Doug, I was checking out all your deck rigging and I came up with a concern. Some months ago I was doing some roll practice at the local pool. I had a bow painter rigged up to my kayak. Normally this fits tight to the deck but after several rolls I didn't realize it had worked loose. On one of my rolls my paddle slipped under the line and snagged up. Fortunately I was able to see in the clear what was happening and managed to untangle the paddle and roll up. I wonder in looking at your pictures if any of your various deck lines could snag a paddle during a roll (especially your tethered deck knife)? Bob Sitka ------------------------------ Hey Rev, Check out my latest Nordkapp Picture Pages for some answers to your concerns. As far as the knife tether, no, it coils up and is not as cumbersome as it looks in the picture. I find coiled tethers (paddle tethers, etc.) the least problematic, as the spring effect of the coil generally allows enough slack to pull yourself and or part thereof, free. Bet my life on it. View new page at: <http://www.geocities.com/nordkappman/p3.html> I too got caught up in my bow painter while storm paddling in the eighties (but not in a pool). It was blowing about 35 knots with higher gusts, and a good 6 foot sea was running. I nosed around to the front of the Victoria breakwater (note, it is NOT called Liar's Breakwater) and caught some awesome and inhumane clapotis. Talk about all hell breaking loose. It was Hades at the wrong time of the month. Well, a big rogue came in, slammed the granite blocks, and raced out to hit the next incoming swell. I had positioned myself to be right at the sweet spot (after reading one of Hutchy's books that said to never go there), and sure enough, I was hurtled upwards, landing enough sideways to go upside down. This is much better done in a white water kayak, but it can be damn near (sorry, darn near) impossible to get out there without a fast moving sea yak. I new I had seconds before the next roller hammered me. I went to do a screw roll, but the bow painter line came out from the shock cord and wrapped around the shaft of the paddle on my good side. I could not roll up, and did not have the luxury of repositioning. I had to bail, with seconds to spare. I back-surfed the kayak and me out just in time. The angle of the swell was just enough to permit a swim back to safety. The breakwater is covered in barnacles, and can shred you in seconds. Who needs Moby Dick with these very real hazards. As it was winter, no one was around, so fortunately, no rescue calls went out. The police ticket people if they attempt to walk on top of the breakwater in winter storms, as the sparay shoots over the top, and people have been thrown into the sea (backside). I wonder if they would have ticketed me. Is it a sin if no one is looking? Anyway, I had a hard time swimming back in, because one of my contact lenses came out, and the awkward perception made it difficult to see where I was swimming. Funnily enough, as I sat in my car, heater on full blast (there's nothing like the combo effect of real cold heightened by nervous shivering to totally put the fear of God into you), I slowly warmed up. I felt a weird drying sensation on my cheek. I looked in the rear view mirror, and sure enough, it was my missing contact lens. Talk about a saline solution experience! As far as the Liar's rock posting, you should be ashamed of yourself. I got very excited reading it. Doesn't the Bible admonish us not to lead people into temptation? Doug Lloyd (Nordkapp driver, kayak formerly named "Rider on the Storm" -- now just called "Blustery Day", being a Pooh Bear thing my daughter came up with after the Storm Island fiasco). *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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