josko

Thanks for a great day, Paul.

You do realize that a type III PFD is not intended to turn an unconscious user face up...

I'm noticing a ton of surfski folks don't wear pfd's. I spoke to one recently, and learned that since they are leashed to their skis, the skis act as flotation (instead of a PFD). It looks like the same goes for SUP's??? Frankly, I never considered that being leashed to my kayak would absolve me from the need to wear a PFD. What am I missing here?

We'll be at Odiorne by 0900, with an Explorer and Pilgrim Exp. on the car. Can anyone suggest a cool breakfast place anywhere nearby?

Mel and I would like to join you. Is the trip you have in mind more of a Romany or Explorer type?

So I was thinking of putting up a sea kayaking poster in front of my office. Something that might catch the eye, draw folks in and get them to talk to me about sea kayaking. And maybe even try it. Trouble is, I can't even figure out what one might look like, (nevemind where to find one). So what would a poster embodying our sport show? Pretty sure it's not a dude going down a 100' waterfall, or in some mongo Welsh tiderace; also, someone floating in front of a small Maine island doesn't quite get it across. A Cape beach screams rec boat... So, is there an image that embodies your concept of sea kayaking? Oe that might recruit additional interest in what we do?

I know it's a long drive for north shore folks, but down near Woods Hole, water temp is still 65F, water clarity has jumped up remarkably, and there's tons of sea life around. Mel and I will be paddling out of Woods Hole both days, probably doing a (Cape Cod) canal to Woods Hole downwind surfing run one day, and playing in some of the Woods Hole tideraces the other. I also have three guest bedrooms; please p.m. me if you'd like to stay Sunday night.

Are there any (other) NSPN-ers going to the Gales? Might be fun to meet up.

This thread went in a lot of directions, but the basic question is still there: should a club (AMC, NSPN, RICKA,...) try to increase the dwindling munbers of 'serious' sea kayakers, and if so, how I tried to do something within AMC, and was disappointed. I see the manufacturers are trying to do what they can, (rom a standard marketing 'playbook), i.e. sponsoring team riders, symposia, and various evennts, but the nubers are dropping. There's an argument for doing nothing, and seeing a dwindling base. From some points, such as accessibility of MITA campsites and overall wildewrness experience, this is good, but will invariably reduce the number of meetups, symposia, and other organized events. Gear might get harder to come by and the development/improvement rate slow. Coaching will become less accessible. I'm still on the fence whether to let things be and enjoy the solitude (i.ie. lack of other kayakers) vs facing difficulties of getting together a group of competent folks to attack, say, Mddle Gound shoal ,the Plum Gut, or a local kayak symposium.

Thanks all - some great comments and advice here... I got into this mode looking to do something between long time-trial days. I just dodn't have it in me to do 20+ miles daily against a clock. So the idea was to take an 'in-between' day and work on technique for a couple hours, without racking up more than 3-4 miles. I quickly found that without help, I was repeating the same mistake over and over again, just solidifying bad habits. Realizing this, i tried to not just repeat the same move again, but consciously do something different. And it didn't really work. So I got to thinking about just how I would structure a practice session. Left to my own, in say a strong hydraulic, I revert to a set of comfortable moves, and don't really push the rest of the repertoire. If I consciously try to push it, it somehow still feels counterproductive. I agree with the comment I need to work with a coach, but can't afford a coach EVERY time, but that brings me back to the original problem. The short version is, I never expected that organizing a productive coupole-hour solo practice session would be so difficult.

Yeah, that was easy back in the 2* days. But, a week or so back, I missed a roll when I shouldn't have, so I told myself I need to get in some practice time. On one hand, it's easy to ennumerate: 6 good side rolls, 6 off side rolls, so many sculling rolls, so many times hanging in a hydraulic with just edging, so many rolls on a currnet seam, and so on... It just doesn't seem to converge to where I want to be headed.

I'm trying to firm up my fundamentals: rolls, edfing, sculling, hydraulcs, etc. so I'm making muyself do a half dozen current practice sessions. Trouble is, they kind of degrade as the session goes on: a couple flat water rolls, riding hydraulics, edging one way, then another, then a roll in a hydraulic, then... and then I kind of feel like going home without really accomplishing much. I feel I should get together some kind of a session plan and stick to it, but what exactly? So, if you were going to do a couple-hour practice session, how do you organize it? Let's say you wanted to work on edging and rolling in current. Any hints welcome. BTW, I see this in pool sessions a lot: people show up, do a couple rolls, couple skulls, and then wait around, trying things randomly until time is up.

