachs Islands... Ok The hotel is really lit up eh..? It's like a castle. This is so much fun paddling an empty boat! 2100: a bit of paddling, rolling, maneuvering about in the dark flat water. So... you want to go out and around? Hmmm, ok, you have a light? Yeah, a little headlight. Its really getting dark... I can see ok, you? not great; I can't see you that well. we'll stick close. Paddling past the luxury motor yachts at the Wentworth Marina. The main saloons lit carefully to create just the right atmosphere... They appear as vignettes of very fancy restaurants I visited in another life. out through Little Harbor, gliding silently past the breakwater. its a black night with a glassy sea, a bit of swell and some locally generated waves and such. 2115 you really activate your other senses to do this. yeah, have to feel the boat and the water since you can't really see it. this all looks really different; we should do this more. yeah, what fun eh? we're a little illegal with only one light aren't we? Yeah, when we get near the Coast Guard station, stay in a line close together and maybe we'll look like a tandem. oh yeah, sure... whoa, watch out for that ledge! crap! a boomer... more like a whale rising. I can feel the ebb kicking in oh yeah, when is max? not for a bit... Reggae music drifting across the water as we "eddy hop" our way into Portsmouth Harbor and up the Piscatiqua. Where's the music coming from? must be the party boat. look at that thing listing over. maybe they're all looking at us; stick close, we're supposed to look like a tandem. We watch the tour boat negotiate the turn around Henderson Pt on Seavey Isl. It begins the turn with Henderson Pt close aboard on the stbd side but crabs vigorously to port in the current almost completely across the river ending up on its new heading with Pierce Isl (very) close aboard to port. It was really something to watch... for a brief moment, we thought we were about to witness something much more dramatic. 2230: sliding under the bridge past the west end of Goat Isl. Off the water. What great paddle!

I used the 8010 and a 8000 on a recent expedition. The 8010 picture quality is improved but it very noticeably depleted the battery faster than the 8000. (same battery for both cameras) The video quality was markedly superior in the 8010 when compared to the 8000. Both cameras dealt with a lot of abuse, fine sand and an absence of daily rinsing for a month. Can't really complain about either one too much. Jon

Before continuing further with misconceptions... Place an Ikelos and a Cyprus bent shaft paddle side by side (say 210 cm). The two paddles are identical in overall length AND the shaft geometries are identical until you get past/outside the area where your hands would be. Hand placement on the two paddles is unaffected or identical for a given paddle length. Jon

There would be no difference in length when switching between a Cyprus and an Ikelos. These are both intended for a "high angle" paddling style. You would not change your paddling style when switching between these two paddles; you would feel less resistance with the Cyprus due to less surface area but that could be a good thing if you are looking to reduce shoulder stress, increase your stroke rate etc. Paddle length changes are appropriate when switching between high and low angle paddling styles.

Hence the sailor's wisdom: "Mares tails and mackerel scales make lofty ships carry low sails..." Jon

"Have you actually tried an ocean cockpit AA or Pintail?" Hi Brian, Yes I have, I do not fit without scraping my knees; its really tight. I have a 36" inseam and 32 ~ 33 waist; no trouble with the butt, its the legs that hang up. ... unless I can figure out how to hyper extend my knees. Jon

you folks need to get over it... Fact is, if I want to paddle an Anas, my only option is the keyhole version. At 6'-3" I can't get into any of the smaller Greenland style boats with ocean cockpits without scraping my kneecaps off. Jon

I think everyone needs to go kayaking. Jon

I suggest you let Mr Hoey know what you think of his reporting/journalism skills and CC all to the editor. Jon

can also launch from Rye Harbor and head south around the corner to check out the surf.

Jason, I always add a piece of 6" bi-directional glass across my bulkheads that I am using as a foot brace. I get mine from Jamestown Distributors <www.jamestowndistributors.com> I begin about 4 ~ 6 " aft on the hull, lay it across the bulkhead and then back on the opposite side of the hull. This provides very strong reinforcement. Normally, I will have moved the bulkhead to put it in the location that is right for me so my feet are pushing directly upon the reinforced bulkhead. If the bulkhead is not in the right position then add the 1 ~ 2" of foam against it as needed. Care must be taken to properly prepare the hull/bulkhead for adding glass to it whether a new boat or old. As Paul has noted, a lot of force can end up being exerted against that bulkhead; Make it strong. A standard bulkhead should never be used as a foot brace without being reinforced properly first. Jon

Al, Removing foot pegs has nothing to do with reducing weight... this is a way of life. This one simple modification to your kayak will transform your paddling experience in ways you can't even imagine. Prepare yourself for something... you can never prepare yourself for. Jon

Certainly with time, (a lot of time considering the fairly soft plastic that valley uses for their seats) this could be an issue but leaving a 1/8" strip of minicell in place of the 3/4" strip or laying a single layer of glass over the potential wear area should put anyone's mind at ease. For that matter, check the hull thickness beneath your heels... The Valley seat is intrinsically comfortable and allows excellent rotation. The raised front edge has proven to be an issue for more than a couple of folks I know. Dropping the front edge not only removes the pressure on the back of the thighs but also places the paddler in a more dynamic posture and makes it easier to stay in that position; with adjustment, the OEM seat offers excellent sacral support. This is all highly subject to personal preference and body shape but my point is that the current OEM Valley seats have plenty to offer and should not be discarded because initial fit is less than perfect. Jon

