Re: [Paddlewise] Down Wind Sails and Drogues

Elaine Harmon wrote:
> 
> Hi
> 
> I thought sea anchors went in front, to stabilize you in a bad situation,
> and drogues went in back, to keep you going straight, and were smaller
> than sea anchors. And I also have assumed that either should be fastened,
> or led away, from the very end of the boat, not near the cockpit? So I'm a
> bit confused.

It does sound confusing.  The sea anchor indeed goes off the bow end but
it lies on your foredeck when not in use.  It needs to be attached to
some place near you in the vicinity of the cockpit in order for you to
be able to retrieve it on to the deck.  That near-cockpit attachment
point is under a lot of stress and should be pretty solid.

The Boulter of Earth one has a neat large ring at its attachment point
on the bow that draws the sea anchor into a nice tight bundle inside of
a nylon sleeve.  The 30 feet (or whatever it is) of line that runs from
your boat to the sea anchor is coiled under a velcro strap within reach
of you.  Also next to you somewhere the end of that line is attached to
a some webbing that is in turn attached to a solid point that will bear
all the weight and pressure of the sea anchor in action.  Also near you
is the sea anchor's float which is attached to the sea anchor by a short
line and is near you.

To deploy from its sleeve, you first loosen the velcro holding the long
sea anchor line.  You then pull on the float, which in turn pulls the
sea anchor from its sleeve through that ring at the bow.  You let go of
the float and your boat moves backwards until the sea anchor catches. 
The sea anchor's line has gone out through that bow fitting and there is
a straight line of force or tension going from the sea anchor through
the line, through the bow fitting to the attachment point near you.  
> 
> And another question: I feel I need a sea anchor and am having trouble
> finding the Boulter of Earth Drift Stopper. Can someone post a phone
> number of a mailorder place that sells it? BoE aren't answering their
> email. I'm about to give up and build the military-flare-parachute anchor
> as I've found them readily available. 36" diameter was recommended; is
> that about the same size as the Drift Stopper? (The parachutes are $5-$10
> depending on size and condition.)

You might try the New York Kayak Company, 1-800-KAYAK-99 since I have
seen it in the shop and they will phone order.  The Drift Stopper is
specifically made for kayaking and is superior to those cheapo military
surplus things in terms of making a nice tight package, having all the
hardware in the right place for a kayak deck, and ease of deployment and
retrieval.

One can, of course, do stupid things with the Drift Stopper even with
all its special help you get from it.  And I have made every one of the
possible mistakes in first using one.  Example, I once just took the
float and tossed it out on the water.  Of course, that was not enough to
pull the sea anchor from its tight storage sleeve and looked pretty
silly.  Another time, I pulled the float and line but failed to loosen
the velcro holding the 30 feet or so of sea anchor line.  So I had the
sea anchor just inches from the front of my boat.  Another time as I
came up to retrieve it, I got the sea anchor wrapped around the bow of
my boat like an octupus.  So it is worthwhile practicing and imagine me
making all the mistakes and laughing at them in order not to do the
same.

ralph diaz
-- 
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Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter
PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024
Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com
"Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag."
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