Do you really need liability insurance for helping someone learn to roll, even if you're not charging any money for it?

We're meeting at Pie in the Sky at 0900 and will likely do a car spot and a downwind surfing run in Buzzards Bay.

Aqua seal didn't work for me. I was kind of hoping for a flexible neoprene patch - anyone?

I gave up on the AMC because I htink the club is much more interested in making money from their lodging operations and real estate than introducing people to the outdoors. They ARE willing to consider funding proposals to expand their member base, inlcuding sea kayaking; however, noone within the Boston chapter (sea kayaking) could come up with any ideas to propose.

I did not imply 'NSPN' by using the word 'Club'. If anything, I was thinking of AMC, but I fdidn't intend to be even that specific.

Is there a good way to patch or fill a 1/4" hole in a Snap Dragon neoprene spray skirt?

Just too far for me for a day trip... Thanks for the thought, though.

Mel's in Wales this weekend and I'm looking for paddling ideas. If anyone's got a trip or is up for company, let me know; if you feel like coming to Woods Hole, I'd be glad to host. Sunday looks windy, and a downwind surfing run (Wareham to Woods Hole or such) should be a lot of fun. (My apologies if this post is inappropriate).

I was involved in the windsurfer 'boom' from a team rider perspective: for a while, we had a HUGE amount of cash from gear sponsors running races, demo events, paying for mag. articles, flying people all over, and this 'in your face' approach sold a lot of gear, as we evolved from 12' Windsurfers, to slalom, distance, big wave ('guns'), small wave and a plethora of other boards and sail quivers exceeding a dozen for 'serious' players. Then one day, some marketing dude decided they'd saturated sales, and all the corporate marketing money got pulled virtually instantaneously. Wiundsurfing died. I bet there are still garages with a half-dozen boards and a dozen sails all over the cape (mine included). The marketing machine moved on. I saw this again with fly fishing gear around the tech boom. Again, 'the marketing machine' somehow convinced hordes of yuppies that flyfishing was a culturally most advanced form of fishing, and for a mere outlay of $3-$5k, they could show up and look down on all other fishermen. There were innumerable magazine articles about flyfishing places like Seychelles, and of course, one had to have a different ($500+) rod, for stripers, bluefish, albies, bonito, bonefish, tuna, sharks etc, etc. Then $1k reels, waders, racks, flies, travel...They sold a ton of that stuff, and then, just as abruptly, the marketing plug got pulled. Yuppie flyfishing died. I kind of wonder if same is happening now with SUP's, although I'm not involved first hand. I suppose it's capitalism in action, and as such, supposedly good. On the other hand, I know quite a few folks who still stick to windsurfing, and they are having a blast, with none of the access and similar issues that accompanied the boom. Would anybody comment on what drove the sea kayaking 'boom'?

Is this (demise of kayaking numbers) anything that we, as paddlers should be concerned about? I can't decide if I'd be having a better time with a, say, threefold increase of paddlers in my home waters. For a while I took it as granted that we'd all be better off if paddler numbers went up, but I don't understand why, now that I think of it. It's certainly nice to not have to worry if a MITA campsite will be occupied before our own party can get to it. Should we be doing anything to increase paddle rnumbers?

Down in my area (Cape Cod and 'the Islands'), I'm seeing a large decline in numbers of sea kayakers on the water over the last decade. I used to see groups paddling up and down the Elizabeths almost every weekend; there were groups 'playing' in the hole with equal frequency. This summer I don't think I've seen a single group, and the trend (over the past few years) is absolutely noticable. What gives? Are numbers of sea kayak paddlers really in decline, or is it somethig specific about this area? I think I'm seeing the same trend on MITA campsites in Maine, too, and the AMC (Boston) interest in paddling is dwindling.

Even in the day hatch, it feels like it's anchoring me to the earth. Wonder how long before we start counting ounces on towbelts, the way bicyclists do on derailers? On paddle efficiency: I'm convinced my Cyprus is 2min/hr slower than Ikelos (in calm water). So that's 3% (speed) difference and definitely noticable over ~dozen runs. So if the wing is 2% faster than my Ikelos, it should be absolutely noticable. I did try it with a Stellar mid wing a few seasons back, and found it was actually a hair slower, maybe. I'm sure my stroke is at issue, but I'm also finding the Epic mid a better match for me overall than the Stellar.