PaddleWise by thread

From: Peter Osman <rebyl_kayak_at_hotmail.com>
subject: [Paddlewise] Wellingtons ? - Dressing in Tierra Del Fuego - 12 mile portage
Date: Fri, 05 May 2000 12:46:13 GMT
Dave Seng wrote
>Similar boots are quite popular among kayakers here in SE Alaska.
>Popularity does not always mean that they're the best solution
>though - they make swimming much more difficult.
Bill Newman wrote
>As for the foot gear part of your question be careful if you
>have long legs and big feet.  Very likely your Wellies won't
>fit into the kayak if it is a narrow Greenland style boat. SNIP
>and then for the really crazy part - portage 12 miles over the
>mountain pass
Dave Seng wrote
>Bill, Bill, Bill - I left the part about sideways rain out for a reason - 
>gotta give Peter a chance to make the trip first<grin>.
Andree Hurley wrote
>Cold, cold cold (as my grandmother used to say each word three times
>for emphasis. Windy as well. Big waves. SNIP Being from Australia it
>might be hard to imagine how cold


G'Day,

Thanks very much Dave, Bill and Andree for the advice. I do have long legs 
and big feet and will look out for the Chota boots and dry suits, (and will 
practice wearing them in the shower standing in a bucket of iced water :~).

The trip is a big deal being my first holiday in 15 years. It's organised by 
an Australian kayak company. They run it regularly for groups of 4 or 5. We 
sail from Punta Arenas through the Straits of Magellan to the D'Agostini 
fjord and the company has arranged for Pittaraks to be available. Some of us 
will stop at Easter Island and Tahiti on the way. There are no kayaks for 
hire on Easter Island so we may use foldables for a short paddle off the 
less challenging beaches, but this needs more research!

Horizontal 10degC rain and 40 knot winds! The trip leader mentioned all the 
seasons happening in a single day in that part of the world - sounds like my 
mis-spent youth logging in the snow and rain in midwinter - sounds almost as 
much fun as the cold showers under a hose on the mother yacht deck - but 
I'll avoid winds greater than 25 knots if at all possible.

Bill your expedition would be sorely tempting if I were more skilled, but 
the boss may want me back next year (then again maybe he won't:~)). Our 
local club were discussing your portage plans. The guess was that you might 
use plastic kayaks so they could occasionally be dragged? Would foldables 
such as the Klepper be practical? I'll gladly pass on any information/maps I 
find, (assuming its not proprietary to the kayak school).

All the best, PeterO

________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com

***************************************************************************
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/
***************************************************************************

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:13 PDT