Before giving up on Valley's seat Dee, try removing the thick foam under the forward edge of the seat. When you reinstall, you will want to place a shim or washers between the fwd part of the seat support to get it to tip down. This may remove that pressure point on the thigh. I actually used a piece of fiberglass tape to hold the front edge of the seat down in another Valley for the same reason and that worked great. Its a good seat if you can get it adjusted right for you. Jon

First of all, I really appreciate everyone's interest and and participation in the "paddle project." So here's my answer: A modified North Water expedition deck bag where I changed the shape of the plastic insert to allow the bag to taper down to the deck on the forward end. It was then sewn to perfection by LauraK herself with me getting in the way by "helping." The new North Water (wedge-shaped) Expedition deck bag allows my spare paddle blades to overlap the deck bag and still allows easy retrieval. The locking strap across the blades ensures that they can't be lifted off the deck by seas. The large Fastek buckle ensures easy release, even while upside down. Jon PS: I have actually verified that the the VHF and the GPS cause less than a 5 degree W'ly deviation in my night nav compass as it sits atop the bag with the GPS on but the VHF off.

I would certainly not hesitate to add a 4th hatch Bill but the boat is already at my starting point far away and I wont have a shop to manage an alteration like that in the 18 hours I'll have before setting out. I think more and more manufacturers will be putting these 4th hatches in their boats. I just makes sense. I have another idea however: I am going to modify the deck bag that I have (a Northwater Expedition deck bag) to shorten it by a few inches. This will still give me adequate storage and if successful, it will allow the paddles to remain on the fore deck. Now where did I put that seam ripper... Jon

I did consider an under deck bag Jon but I really don't like the idea of catching on something when I need to get out of the cockpit fast as in landing in surf or some other situation like that. I really try to eliminate anything in the cockpit that could snag on clothing, a zipper pull etc. A knee tube is certainly feasible but one has to open the cockpit to access it. I'd rather not in sketchy conditions. Jon

A "spare paddle" kept inside a cargo compartment becomes a non-essential piece of gear by definition. It would serve as a back-up if I trashed a paddle during a landing. If out on the water and a paddle is lost or broken, the paddle in the hatch is of little or no value. On the other hand, its hard to loose a paddle that's snug in the hatch... PS: I snapped off the blade of an Ikelos in a tide race and Werner basically told me it was my problem and for 160.00 they would fix it. There was no visible damage to the paddle at all. No analysis (for my benefit) was done. Jon

Laura and I have them on a couple of the boats and they work very well at securing the shaft-end of the paddles. Securing the blade end of the paddles is still a concern in surf/breaking waves. Replacing a paddle shaft back into the Paddle Pants is actually easier than the rigid tubes. The only significant disadvantage is that you would need a set of PaddlePants for each boat since they require removing your deck line to install. I don't see any reason why they can't be mounted on the aft deck as well and I will be trying this soon. Jon

You can see the arrangement that I use all the time in the photo at the end of Rick's recent post re Jenness Beach in "trip reports." Those tubes work really well. The issue is more that if I use the larger fore deck bag then I won't have room on the foredeck for paddles. (I await the arrival of a loaner Nordkapp to properly evaluate this; I am using a Nordkapp LV right now. I find that I have consistently almost lost a split in surf because the water gets under the blade and lifts it off the deck and the migration begins. I have fitted some of my boats with a strap with fastek buckles that I cinch down onto 6the blades to pevent any movement; that is the most secure method I have used to date. I have to say, Rick's method seems the easiest but I would still feel inclined to use the strap to secure the blade end of the paddles. I do appreciate the input, Jon

I only plan to carry a paddle that will serve as a seamless back-up for the rest of the trip hence the comment in the opening post about a traditional paddle; it is not an option by my choice. Distances will be 30+ nm per day; 20+ nm without landing is a certainty on many days. As far as fore deck bags go; it has nothing at all to do with carrying too much; there's a valid use for them. In conditions and solo; getting at food, camera, VHF, a flare etc; poking around in the day hatch is a problem. Try it sometime in rough water. I have noticed how you do it Rick and that has worked very well. Not sure that I will have the option of splitting the halves fore and aft if I use the fore deck bag I have in mind. With regard to retrieving 1/2 a split and rolling up; I have no trouble doing that and getting a half from either the fore or aft deck makes little difference. Awareness of whether something has happened to the paddle when stored on the aft deck is a valid point. Thanks for replies so far Jon

Looking for input from experienced, conditions paddlers on their choice of spare paddle placement; fore deck or aft deck. What has been your experience in rough water and surf; heading into the beach and just as importantly, launching through. What's your method of securing them. No slight intended to those using traditional paddles but I'm interested specifically in split euro paddles. I have always kept my aft deck clear for self-rescue options with a spare splt euro the only thing on the fore deck. Now I need to consider the possibility of having a (large-ish) deck bag on the fore deck and there not being enough room up there for the spare paddle. Thanks for your input, Jon