Just wanted to introduce myself and my paddling partner, that is my wife! My name is Tord S Eriksson and my wife's is Ann-Christine. Both are around 50, and both have extensive out-door experience, for my wife much of it spent in canoes paddling the waters of Sweden, and for me it has been a lot of trekking in the Scandinavian mountains, with a few stints in kayaks, the longer along the Hvga Kusten ("The High Coast") which offered spectacular views and grand sea-paddling in various kayaks from Vitudden, and an old Navy Klepper Aerius II. Three glorious weeks, indeed! For me there then was a twenty years hiatus, where other interests, like motorbiking, took over, until a severe motorbike accident forced me to consider a life in a wheel chair instead. But, after lots of toil and 10+ operations, I was back at my work (eight years later), found a woman who rekindled my appetite for outdoor life (I had spent a lot of the intervening years flying models and editing an outdoor magazine, which not quite qualify as outdoor activities, but almost). We got our own Klepper Aerius II late last summer and had a few nice paddles in the surrounding waters, both lakes and estuaries, and in October we went for a paddle near Fort William, Scotland! Just a perfect end of a short paddling season. So this year we're going to circumnavigate Skye in our Klepper, our beloved folding kayak. Hopefully we'll see whales, porpoises, seals and otters, not to mention a lot of the flying fauna! But the first outing this year became very, very memorable! To put it short, I just remail a mail I sent the very same day (slightly corrected, with official water and air temperatures, et cetera): ==================================== Hi all, I recently praised the stuff from Chillcheater in the UK, and today it definitely saved my life, and my wife's! While paddling in +3C waters at sea near our home, we somehow turned topsy-turvy and were for a few secs totally immersed in the ice-cold water. Slowly the Chilcheater dry cag, and dry trousers filled with water, but it was actually after getting onto a little reef the cold really took hold - it is now a few degrees below freezing, so it was about two degrees then. The kayak drifted downwind while we swam towards the the nearest rock - a length swim time-wise, as the clothes and wading boots slowed our process to snail pace, but just a hundred yards, or so. We tried to raise help from the shore - eventually a fishing boat, saw our predictament! It was piloted by Henry, a veteran 76 years old, who had scuttled thrice in his 62 years as a fisherman - once he was the sole survivor, so our adventure didn't impress him one bit! Henry expertly manouvred his boat close to us and we could just step onboard, not much strength left by then. With the aid of a guy in a small open boat we managed to take the folding kayak, that had drifted a half a nautical mile downwind, on tow. Getting the waterfilled boat out of the water proved to be a major problem, so we'll invest in an electric bilge pump as soon as possible! But we eventually got it out, after my wife had pumped a few hundreds of water out of it - I was just too shaky to do much just then. She sat there with her feet immersed in the freezing water, pumping and pumping! Eventually she was too cold to do any more, and with the help of bystanders we got it out. All stuff were eventually retrieved, some more soggy than other - the alarm button to the car died totally, so we had to get a spare, in the other end of town, which took a lot of time, of course! So, we are still in one piece, if terribly sore, totally thanks to Chilcheater in Devon, UK! Yours, Tord ========================================= Addendum: We turned topsy-turvy in a second, or so, while we both were looking towards the shore and pointed, with the seas coming from port - not a brilliant idea in the first place, and we were very lightly loaded, so the stability was marginal, to boot! We now have the bilge pump installed - with associated heavy-duty, sealed, lead-acid battery, and the minor damage the kayak's frame sustained when we tried to lift it, partly water-filled, over a two meter high quay-side, has been repaired and we have moved the seats down quite a bit (2", 5 cm). Hopefully that will improve things a lot! Other mods are bigger rudder (balanced) and simpler method of installing the rudder padels assembly! A solar panel will charge the sealed lead-acid battery, which also will be used to charge various items so essential in modern life, like GPS! *************************************************************************** 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 13/4/04 23:29, Tord Eriksson at tord_at_tord.nu wrote: > > I recently praised the stuff from Chillcheater in the UK, > and today it definitely saved my life, and my wife's! > When in Ireland and the UK last year attending three symposiums, I tore the neck gasket on my drysuit on the first day of a months paddling! Chris Reed of Chillcheater installed a replacement, using their own "fuzzy rubber" material, and it has been perfect. To demonstrate the material's strength, he handed me a piece and a kitchen fork, and invited me to damage it. The outcome, a fork WILL penetrate your Chillcheater garment, but only after a prolonged, frenzied attack, so be careful at meal times. After having two rubber neck gaskets turn into black goo, and then tearing one, I now know that the Gore-Tex fabric and the zip are the weakest points on my drysuit. No affiliation to Chillcheater, etc. JKA -- John Kirk-Anderson Banks Peninsula NEW ZEALAND *************************************************************************** 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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