NateHanson

Yes, Second what Barb said. Chris Lockyer.

I won't restate the well-articulated positions already represented in this thread, but suffice to say I'm definitely in the not-voodoo-black-magic-ninja-art camp of rolling philosophy. If it's taught as a basic skill, by a great instructor, as a simple progression of exercises, then people will have an easier time with it. Unfortunately, too often it is portrayed as a highly complex master-level trick, that young fools should watch on youtube a few times and then go hack away at until they finally figure it out on their own.

I'll also add that as someone who paddles almost exclusively with a Euro paddle when I'm out doing stuff that tends to get me upside-down, that taking Greenland instruction, and working on many greenland rolls during winter pool sessions has paid great dividends for making me a more intuitive and flexible Euro roller. Learning forward finishing greenland rolls will make you a far better combat roller when you apply those skills to your usual Euro blade.

Thank you for your input Nate and Ed.

You are absolutely correct about that!! The trick is to deterime if the conditions are Level 3 or Level 4. I think that all parameters are within the Level 3 category except for the swells - hense the curiosity.

As Ed guessed, I was referring to BCU (or similar ACA) skill standards. Since I'm merely an interloper on the NSPN boards, and am not involved with the club itself, I don't know anything about your trip-level ratings.

(By the way, I do appreciate the useful conversations that occur here on NSPN, and I hope my occasional tagging along as an outsider-to-the-north is okay with everyone.)

Releasability under load is an important feature for any tow system. Instead of using carabiners for that fore-deck tow strap, consider using "spinnaker shackles" from a marine store. With a short loop or lanyard attached to the pin of each shackle, you can release the tow, even when under a big load. That might be a nice feature when your contact tow suddenly finds itself wrong-side-up, and you'd like to roll up sooner rather than later.

Yes, like Ed says, wind is almost always more of a factor for kayaking up here than the height of the seas. Seas mostly are a factor if you're planning to rock garden or surf, and for finding safe, suitable landings. Otherwise, swell just goes up and down.

Ed also makes a good point about "Coastal" vs. "Intracoastal" forecasts. The "Intracoastal" forecast for the MDI, and Penobscot Bay areas encompasses everything all the way out to the tip of Schoodic Peninsula to the East, and Port Clyde to the West. So when you see seas 4-6 feet, that's what you might encounter 10-15 miles south of Stonington, or out near Monhegan Island. Even though that forecast also covers Mount Desert Narrows, you'll not likely see even a fraction of that forecast in much of the forecast area.

Not that I want to give the impression that folks should discount the forecast and just go regardless. Rather, paddlers should learn to integrate the forecast in their trip-planning process, and make some predictions about what the local conditions will be in certain areas, given the zone forecast for that day. The forecast usually doesn't have a go/no-go threshhold, as much as it informs my decision of where to paddle. On a 20 knot day, I might still go out, but it could be a good day to explore that winding estuary I've been wondering about for a while.

Nate

I had an Icom M32 that lasted me over 10 years before finally flickering out last winter. In February I bought an M72 because I was totally convinced by ICOM quality, and loved the small size and big battery capacity.

However, after only 6 months of moderate use, this radio has stopped working! First I had trouble with corroding battery contacts, so I cleaned them up, and applied some dielectric grease to keep them clean. That appeared to solve that problem. Next I noticed a substantial amount of corrosion flaking off the paint near the bottom of the radio. And then one day last month, the radio wouldn't turn off, no matter what I did with the knob. That lasted a couple days (I removed the battery when I needed to turn off the radio). Then soon after, I had the opposite problem - the radio won't turn on, despite a fully charged battery, and copious fiddling with the volume knob.

I miss my M32. If I could get another one of those, made new, and with a LI battery, I'd do it in a heart beat. No corroding aluminum case. No knobs whatsoever, and the battery contacts are securely sealed inside the radio.

<grumble>

Things look fairly manageable up here for the weekend. Some moderate swell, but that will be felt most on southern ends of the most exposed islands. So someplace like the south end of Isle au Haut, or Thread of Life off Boothbay, would have some fairly big stuff happening. But any area like Stonington, or Casco Bay, or Frenchman Bay, etc etc etc, where lots of islands break up that big open-ocean swell before it reaches you, should have plenty of areas with good protection. Suitable for folks with 3*/4* sorts of skills, anyways. Of course, what is safe all depends on the paddlers.

