[Paddlewise] Night Lights

Someone on Paddlewise had requested I get back to them on night paddling
lights. I can't remember who. I had mentioned a light I'd picked up used, a
15W NightRider. I didn't use it in the end ;last Friday. I felt the risk of
shorting it out, outweighed the advantages of the reasonable amount of light
the fully submersible 4AA PrincetonTec headlight put out. As it turned out,
I didn't use it while actually paddling, now agreeing with Duane S. that
keeping one's night vision tight, without dilating-producing light sources
messing things up. When the dark wind squall hit, it got really, really ink
black (made be a bit edgy). I turned on the light, but it only helps you see
the wave slope immediately infront of you, not enough to make a huge
difference. Once your eyes dilate a bit, its hard to make out any remote
details left of landmass, nearshore zone, etc.

So for now, I'll just keep the PT unit attached to the surf helmet (and use
the NightRider for cycling/ night-mountain biking). The LED scanner in my
van was the saving grace for the evening. One off a bike, left on the dash,
would work well too, for finding one's way back to shore.

I see Gordin got out this Friday with the guys for a 3-hour night
paddle/Christmas lights viewing. The weather held off. My van got a flat
tire as I motored on down the street, out of my driveway. The spare was
rusted in, so I missed out on a nice, normal paddle with some nice, normal
guys. As I didn't want to leave my kayak on the roof of the van all night, I
had to carry it home. I found a new way of carrying my heavy boat. With the
paddle blade shoved into the cockpit all the way, and the other end
web-strapped to the back deck, it was very easy to do a shoulder lift of all
one-hundred or so pounds and more importantly, very easy to walk with by
simply holding onto the middle of the paddleshaft. (Gordin, off course,
figured the weight of my boat had caused the flat in the first place.
-)  ).

It's storming again tonight, part of a continuous stream of windy, wet weath
er this season. Seas are up to 8 meters tonight on the south coast of VI. No
paddling though, as family dragged me out for the Nativity play. As usual,
no one showed any conviction or passion about what they were doing. Then
again, so of us show too much.

Doug Lloyd
Victoria BC
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