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Inverseyourself

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Posts posted by Inverseyourself

    Paddle Length

    in General Message Board

    Posted

    Pics of a 215cm Corryvrecken vs. a 220cm Toksook to show that the shorter paddle has a longer shaft.

    Thanks for the pic, Michael. I'm trying to figure out what this means in practice. Of course, these paddles are for very different styles, the Tooksook a cruising paddle for lower angle style, the Corry an aggressive high angle surf/lumpy water paddle. Now, if one assumes that a certain paddler gets the Tooksook blade completely immersed (maybe even more than that depending how "wingy" he paddles) with each stroke (let's leave aside the style to achieve that), as a paddle blade should be, shortening the Corry-shaft to at least the Tooksook shaft length or even shorter (accounting for high angle) should immerse the Corry's blade fully - i.e. give you what you want from your paddle. The Tooksook's shaft length looks (I didn't check online) at least 10 cm longer than the Corry's. You would then end with an overall ~ 205 paddle and should still be fine if you comfortably paddle a 215 cm Tooksook. That certain paddler could then conclude that he is paddling way too long a Tooksook. I guess what that all means is that you should compare shaft length, not overall paddle length, because in the end you will immerse the paddle to where it meets the shaft and the distance from hand to blade should remain the same across paddles once you have found that very distance for yourself. You probably said that all along Michael but I had to clarify it for myself. Of course I could be way off with above analysis and wasted 10 minutes of my time and 3 (?) minutes of any reader's.

    Cloudy skies this past weekend - not enough stars shining

    in General Message Board

    Posted

    I can do acute seasickness leading to projectile vomiting with violent convulsions leading to simultaneous bilateral shoulder subluxation leading to capsize leading to entrapment leading to (after successful hand of god) extreme, confused combativeness and general rambunctiousness and malevolent behavior for the remainder of the rescue all the way through simulated choking at the 3PO.

    I think that at the level of 4* and above, "failing" is just, as you said Rob, identifying your weaknesses and working on them for the next assessment. In that sense, your 4* assessment was just another training course.

    4* is probably something that one doesn't want to "just" pass (not saying you would have "just" passed). All you have after that are 4 * to your name and maybe not enough skill to do what you're supposed to do, lead (unless you become an undercover 4*).

    Andy (who's working on 1*)

    Paddle Length

    in General Message Board

    Posted

    "With the longer length it seemed like it was harder for me to get the blade out of the water soon enough so I was lifting more water".

    Lorrie, you raise an interesting point. We know that a high angle style is more efficient than a long angle style. Of course, one has to be careful not to maintain the same distance of the paddle from the boat throughout the paddle stroke since this will lead to one lifting too much water upon paddle exit, especially if latter is too far behind the hip, which is accentuated by a longer paddle. Lifting water can also be avoided by paddling "wing-paddle-style". Does anyone here use their regular paddle like a wing paddle (similar, not identical of course)?

    Paddle Length

    in General Message Board

    Posted · Edited by Inverseyourself

    My Celtic paddle adjusts from 210-220 cm. I have been progressively reducing length. 215 is the upper limit of what this, not exactly short-torsoed or short-armed, high-angle paddler will use, but I may go down to 210 cm in the future. Like Gene said, arm-length to torso-length ratio is overlooked in the paddle length recommendations by most companies (assuming that we all use kayaks ~ 21-22" beam and not freighters). It also depends on the blade size (bigger blade --> shorter shaft) and what you do with it. When catching waves, I shorten my paddle a little because I want to use a higher cadence for spurts.

    NSPN in the Currents at Cohasset, Sunday August 24, 2014

    in Trip Reports

    Posted

    Cathy, Pru, Dan and Bob:

    Thanks to all of you for a truly perfect day on the water. Cathy, thanks for initiating and tide-planning this trip and great job on visibly progressing in your level of boldness over the course of the day. Pru, as always, your trip reports are the cherry on top and nice first combat rolls! Dan, great pictures and sweet standing wave-surfing! Bob, your Nordkapp was definitely the toughest boat to paddle in current. Congrats on staying upright more than I did in my fits-all-skills boat! As for my part, Pru, I think "a thousand failed braces" describes it better :)

    Hope you're already planning the next Cohasset trip for the coming fall, Cathy.

    Andy

    emergency repair kit

    in Boat repair, outfitting

    Posted

    Epoxy putty and Seal-Eaze (similar to window squares I guess) in my vest for small to medium holes. I can get that out in seconds and start working on a boat on the water if need be (probably not necessary most of the time but good to have just in case). Seal-Eaze works on a wet surface. I have most of what Rob put in his posting (except skeg-related stuff, which I would only bring on an expedition) in my day hatch.

    Low-probability/High-consequence Wet Exits

    in General Message Board

    Posted · Edited by Inverseyourself

    I have experienced the panic induced by a non-removable sprayskirt during a pool session. Since then I practice wet exiting with the loop tucked inside and out, with gloves and without. I only have one boat and use the same sprayskirt but whenever I get a new boat or new sprayskirt I will practice with the new combination. Different water temperatures may also affect the ease with which you can remove the skirt, either due to cold-induced clumsiness or cold-induced increase in grip of the sprayskirt on the coaming. Practicing with all these variables with eyes closed also helps.

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