Greg Stamer wrote: > > >Ralph Hoehn muses: > SNIP > >The main objection to the use of a tuiliq (as I understand it) is that it > >does relatively little to protect a paddler once s/he has ejected from the > >boat and is in cold water. I suppose the point of the tuiliq is that the > >likelihood of actually having to leave the boat is greatly reduced -- see > >the Petrussen article above -- and thus there is less need to be "dressed > >for immersion". Does anyone have any experience with self-rescue starting > >from the "Petrussen maneuver" position? It seems that the later stages of a > >re-entry and roll should work (as Greg Stamer infers in the article). > > Ralph, > > A tuiliq by itself is similar to a drytop and the full hood offers > excellent protection from the cold. In the 34 degree water temps in > Greenland last July, I usually wore a Goretex drysuit with a medium-weight > pile liner underneath my tuiliq, but a neoprene tuiliq by itself is quite > dry and very warm, assuming of course, that you stay in your kayak. I think what the other Ralph was pointing to was the fact that a tuiliq is basically a nightshirt-style garment with no real effective way of closing in the bottom. So in a spill you have cold water up into your torso area and down into your sleeves. A dry top, at least, has a semblance of a waist closure in a wide neoprene band that slows cold water movement up into the torso area. The tuiliq seems to have a wide temperature range. Richard Nonas, the sculptor whose exhibit I mentioned is starting this week, wears his tuiliq right through the summer months here in New York with air temperatures well into the 90s and water in the 70s. While the rest of us at the Downtown Boathouse are in light-colored tank tops and shorts, Richard is in his jet black tuiliq. I almost faint from the heat when I see him wandering around the dock getting his boat setup. Once on the water, he, of course, does some rolls or sculling to wet the garment and cool down. BTW, he does have several of the garments from Goretex to neoprene, so it isn't quite as bad as it seems. But that black Ninja color with the sun beating down on you and our high humidity certainly taxes even the best of Goretex. What worries me with a tuiliq is the sense of entrapment. With the hem of the garment drawn tightly around the cockpit coaming in a fiberglass boat, you have to be pretty certain you have enough moxie to hang out in your boat until you get help or can roll up in some way. Sprayskirts too are fitted tightly around the cockpit coaming but their material is stretched on. Most sprayskirts will release when you put enough tension on them as you start rising or falling from your seat. And you always have the front release strap to pull it away from the rim and pop it off. I don't believe the tuiliq has such a release strap. And with all the loose material of the garment, you have to do a lot of rising or falling from your seat before you can hope to come free from the cockpit rim. Since I have never tried using one, this all may be conjecture on my part or an expression of a primeval fear. Can anyone who has used a tuiliq on a fiberglass cockpit rim comment on how easy is it to do a wet exit in comparison to a nylon sprayskirt and a neoprene sprayskirt? ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Nov 29 2000 - 11:24:46 PST
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