josko

Is there a hair spray for porcupines?

FWIW, I'll be at Isle au Haut (camping at Duck Harbor) from 6/13-15. It'd be great to meet up with someone from this board.

How do folks feel about longevity of air mattresses? What's the chance of its puncturing partway through a trip ansd leaving one sleeping on the ground? Foam pads might be buklier, but they don't puncture.

Cathy, I'd like to send you a video clip showing tidal currents in the area, but apparently I don't have permission to attach a .avi file. If you can shoot me an email addess I'd be glad to send you the file. It's an animated map showing tidal currents every half hour.

What's the basic tradeoff between foam core and ribbed paddles? Is one more suitable for certain environments than the other?

I hope to be there.

I'm glad to read I'm not the only one breaking Ikelos's. I had understood that Lendal had morphed into Celtic, and was surprised to read lendal paddles were (still) available. What's the relationship between those two product lines?

While we're on the subject of charts: I need to have ~50 20" x 30" topo maps printed on a waterproof base, suitable for use on a kayak deck. While we plan to use (deck) chart cases, it would be wonderful to find a substrate that does not require them. I've tried out mylar and tyvek as media, with promising but not great results. Would anybody know where to get waterproof charts printed and what media would work well?

I've had good luck with these folks: http://mdnautical.com/211-nautical-charts

Kevin, was out in Woods Hole yesterday in decent conditions. I could take a day in the Wed - Sat. timeframe to paddle the hole again. Welcome to use my Woods Hole house for post-paddle warmup. I'd need to know 48 hrs in advance to clear my schedule on wekdays.

Parks Canada has compiled an excellent Polar bear safety video (DVD) oriented towards hikers in Polar bear cxountry. It is free from Parks Canada - I got a copy from the Torngat NP HQ: http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/nl/torngats/visit/secur.aspx They also have a polar bear pamphlet at: http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/mb/yorkfactory/securite-safety/ours-bear.aspx

Those bears seem very friendly...

Katherine, what bear-protection measures would you advocate?

I do use pogies, but in rough water prefer gloves so I can shift my grip.

I like NRS Maverick 'dry' gloves for winter paddling, but they're only lasting me ~40-60 hrs of paddling before getting large holes (on the inside of the fingers). Is that to be expected? I also have NRS Hydroskin neoprene gloves, and they are lasting fine, but are not nearly as warm. Is it something about my grip that's wearing these holes? I do paddle with a 60 deg feather, so there's a bit of shaft sliding in the hands at each stroke. I like the gloves, just hate to have to keep buying them. Suggestions?

Did anybody else notice how very red the dawn was this morning (2/18)? Over the horizon sun was reflecting very red off overrunning Stratus clouds. I don't think this quite fits with 'looking at a high' theory, but it was an exceptionally beautiful dawn ahead of some bad weather.

Try these folks for kayak trips out of Dubrovnik: http://www.adriatickayaktours.com/

I did talk to Russ Farrow at the Midcoast last year and read Nigel's book. Also, Rob Lemmon is taking a group uyp there this summer. There's tons of fascinating literature on the area; the staff at the Torngat National Park has been absolutely wonerful, friendly, and helpful. It should be a fun trip. Nigel Foster's book 'Stepping Stones' is a great read. His solo crossing from Baffin Island to Labrador is a fascinating illustration in how much personal risk some folks are willing to take.

Back to topic... to get my off side as good as my good side.

We are planning a ~4 week (on the water) trip in Northern Labrador in July-August '14 and may have room for an experienced paddler or two. Please contact me if interested.

A 'Zdarsky hut' is indeed a multi-person, floor-less shelter, sort of a big bag to wrap around several people to keep warm. Looking at it, though, it would seem that a sleeping bag/bivy sack would be much more effective for both keeping warm and rewarming someone. So I'm wondewring how those two complement each other.

I've been carrying one of those 'group shelters' aka Zdarsky huts, recently checked it out and concluded I'd be a lot better off in a sleeping bag and bivy bag. It's not that much more room in the boat. It got me to wondering whether those shelters still have a purpose, or whether we dutifully carry them for some other reason. What do people carry in the boat for a winter 'oh $hit' situation?

I like this book a lot and got a lot out of it. The terse, powerpoint style makes it hard to read cover to cover, but I found it a great reference when I'm stuck on a particular move or set of conditions. There's a lot of information in there.

I love my Hennessey expedition, particularly in the tropics, where it's often tough to find a level tentspace. I've carried it along Maine's seacoast but find precious few places to string it, and even when trees are available, soil on those islands is so poor I worry about uprooting trees. A tensioned, loaded Hennessey hammock puts one heck of a horizontal pull on the supports. While we're on gear, I tried out a Biolite campstove, with the idea of replacing gas fuel with twigs, and found it pretty much a joke as a camp cookstove, at least when compared to a white gas stove.

So can we go from 'Blonde Bombshell' to 'Entwife'? Congratulations Paula!