I have reported dead seals to Allied Whale in the past, and they are in fact very interested in getting the information.

I expect that with the current die-off they are all the more interested in tracking deaths, so give them a call.

Nate

When you say you used a bright light and a mirror, and could see the cracks from the inside, do you mean that you had the light outside, and could see some light shining through the gelcoat cracks to the inside of the boat? Or do you mean that with a bright light inside the boat, you could see physical cracks in the inside layers of fiberglass?

If you just see light making it's way through the gelcoat cracks, but see no damage to the fiberglass layers, I'd guess you don't have any damage, and would suggest you forget about this and go paddle. Press on the outside of the boat, to see if the area with gelcoat cracking is any softer than the rest of the boat. If there's damage, you'll probably feel it.

Nate

One issue I also have is after I put sunscreen on my face and spend time on the water the sunscreen eventually makes it to my eyes and consequently acting like an irritant.

I am really having a reat time - no, I am not crying ;-)

I've had the same problem. I sweat and eventually the sunscreen ends up in my eyes, blinding me. Try using children's sunscreen. I've had no problems with that. Also the Coppertone Sport Stick sunscreen never seems to run. It's pretty waxy and seems to just stick to my forehead instead of washing into my eyes.

BTW, the day hatch on NDK boat is a VCP cover. I never had a problem with it nor did it leak. It's the big oval and rounds on Valley boats that seem to be giving people headaches.

I think it's not the covers and rims that are tough to put on and off, but in particular it's the recessed area around the rim on some of Valley's installations which creates the difficulty. Since NDK doesn't recess their day hatch rims, they're perfectly easy to put on. My Pintail day hatch is the same - it's not recessed and is easier to put on and off. (It's also the only hatch on that boat that occasionally leaks a few Tbl spoons.)

That said, I mind the recessed valley hatch rims and covers. I keep them 303'd (which definitely helps) and by starting at the bow or stern of the ovals, it's easy enough to get them open. After putting the covers on, I can seal it by running a finger around the groove in the cover, to press that bottom lip down into the recess. The day hatch on my aquanaut is recessed, but I don't seem to have any problems getting that one seated by just slapping it back on. (And it's more watertight than the non-recessed Pintail dayhatch).

Considering that the watertight integrity of these compartments is vital to the seaworthiness of our kayaks, I really don't mind taking an extra minute to open and close them. (Or a few extra minutes, when it's cold!)

Having never seen, let alone attempted a poly tandem T rescue, I am curious if it is as big a PITA as it seems it would be. How many times in a season to you get to do this for real?

Ed Lawson

Hi Ed,

It's a bigger PIA than I expected it would be. The plumb bow on the boats we use are the biggest problem. It means you need to get the bow up a bit before you can slide it across your lap. As Bob said above, having a swimmer sink the stern a bit really helps with this. After that it's a bit clumsy flipping a 30" wide boat over and back on your lap, but it's not hard, really.

Fortunately it's almost never an issue in real life. Last year I only rescued tandems that were capsized intentionally. I'm not aware of any of the guides where I work having an accidental capsize last season. I'd like to say that's mostly because we're good guides, but to be fair, those boats are very stable.

Nate

What ever boat you're using, it's definitely worth giving it a practice run if you need to know if you can do it. The big plastic tandems (Necky Amaruk) that we use for tours are a little tricky to rescue. They have fairly plumb bows, few deck lines, and weigh a ton when wet. That said, I doubt your boat would be a problem. I'd recommend having the swimmers flip the boat right side up before you drag it up on deck, so you're not trying to lift so much weight off-center like that. I think particularly with the tandems there is a real potential for back injury.

In a non-NSPN context, an experienced trip leader is raising concerns that smaller boats like my F1 skin-on-frame are not capable of performing a T-rescue of large heavy boats such as tandems. I've never tried to rescue a tandem, so while I have some theories, I do not have any experience.

Who has experience performing T-rescues on large tandem kayaks? Is the rescuer's boat size ever an issue?

thanks,

Bill

You can get a Standard Horizon Submersible VHF for $90-$100. Basic Icom's seem to be a few more, but less than $150. Check out Hamilton Marine www.hamiltonmarine.com They often have a model on sale for $80 or $90, and they're local.

