G'Day, Great day on the harbour today. Set out at 07:00 and a guy asks for help with his boat, which is identical to mine. We admire it for a minute then he tells me he's just bought it. I ask if he can roll, and he says no so explain this is a boat that you can't reenter in choppy water unless you have a friend, a roll, or a paddlefloat (or something). Recommend he should buy a paddlefloat. Start out with my mate Johnno to Manly and we pass Dobroyd Head and see two kayakers - one in the water boat, upside down, the other right way up and doing nothing. He's doing nothing they must be OK we think, then the immersed kayaker tries to get in and falls out again. We paddle over and the poor fellow is being pushed on to the rocks in an 8 foot long "recreational" kayak with no flotation, no spray skirt, no hooks for towing, no life jacket, clearly no training and the boats 3/4 full of water. So we pull him away, empty the boat, get him back in and tell him how to add flotation and suggest lessons. At that point I wish I had a whole set of books including Deep Trouble to give him. He is a bit shocked so we keep the suggestions simple. Now in case anyone might think I'm an expert (and anyone who reads my posts or knows me will understand how ludicrous that would be) off we go to find some choppy water near Middle Head for rolling practice with Johnno as lookout. The first couple are fine and then I start to blow them, normally I don't, can't think why but revert to my beloved Paddlefloat assisted reentry and roll. Bless the day someone on Paddlewise told me to keep a leg in the boat while setting up the float, huge difference in speed and comfort and Johnno comments on how much less like a disabled walrus I look than last time. But why am I blowing the rolls? It turns out my new non draining, non waterproof deck bag has slowly filled with about 3kG of water. Worse, it was only held by bungee and was dangling off the boat like a very effective sea anchor!!! Physician heal thyself!! What advice should I give me!!!!! All the best, PeterO *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Hi Peter, While I have never been drawn to deck bags personally due to aesthetic concerns, I had my first experience with them this past October. Our club was at Squam Lake (of On Golden Pond fame) for a foliage tour with lots of intermediate level paddlers. Some pretty stiff winds (35 knots) were forecast for the day but based on the configuration of the lake it was a perfect opportunity for everyone to get some high-wind practice. We started out down wind just fine while the fetch was short but once the wind waves had a chance to build things got pretty interesting. This one paddler was broached, by the wind I presume, and once sideways to the waves soon capsized. Water was still warm (60 degrees or so) and there were lots of paddlers around so he was in no real danger. I went in for the rescue, I'm a pretty big guy so I usually find it faster to do my assisted-rescues without any assistance from the swimmer. I hauled his bow up to drain the boat and spun the boat hull down as the boat falls out of my hands. Before I could get both hands back on the boat to pull it parallel to mine it overturned again! This had never happened to me and I was more than a little embarrassed so I quickly drained the boat again, asked the swimmer to keep his hands off the boat and spun it hull down a second time. Before I could get both hands back on the boat it was upside down yet again! Now I was getting irritated. I hauled the bow up for the third time, asked the paddler to let go a second time and started to spin the boat hull down (for the last time, I prayed). This time I found a way to spin the boat without completely letting go with both hands but once right-side-up the deck bag full of water made it nearly impossible to keep the boat upright given the way I was holding the boat. We finally got the swimmer back in his boat and then to shore but I will never forget how difficult I found it to do the assisted-rescue-without-assistance on a narrow boat with a deck bag in strong winds and 2+' chop. Just another scenario to practice in the future I guess. Good Luck with your deck bag. Jed -----Original Message----- From: PeterO Bless the day someone on Paddlewise told me to keep a leg in the boat while setting up the float, huge difference in speed and comfort and Johnno comments on how much less like a disabled walrus I look than last time. But why am I blowing the rolls? It turns out my new non draining, non waterproof deck bag has slowly filled with about 3kG of water. Worse, it was only held by bungee and was dangling off the boat like a very effective sea anchor!!! Physician heal thyself!! What advice should I give me!!!!! *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
On Sat, 26 Jan 2002, PeterO wrote: > ... off we go to find > some choppy water near Middle Head for rolling practice with Johnno as > lookout. The first couple are fine and then I start to blow them... > But why am I blowing the rolls? It turns out my new non draining, non > waterproof deck bag has slowly filled with about 3kG of water. Worse, it was > only held by bungee and was dangling off the boat like a very effective sea > anchor!!! > > Physician heal thyself!! What advice should I give me!!!!! Reminds me of my Instructor Exam. We were headed out into the Triagle at Tybee Island, GA, which was kicking with big clapotis, so we had helmets. But the waves are half a mile away, so my helmet is clipped to the deck until I need it. Dale says do 3 rolls for me. I had planned to start with a C-to-C, then do a sweep, and then do a headstand, just for variety. But the first roll is ugly, slow, and hard. The second barely gets me up, with a lot of layback. The third flat won't work, and soon I'm the designated victim so the other guys can show off their rescue skills. What's up with this? Twenty minutes later, I'm ready to put my helmet on...and the straps are yanked out of one side, the rivet pulled through the plastic. The bad news: dang helmet had sea-anchored me upside down. Good news: my hipsnap is stronger than I thought. Steve Cramer *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
The only thing on the deck of my kayak is my chart. I have seen people capsize in surf because a wave has hit their deckbag and knocked them over. I have also seen people with so much unnecessary gear on their deck that their boat looks like the blue light special table at a K-Mart. My paddlefloat and pump are tethered to the seat and stored inside the cockpit between the seat and the hull. My water is in a Camelback that I wear, and anything else I might need is either in my day hatch or behind my seat. Besides, gear on the deck of a kayak ruins its beautiful lines. (gr) Steve Holtzman ----- Original Message ----- From: PeterO To: 'Paddlewise' Sent: January 25, 2002 10:29 PM Subject: [Paddlewise] Great day on the harbour or physician heal thyself!! It turns out my new non draining, non waterproof deck bag has slowly filled with about 3kG of water. Worse, it was only held by bungee and was dangling off the boat like a very effective sea anchor!!! Physician heal thyself!! What advice should I give me!!!!! *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
From: "Steven A. Holtzman" <sh_at_actglobal.net> > My paddlefloat and pump are tethered to the seat and stored inside the cockpit > between the seat and the hull. My water is in a Camelback that I wear, and > anything else I might need is either in my day hatch or behind my seat. No spare paddle? Mike *************************************************************************** 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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