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David M

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    Activity Trackers

    in General Message Board

    Posted

    Does anyone have any experience/recommendations with waterproof "activity trackers" that accurately compute sea kayaking activity?  I'm especially interested in the basics of calorie consumption and possibly heart rate. 

     

    Spray skirt question

    in General Message Board

    Posted

    Nick, Kudos to you for raising an issue we have all had to deal with at one time or another... an ultra-reliable wet exit that works in all conditions and then... setting up the skill development for a solid self-rescue.   As you indicated, and others have echoed, properly fitting and functioning equipment is foundational.  Building confidence and self-awareness follows closely behind.  

    One of the things that I have found helpful at those junctures, especially underwater is to keep my eyes open.  During practice I will also periodically wear a diver's mask to reinforce the practice   I realized I was keeping my eyes closed quite a bit.  The mask allows you to observe what's happening at key steps and make quick  adjustments.  Naturally, we have to also acclimate to exercising the new skill without the mask.

    One piece of advice I was given along the way was to work on my hang time. That is, increasingly getting comfortable upside down and simply staying there for increasingly long periods.  I've drawn on that practice over and over again when sometimes it's best to let whatever knocked you over pass or subside before attempting a self-rescue.  

    These kinds of things are ideal for the NSPN winter pool sessions and the weekly practice sessions recetntly posted on the site.

    Good luck!

    Tall ships coming to Boston on June 17th

    in Past Trips

    Posted

    Beth,

    I've been thinking of and seriously considering this as well.  It's been on my calendar for some time, although I lack a plan. 

    During the bicentennial, my dad, my then six-year old daughter and I went out for the main festivities (Parade of Sail) of Operation Sail and slept overnight in one of the designated areas in the inner harbor.  We did it in a 19 foot day sailor.  It was a spartan experience.  We were dwarfed by a seemingly endless fleet of much larger power and sail boats with stereos, bars and grills with the most alluring of aromas (especially when compared to our hastily bought sub sandwiches).  

    While it is a treasured  memory for the three of us, I also remember the vigilance required because behind the official viewing line.  There was a constant jockeying for position and incessant movement among the much larger and more powerful spectator fleet.   That's where those memories intersect with my thoughts of a day paddle at the height of the spectacle. 

    For me, the tension is between the obvious safety factor of a smaller and lower profiled craft in the ensuing melee and rarity of this kind of event.

    I'm going to catch up on the offered events on the website and may chime back in. 

    I'd love to hear other thoughts and options!

     

    Kayak stern eye loosening

    in Boat repair, outfitting

    Posted

    Leon,

    If the squirrel doesn't cooperate, I've used a similar approach to this to resolve a tight-quarters maneuver.

    1. Tape your smart phone or video camera to a pole or stick of sufficient length to see what the underside in fact looks like. You may need supplemental lighting. 

    2. Assuming there are two nuts on either end of the u-bolt, secure a ratchet wrench to a sturdy, yet trim piece of pipe and patiently give it a go.

    3. Consider  providing extra security to keep the socket from getting knocked off the wrench  I might consider loctite or a substitute.  

    4. I'd also probably opt for turning the boat over to allow the wrench to "drop" onto the nut

    In all likelihood much easier said than done.

    Good luck!

    David

    Navigation workshop ideas

    in General Message Board

    Posted

    Dan,

    Happy New Year!

    This is a great idea.

    It's probably fair to say that unless the workshop was billed say as introductory, intermediate or advanced that there will be a range of experience and understanding. 

    To accommodate that potentiality is there any merit  to using an accompanying book such as Ferrero's Sea Kayak Navigation or Killen's Simple Kayak Navigation.  Both are pretty user friendly.  Ferraro's is a standard in the BCU training system with accompanying UK references.  Killen's is US-centric requires no "translation" of navigation aids and such.

    By using a text as a general guide, participants could accomplish some pre-reading. Additionally, if there were items/areas that needed further exploration or emphasis after the workshop we would all have the framework of the accompanying book.

    Also, any thought to doing it, say in March in case there is the temptation of an early thaw to get on the water?

    Just a thought...

    David

     

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