The only "Bell/Whistle" feature I'd consider if buying a radio, would be an integrated GPS/DSC radio. These can send an electronic distress signal, complete with your position, which gets displayed on other radios within "earshot" of your transmission. For our waters (where VHF coverage is very good) it's almost like having a PLB/GPS integrated with your radio. You'll pay about $350 for these new radios (if I recall correctly), but this is a significant safety feature, in my opinion.

Nate

Boils are tough. They'll trip you just like an eddy line, but unlike an eddy line they don't stand still. That means you can't easily lean one way or the other to prepare for them, as you can with a sharp eddy line. The best defense, in my experience is to keep paddling through that area, and get across quickly. Don't dally where boils lurk, unless you're there for the challenge. In the latter case, keep ready with loose hips and a quick low brace. When they get big and grabby, they'll take you down on one side, and then just as you do a deep brace, it'll put you on your ear the other way! Good place to practice rolling too, if you're looking for a challenge.

You'll find boils at the downstream end of a strong eddy line, where it's becoming less distinct and wider. Good reason to cross eddy lines at their upstream end, and do it quickly.

I also got a spam inquiry on my Pintail ad here last week, from the same "Mitch Gregston" fellow.

His email asked for pics and a price (both of which were provided already in my thread). His wording also made it clear that he had no idea what a "Pintail" was.

I was tempted to quiz him about what sort of object he was trying to buy, but thought better of it.

Nate

Just to add my experience, for those curious. I spent 1/2 a day surfing the Delphin at Popham beach this weekend. (John Carmody's demo boat). Breakers were about 2 feet. Occassionally a little bigger.

I was totally sold on it. The boat surfs amazingly, and is really easy to take off with, especially with steeper waves. Positioning is everything with surfing this boat. Line up where the waves just start to stand up, and then you almost don't have to paddle to catch the wave. Just one or two strokes from a standstill. That keeps the stern right up out of the wave, and the big, flat, rockered bow just flies along sticking out of the front of the wave. None of that purling that happens with typical long, skinny bows of sea kayaks. Very easy to maneuver by edging while on the wave. Feels like a great fit for me at 180 pounds, 6' (This was the Delphin 155).

I'd like to try it on a bigger day, paddling a few miles out to rocks, or bigger tidal overfalls - both to see how it feels in bigger more technical conditions, but also to see whether I can put up with covering some distance in this specialized play boat.

It's certainly not a boat to replace your touring boat, but I think it may soon be a companion to my touring boat.

Thanks for sharing your thorough report. I enjoyed reading it. I can't claim to be the "more expert" paddler you're soliciting advice from, particularly with this type of long solo open water crossing. I'm not sure I'm cut out for that sort of a risk-profile. I'm in no place to tell you how to conduct such a crossing.

There is one sentence that I feel compelled to ask about though.

It's windy, and it is cold even with two Techwick shirts, a sweater and the spray shirt.

This really jumped out at me, as I can't imagine paddling 10-12 miles from shore in April, when local waters appear to be in the low 40s, wearing no immersion gear.

Can you share your thoughts behind what you decided to wear? Have you practiced self-rescue in that outfit, in those water temps? Once back in your boat far from shore, are you able to avoid hypothermia?

Paddling to Nantucket in November should have a different set of dangers. Water temp is quite a bit warmer, but the air temp could be near freezing, and weather is quite a bit less stable in that area in late fall, in my experience. It does sound like a good adventure though.

Good luck, and paddle safe!

Nate

Check out MEC's own brand of down bags. When the exchange rate is good they are a great deal. They also come in three lengths/sizes. Not as nice as a Western Mountaineering or Feathered Friends bag, but only a few ounces more and hundreds of dollars less.

That assumes I know what the heck a kg is! And is it -3 degrees C yet?

(Thanks Michael. That's a good tip. I'll have my investment manager keep an eye on the currency markets, and duck down futures. 7.9 L packing size sounds excellent.)

My biggest space savings this year was replacing a thermarest with an insulated air matress (Pacific Outdoors). It's about 1/4 of the size and twice as comfortable.

Next on my list is a summer-weight down bag. (That's a little more dear though.)