Nick Lyle wrote > With either paddle or personal tethers the loads will equal whatever > force is required to suddenly accellerate the mass of your body, moving > against water resistance, pulled by a lunging object weighing 100 to 200 > pounds (for a loaded single). The lunging kayak could have hundreds of > pounds of water pressure acting on it. G'Day Thanks Nick. I'ld have to say that the Velcro loop on my surfboard tether would be unlikely to stand up to the forces you describe and my wrist certainly wouldn't. I tried to visualise a worst case based on your post. So if the paddler is behind a cresting wave and the kayak is fallling down the front of the wave then its a balance between drag on the paddler vs a 200lb kayak sliding maybe 2 metres through water, under gravity, at say 45 degrees. I've ignored the water pressure because surely this would act on both paddler and kayak. Can anyone visualise a more realistic worst case? Does anyone have figures for the hydraulic drag on paddlers or kayaks? Would a drogue be a reasonable model for the drag on a paddler? Phillip Torrens wrote > Right you are Peter, the problem of good and bad Velcro has puzzled Catholic > theologians for centuries. And I still want to know how many angels can dance on the bow of my Klepper - or maybe I'm hallucinating :-) All the best, PeterO *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
i've used the same paddle leash for 8 years. A coiled one of the type widely available from surf shops. has a fairly wide double velcro closure which has never failed even in trashings in big surf. It's very secure and the velcro sticks fast - maybe its the 'marine' version someone mentioned. it can be done up tightly enough so that it doesn't slide on the shaft (once my paddle was snapped by a big wave and the half tethered stayed tethered for the short time before I got to it). it does the job well, although it does go 'clack'. just connect leash to boat, leave it there and always attach paddle and you never have a problem of paddle/boat separation at sea. also if the paddle is always leashed one can drop the paddle at any time to do things quickly. Simple. when it finally wears out I'll probably make one from shock cord and an olive cleat (to secure to shaft). such a leash , as has been pointed out, is cheap and can be made in minutes from bits and pieces. Olive cleats are one of the world's great marine inventions, We use them to secure stuff such as deck bags, spare paddles etc to our decks - we've never seen them fail. I do keep the leash on in the surf . I've never had, nor seen, a problem with entanglement but have been glad of a tethered paddle when I've had to exit or lost my grip on the paddle. Does anyone have experience of entanglement? re the tow rope discussion - some of the examples seem a bit complicated and unecessarily bitsy. Simple is good in this department I reckon nick *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
-----Original Message----- From: Nick Gill <nicholas.gill_at_adfa.edu.au> <SNIP> >when it finally wears out I'll probably make one from shock cord and an olive cleat (to secure to shaft). such a leash , as has been pointed out, is cheap and can be made in minutes from bits and pieces. Olive cleats are one of the world's great marine inventions, We use them to secure stuff such as deck bags, spare paddles etc to our decks - we've never seen them fail. What is an olive cleat? >I do keep the leash on in the surf . I've never had, nor seen, a problem with >entanglement but have been glad of a tethered paddle when I've had to exit or >lost my grip on the paddle. > >Does anyone have experience of entanglement? I know of one case of a paddler going out through surf with a cord type leash attached. She was pummeled and while trying to exit the kayak got one thigh straped fast to the outside of the kayak (I'd guess the kayak was tumbling but the paddle acted more like a sea anchor so the cord wrapped around the kayak and was cinched up tight. She and the kayak tumbled into shore together and she had one heck of a bruise on her thigh as the result. I reported on this in an early edition of Sea Kayaker. Oh, let me add my me too to Dave Krugers analysis of the forces involved and the warning to untether in surf (or while trying to land in a hurry). I have my leash on the paddle but only attach it to the kayak if the wind might blow the kayak away faster than I could swim after it. And I carry a spare where one could come in handy but not usually if I'm just out on the local in city lake. Matt Broze http://www.marinerkayaks.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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