(no subject)

Ira Adams said"I fully agree that leaving lines of various types hanging
loose in the cockpit is asking for trouble. I'm sure this is true, but I am
recalling one occasion when I found it difficult to get out of my cockpit
(on landing) because some loose gear had shifted down around my feet while
paddling. Had I been upside down at the time, that might have been a panic
moment! Having loose stuff in the cockpit may be as hazardous as having
lines to hold things in place."

Ira, et al:

I too have experienced similar problems over the years. I finally tried deck
bags. I say deck bags in the plural, because I had two eventually rip off in
moderate surf launchings. I finally went to net bags on deck (one forward,
one aft) as these drain fast and allow waves to "flow through". I still
didn't trust my camera, GPS, cell phone and VHF out on deck, even in the net
bags. And I also did not want to have to open the skirt to retrieve items in
choppy seas from some type of cockpit bag, etc, so a normal knee tube was
out of the question too. I eventually came up with a design that looks like
an upside-down turtle shell. It is glassed under the fore deck and shaped
to fit between the knees. It has a drain plug, and is also padded for
comfort. I moulded a 4" hatch into the top deck, immediately above the "knee
tube". I used a good quality hatch, as the run of the mill 4" hatches leak
too much. So, sun screen, power bars, etc, go in the front net bag; paddle
float, survival poly bag, sponge and sandles (etc) go in the rear net bag.
And into the small hatch, easily accessible and 100% bombproof from waves,
go the valubles. Voila!

Doug Lloyd
Victoria BC

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