mbhazeltine

Late to the discussion - I agree that thin Nitrile gloves are key. I have also been known to bring a small thermos of hot water to pre-warm or re-warm my wet gloves. Unsweeten tea works - coffee not so good.

I have found that the lightweight smartwool as a baselayer followed by wool or poly works great. I find the wicking of wool to be much better than synthetics - As a side note there are two different weights for smart wool 150 and 250. The Terramar is often on sale at Sierra Trading Post.

Looking forward to it

Looks like fun - can't make it for the next couple of weeks. Will miss all of you.

I would add Nate Hanson (Maine), and Todd Johnson-Wright (VT - but travels), Carl Ladd (Southern MA) and Gerry Polinsky (CT). Instruction is personal journey and you need to have a match between instructor and student. I have benefited enormously by just paddling with people and attending the free skill sessions that NSPN and RICKA offer.

Posting in case someone asks the question later. I just replaced the decklines on my avocet. Used the 4 mm 3/16 - could have used 5 mm - but could not find it on short order. The length of the old deck line was just under 24 feet. Buy 25 feet to be safe. The shock cord required 17 feet - 4 mm. I ordered 17 feet and had almost none left over but 17 ft worked. 5 mm shock cord would have been difficult to thread so I am glad I went with 4 mm. I ordered from Olymipic Outdoor Center and had it within a week. I think it is available locally but I am trying to avoid stores.

P&H recommends silicone spray: (from their website) Hatches When loading hatches, take care not to dislodge or damage the skeg/rudder tubes, scratch the inside of the kayak, or damage the bulkheads. Unevenly or excessively loaded hatches can also lead to poor or unsafe performance and potentially deformation of the kayak. If you have trouble fitting your kayak’s hatch covers, we recommend applying silicone spray to the hatch rim and inside edge of the hatch cover.

i I was there last Saturday with RICKA -was parked with MA plates in one of the slots. Police drove by several times but seemed to ignore me and my car. There is nothing on the RI website about restrictions.

Ken - I love my Aries and Cetus. I did not find the Scorpio to be as comfortable nor as efficient. You need to paddle a boat to decide what you like and what works for you. We can arrange a test paddle this summer when it makes sense.

Maybe I missed it but no one is suggesting a Cetus. It is a huge step up from a scorpio - similar to an Aries but a little quicker but less responsive. Once this virus abates you are welcome to paddle mine Cetus MV and my Aires 150. I believe a RICKA paddler is selling an Aries150. If you look at the Aires be aware there are two styles of cockpit outfitting - a style similar to the Scorpio and a style similar to the Cetus.

I will let you know next time I am in Cambridge.

Al: I am about 6 foot - 170 lbs - I have a Outfit (Mens MsFit) medium which lists its chest size as 40 - 44 - it is brand new and I am selling it for $75. I also have the sea wolf in a large. I am in Cambridge - Porter Square - fairly regularly if you would like to try either on. I bought the Outfit to replace my MsFit but decided it was not enough of an improvement and I need the money

I really like the Astral Sea Wolf - I have tried a bunch of different jackets and keep coming back to this one. It has been replaced by the blue jacket. https://www.astraldesigns.com/shop/life-jackets/pfds/bluejacket.

I have a Womens Large MsFit which is brand new with tags - selling it for $85. Got an identical one through work so selling this one. Also a Men medium with only a few paddles on in it. Keeping one or the other. It is a great vest but I don't need three. email me at mbpaddler@gmail.com if there is interest

I looked around for at a bunch. The Standard Horizon HX890 seemed like the best of the GPS/DSC model - 6 watts vs 5 watts for the Icom. In the end I decided to go with a Standard Horizon HX40 which got good reviews - was significantly smaller and half the price. Will get a PLB at some point.

Interesting - I paddled with someone last weekend who found the boat very fast but not playful at all. He was thinking about selling it and getting something more responsive. Clearly you want to paddle it in conditions.

My several - 4 or 5 year old Icom VHF radio died. The on / off button does not work. Looking for suggestions on a new one. Does anyone have experiences good or bad with the Standard Horizons HX890? How about the ICOM M93D? I feel like the GPS/DSC option is a no brainer these days. Or do I just replace it with a less expensive ICOM or Standard Horizon?

Just noticed that the newest model of the ICOM M25 is usb chargable.

Not sure if you ever fixed this - I did mine over the summer and it was fairly easy. P&H has an online video of the repair.

I find the toaster mittens uncomfortable I think because they are not pre-curved and apply a constriction on my knuckles. I didn't notice them when play boating but for sea kayaking they were uncomfortable

I had a Sierra Designs tent which had minimal use and was well cared for but the waterproof coating delaminated from the rain fly. REI in Cranston RI was very uncooperative, the Framingham store did an exchange but only after I pointed out I had the receipt and it was before they changed their policy on returns. I have been a member of REI for many years but the experience soured me on them.

Similar report on the episode from the CG. https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDHSCG/bulletins/1a92a09

We had a similar problem on a Toyota Sienna. We bought a single roof mounted rack which went on above the front doors. We then used one of the cross bars on the factory rack. This gave us a greater spread and moved the boats forward. The only question is the height of the two bars relative to each other.

I have used parts from Magenta trailer, http://www.magnetatrailers.com/, to make a trailer - might not be the least expensive option but they have cross braces etc