Inverseyourself

Thank you all for your helpful replies!

Could anyone please direct me to a source for Coast Guard (or other) kayak-ID stickers? Thanks Andy

What did Kevin win the paddle for? Who were the coaches? What were your experiences with them in terms of style of teaching? Did they poo-poo our mini-"tides"? Details, gentlemen, details, please!

Thanks, Jason. Did you apply the Bodyguard tape wet or dry? Are you using it in the area I intend to use it in? Andy

Congratulations, Cathy! Well deserved!

" they don't perform them in isolation and according to the textbook. I assume there is no conscious decision about using x or y, its just an instinctive flow. As craftsmen, their technique is an assimilation of mastered skills not a demonstration of mastered skills. You master the strokes not to use them, but to empower your ability to use the blade to accomplish a goal." Well put, indeed!

If you go to youtube and type in kayak slalom, there's a lot of Duffeking going on (I think) when they catch the current out of the slalom gates. Man, I call that maneuvering!

Here's something Duffek-ish:

I guess like everything else, it depends. Are you breaking into a fast current and need to turn the boat aggressively down current to reach a certain eddy or someone in trouble close to your side of the river? You'd use an aggressive edge and low brace probably wouldn't work. Leon Somme's Deep-diggety-dig is the extreme form of that. Are you turning the boat down current a little more leisurly? You could use a low brace just to get some support (which I do when I have not been in current for a while) or you could just use a forward stroke. Breaking out, it again depends on how aggressive you want or have to do it which brace you'll use. As Pru stated and as I also have been taught by John Carmody and Tom Bergh, the forward stroke is the most basic and - in my opinion - elegant solution for most maneuvers. I see myself going to braces, bow rudders, cross bow rudders and sometimes bow prys (pries?) and sliding draws (latter near rocks) way too happily, which is for me just an indication that I'm still very, very far away from mastering the art of maneuvering. All the fancy strokes, braces and rudders are very interesting to learn and analyze and I greatly enjoy them but it seems to me that the real masters use the most basic and yet most difficult stroke, the forward stroke, in most paddling situations. As Tom recently told me, there are 22 elements to the forward stroke. I didn't even dare ask.

Thank you all for your input. And thanks, Pru!

I would like to put some transparent "ISC Racertape" (used by bikers and car owners to prevent scratches) under the area under my foredeck bungees where I push my spare paddle shafts under. Have accumulated quite the surface abrasion there. I could put some extra layer of coating there but I'm too lazy for that and don't trust myself to do a good job. Does anyone have positive or negative EXPERIENCE with this? Does this or similar transparent adhesive tapes come off in marine environment? Can they be easily removed if they become too scratched up? Any positive experience with any particular brand? Unrelated to above: My compass deck plate has a (aft starboard ) screw loose. This allows the plate to come off a 12th of an inch or so, which allows sea water to enter under it and cause god knows what damage there in the future. Any solutions? Locktite? Anything more sophisticated? Would appreciate input greatly.

Exped DownMat XP 9 comes with included- in- price Schnozzle at REI

Doesn' the Exped come with a Schnozzel?

Mildly off topic, FWIW, a high-ranking East Coast coach stated during a BCU course last November that the whole red light saves your night vision thing is a myth. Not sure why they would use red light on the bridge in Navy surface vessels as well as submarines, at least in the movies. I (kind of) still believe in the myth, I have to admit.

Forget my last posting. I misread and seriously thought Jill and Jack would flop down and ride the ice penguin-style on their chests, sans kayak. Duh! In regards to friction coefficient: This may possibly decrease because of the higher pressure that Jack+kayak exert on the ice surface. In that case Jack might glide farther. However, I'm still sticking with same distance for both.

Also, even though Jack has more body surface on the ice than Jill, force of friction is independent of surface area between the "frictioning" objects.

Jack has more momentum (mass x vel.) at the same take-off speed as Jill but also has more force of friction because of his weight, assuming the friction coefficient is the same (i.e. they wear the same clothing material). My guess is that these two components cancel each other out and Jack and Jill end up sliding the same distance.

I just came across this:

I'd take pepper spray in the face over that voice any day!

Congratulations Robert. I was confident that you would pass. On to 5* now!!!!

What an inspiring trip report and pictures! Thank you Pru! The depicted landscapes are stunning but as others have said are probably eons more beautiful in real life! P.S.: What happened to photo # 74? Scary! A Welsh local demon, maybe?

We're getting off the original topic here with the subject of stretching (stretching muscles and ligaments that is, not stretching gaskets ) but it makies complete biomechanical sense that increased mobility in the shoulder joint through aggressive stretching can lead to shoulder positions in tricky situations (just because you can) that promote shoulder subluxation. That doesn't mean that one should race or paddle in conditions "cold", of course.

I "researched" it on paddling.net and the Astral website mentions that specific Camelbak 1.5 L system. Just looking at the concept of this, a dilated water bottle that is on the inside of your PFD, it makes more sense that it doesn't work than that it does. But I'm curious what others have found.

Mike: I looked at my Sea Wolf and found the previously unbeknownst to me setup you describe. I don't have an Antidote 1.5L but with my Kokatat hydration bag with the same volume there was quite a bulge pressing against my back when I put it there and strapped the 'Wolf tight. Did you try it with a full Antidote? It would indeed be much neater. I might get an Antidote for the heck of it and try it out. Has anyone else tried this?

Great, thorough Float Plan. I just want to mention one thing: Baldpate Hospital in Georgetown is a psychiatric hospital. They will treat you for paddling-related PTSD, claustrophobia, surfophobia, entrapophobia and rollophobia but not much else (guess how I know all this)!