Re: [Paddlewise] Surf Drogue

In a message dated 1/2/2005 5:45:10 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, 
kiayker_at_sbcglobal.net writes:

I had instructors in college who made buying the books THEY wrote for the
class, which were tremendously over priced, AS WELL AS the recommended text
book mandatory. Funny thing is we never seemed to actually need the book the
instructor wrote for the class at all. This does nothing to improve my
opinion of certification for sea kayakers.




Scott,
 
once in a while I'm a conspiracy theorist, too. ; ) I have a couple of those 
text books on my shelves. The small drogue he made has at least half of the 40 
bucks he charged me with tied up in the Wichard snaphook, that retails for 
20-22 at Westmarine. I use those on my regular tow lines, not cheap, but 
definitely my favorite. The drogue itself is small, about 12 inches, but well made. 
There is not enough profit in there to feed a rabbit lunch, let alone indict a 
group of paddlers or the system they represent. Nice try.
 
 It is not a large chute, about 12", that will pin you to the waves as some 
claim, and the line is about 9 feet. When I reread the section in Dowd's book 
about Steph Dutton using a 42' line and a larger chute to get through surf, I 
sympathised with the criticism. That's a lot of bite and a very long line. I 
haven't put it in large enough surf yet to paint the drama that's come out of 
this thread yet. But when I come into discomfort I will report it here first.
 
Rob G
Oh, Happy New Year!
***************************************************************************
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/
***************************************************************************