> Do you have 'Yank' > exotics taking over Australia, yet, Peter? Don't know about where Peter is but here in Tas, just down the road from were I live we have a very very eccentric "Yank" vineyard owner, does that count? :-) In the local "village" there are some 100+ year old Redwoods. A local hardware shop owner wanted to expand his business and wanted to cut these trees down because "A" they are in the way and "B" they are diseased. There were people in the community jumped up and down saying they were a part of our heritage etc, etc and the council then put a stop to the hardware expansion. Weird!! > How much weight would an iron plate add to my boat? Try some Mithral (obscure Lord of the Rings reference) Had the kayak out again.... that's twice in as many days and going out again on Wednesday... does this mean I'm hooked again. It was an interesting paddle this time because I left late evening (gets dark here about 9:30 at the moment) and got back around midnight. On the river were I paddle I have to go through a section called Whirlpool Reach. It is a fairly narrow section of the river and the current runs through there at up to 7 knots and I have seen whirlpools in there over 25 ft in diameter. In the day light you can see them forming and you just grit your teeth and brace yourself a little tighter and keep paddling. The water surges and whirlpools move the boat about a fair bit and the reach is maybe 2-300 meters long. Its ok at the turn of the tide on the slack water but I never seem to catch that :-( Any way at night you can't see them so you don't know that you have hit them until the boats takes a dive to one side or the other. Now on the way back through the reach in the dark I was thinking about the fact that I could not see the whirlpools forming and because of this I was a lot more relaxed in the boat, taking brace action only when the boat dived to the side. I think it is actually easier to get through of a night than it is during the day. Just as a matter of interest who has wooden/plywood boats. Seems all the talk is about glass or plastic and folders. I have a glass double affectionately known as the barge and 2 stich and glue ply boats which are fantastic boats to paddle, I also had a Wee Lassie lapstrake canoe that I built which was beautiful but I sold it. I also have a Baidarka frame which I must finish some day soon. A set of plans for a Laughing Loon NorthStar which I must start one day soon. I make my own Aluet style paddles, sew up my own spray skirts, make my own sails and rudders and I built a couple of little carts for the kayaks yesterday that fit nicely into the rear hatches. I just like fiddling and building things:-) Cheers Wilky Who keeps forgetting to check the "To" address when doing a reply. PS Marinell, the river I'm on is a 30 mile long tidal river. I will hunt up some photos for you. *************************************************************************** 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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