Paddlewisers, Recently, I purchased a Drift Stopper sea anchor. With more adventures planned at the Channel Islands in Southern California, which are famous for strong winds, I am planning to use the sea anchor for taking breaks when heading into the wind, and if worst comes to worst, to slow myself down if I have the misfortune of getting blown off an island and out to see. It will also be nice for slowing down my drift while fishing. Like any new piece of kayaking equipment, I have been testing it out and practicing with it to discover its effectiveness, limitations and most importantly, liabilities. I began using it as instructed by the manufacturer and was very displeased. The problem was how the sea anchor sat in the stored position on the deck. When the nylon straps that held the storage bag on deck became wet, they expanded, causing the storage bag to flop around too much when waves washed over the deck. Sometimes the bag even hung over the side a bit. The tightening strap is too far forward to reach myself while in the cockpit, but I had a partners tighten it on the water, and it still flopped around a lot. Also, there were way too many straps and lines on the deck, which just seemed unsafe. That storage bag was just too much windage too. Deploying the sea anchor wasn't very smooth either. The looped line usually become tangled and slowed deployment. Also, I was concerned about the chute being in the air towards the bow during deployment and retrieval, possibly catching the wind, inflating and causing havoc. This never happened, but the potential seemed to be there, especially in a strong wind. Even worse, when bringing the chute back on deck, it had to hang from one side of the bow while the water took a few seconds to drain form it. This much weight to one side made the kayak a bit difficult to balance in choppy water while the bow was going up and down in the waves. I solved these problems by doing away with the storage bag and its straps. I simply put the main chute line through the front pad eye that is used for the front toggle. Then the line is tied around the cockpit, as recommended by the manufacturer. The chute is stored by collapsing it and folding it in half, wrapping the remaining line around it, and tucking it all under the front bungees. This makes for very little windage and very few lines on the deck. To deploy it, all I do is unwrap the line from around the chute, stick the chute directly in the water, and the wind does the rest. To retrieve, all I do is paddle forward to the float that is attached to the chute by the manufacturer, pull the float and chute out of the water, fold the chute, wrap the line around it and tuck it all under the bungees. Before making these modifications to the Drift Stopper system, it seemed that there were too many liabilities, and I considered not even using the sea anchor because of it. But with these modifications, it seems to work fine. I was wondering what kind of experience other Paddlewisers have had with the Drift Stopper and other sea anchor systems. I would especially like to hear form Arthur Hebert, who I believe used a sea anchor on his solo crossing of the Gulf of Mexico. Duane Strosaker http://members.aol.com/pirateseakayaker *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Duane wrote; >I began using it as instructed by the manufacturer >and was very displeased. First I'd like to state that the Drift Stopper was not a sponsor on the Gulf Expedition. I paid full price for both sea anchors used. One was purchased four years prior to the expedition. It would be almost impossible to say that any one piece of equipment was the most valuable. For long crossings a sea anchor is a VERY valuable piece of equipment / safety tool. Almost no tweaking was done to the original design of the Drift Stopper. I was very pleased with the results of the design. Of course I haven't found any piece of gear that is flawless or could be improved on to suite ones individual needs. >The problem was how the sea anchor sat in the >stored position on the deck. When the nylon straps that held the storage bag >on deck became wet, they expanded, causing the storage bag to flop around too >much when waves washed over the deck. Sometimes the bag even hung over the >side a bit. The tightening strap is too far forward to reach myself while in >the cockpit, but I had a partners tighten it on the water, and it still >flopped around a lot. Also, there were way too many straps and lines on the >deck, which just seemed unsafe. Having two sea anchors with an age difference several years apart there was a difference between the too. The older one having more wear was more pliable. This extra flexibility allowed for easier deployment and retrieval. As far as the "flopping around" this problem may vary with different designs of kayaks (i.e.; how close the forward bungiee system is to the bow). What I did to minimize the flopping was to run the strap from the smaller end of the storage bag under the deck bungies before reaching its manufacture supplied deck cleat. Tucking the strap under the bungies helped to stabilize the straps. After attaching the bow end of the storage bag I really have to put a serious tug on the stern strap to attach it to the supplied deck cleat. With all that said there was some movement in the storage sack but not so much that I would say it was flopping around. Surly it never hung over the side. >That storage bag was just too much windage >too. Anything on the deck will produce some windage. It's just how much are you willing to trade off compared to the benefit the windage problem gear is providing in other areas. >The looped line usually >become tangled and slowed deployment. Never had the line becoming tangled. To coil up the line I would wrap it around my hand. (the knuckle area). After completion of the coiling I could easily slip it off my hand. I relize this sounds a bit unsafe but it never caused a unsafe situation even in bad seas. >Also, I was concerned about the chute >being in the air towards the bow during deployment and retrieval, possibly >catching the wind, inflating and causing havoc. This never happened, but the >potential seemed to be there, especially in a strong wind. I've deployed the chute in 30 plus knot winds and never had that problem. The potential may be there but I don't think the chute could ever get airborne before the water would grab and deflate it. >Even worse, when >bringing the chute back on deck, it had to hang from one side of the bow >while the water took a few seconds to drain form it. This much weight to one >side made the kayak a bit difficult to balance in choppy water while the bow >was going up and down in the waves. > >I solved these problems by doing away with the storage bag and its straps. I >simply put the main chute line through the front pad eye that is used for the >front toggle. Then the line is tied around the cockpit, as recommended by >the manufacturer. The chute is stored by collapsing it and folding it in >half, wrapping the remaining line around it, and tucking it all under the >front bungees. This makes for very little windage and very few lines on the >deck. Sounds like a good idea but............... Yes, you do have to wait a couple of seconds to let the water drain. Would it not be best to have the extra weight on one side closer to the bow in lieu of midship for stability? Would it not be safer if retrieval procedure had to cease before completion if the chute was being pulled in at the bow in lieu of midship? Sounds like it may be a dangerous situation to have not only the line but also the chute near the functional area of your paddle if conditions warranted some type of evasive action. One reason I liked the Drift Stopper system is the bulk of the unit was kept well away from the valuable reachable space in front of my cockpit. I had a seriously cluttered deck during the Gulf Expedition, go figure. Every square inch that I could reach with my hands while in the cockpit was extremely important. Arthur Hebert *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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