Doug, Thanks for your message. To respond... >>There >are times when I use one only to prevent sunburn.)<< > >Sounds almost like a washdeck kayak philosophy, in term of what the >Tsunami Rangers use to avoid the dreaded "have to bail the cockpit now" >conundrum - don't have cockpits. You almost have the same thing... Almost, but we still have the protection against cold, wind, etc. that a deck offers, as well as chart table, and so on. I did experiment with an open cockpit Voyager. Very wet, and without belt or thigh braces when I braced into a wave I stopped and the boat kept moving. >... This >minimum volume thing is one of my "ultimate" backup strategies, one I >came to a conclusion about a few years ago after talking with Paul >Caffynn, after he told me about how the Tasmanian guys set their boats >up. I built a number of boats with the Tas side bulkhead system. Very effective, easy to make, since the bulkheads are all flat shapes, and they also stiffen the boat in the cockpit area. Long lengths of join, though. Years ago (late 70s) Alan Byde sent me one of his 'pods' cut into little pieces: a 3D jigsaw puzzle. I've changed the seat area completely, and it's now the only form of cockpit I build. (Details of Voyager internals are at <users.senet.com.au/~pcarter/voyager.html> and I've added a new diagram.) Gives a much better internal finish, as well as being lower volume. Being a complex shape, it does take longer to develop, and putting everything together can be interesting, which is probably why manufacturers avoid it. Paul Caffyn and his colleagues developed what amounts to the aft end of this idea, putting the seat and aft bulkhead together, as in the Arctic Raider. Still full width ahead of the seat, though. >Some of the doubles are so bad around here, that water sloshing about >inside will blow the bulkheads out. Not good. Definitely not. There was (still is?) a commercial double here which had only two bulkheads: the whole cockpit area was one compartment. One I saw had two high-capacity electric pumps, and I doubt whether they would really cope. >Just one last note on the Reentry and Roll: Some say it is too difficult >to do in a cold sea, and that is why the Ozzies can get away with it, as >it tends to be a bit warmer in your geographical locality. Yet, the R&R >is popular in the UK, which is anything but warm. Funny, isn't it? I think our Tasmanian waters could be as cold in winter as the UK (I've paddled in Tas only in summer). I think it's a case of attitude: caution, skill, using the minimum of (well designed) equipment. >I would like to thank you for your letter to SK magazine awhile back >supporting your contentions. Maybe a few paddlers up here took notice. I had several messages from people in N America, so the letter stirred some thinking, as intended. >Keep up the good fight. As for ballasted keels? That's kind of a weighty >subject. Thanks. An interesting subject though. I have my eye on a couple of diving weights. Cheers, Peter pcarter_at_acslink.net.au allegedly <www.acslink.net.au/~pcarter> temporarily <users.senet.com.au/~pcarter> 34deg 55' 24.1" S 138deg 32' 9.8" E (GDA-94) *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sat Jun 03 2000 - 15:30:40 PDT
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