Re: [Paddlewise] Happy feet/ spare paddle storage

Kirk said (snip):
> I'm in Massachusetts.  Water temp is up to 47 fahrenheit, 8 celsius.
> I've been on the water for about 6 weeks.  Some of the other surf ski
> paddlers only skipped February.  2 weeks ago we spent a couple hours in
> nauset inlet(cape cod) surfing the 3 foot waves where the outgoing inlet
> current made nice steep waves (wave faces were above the top paddle
> blade and head of my paddling companion).  With the surf ski you are
> more likely to dress for immersion since there's frequently water in the
> cockpit area, the venturi bailers work great so the cockpit drains
> quickly.
>

Okay, okay! I'm impressed. :-)

But how do you stay on top of a surf ski? I can't imagine life without thigh 
braces. Or is it like riding a bike - just keep moving forward?

These guys seem to be doing okay:

http://www.surfskischool.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=2

>> The new P&H boats look promising. The new Cetus even has a sandwich hatch
>> on the foredeck like I designed into my Nordkapp. Hopefully a Cetus LV 
>> will
>> come out one day. Check out the cool black Carbon/Kevlar P&H at the
>> bottom.
>>
>> http://www.savannahcanoeandkayak.com/p&h%20sea%20kayaks.htm
>
> That is definitely a cool looking boat.  The 22" beam sounds more like a
> fishing platform (from my highly biased stupidly tippy perspective).
> Although if I wanted a tripping boat that would definitely be on my
> short list to demo.

Surf ski paddlers are a narrow-minded lot, aren't they? :-)

I suppose North American manufactures will continue to come out with more 
and more "Brit" style boats too, both play-sized and expedition-volumed. I 
see Nimbus has a new one coming out (Ice Kap) that I first saw on Sterling 
Donalson's site:

http://sterlingskayak.com/Manufacturing.shtml

>> As you can tell, I'm at a crossroads with sea kayaking right now, in
>> terms of design, construction, and fitness paddling vs play vs tripping. 
>> Duane
>> certainly comes up with his own homemade boats that I assume perform well
>> (not sure if he kept the Elsmere that he modified with a longer skeg
>> portion on the keel). I could build a very nice marine ply/glass boat 
>> faster than
>> a strip, well budgeted, and maybe built it like the Betsy Bay boys do, 
>> with
>> stronger epoxy fillets at the chines. I'd build mine with more glass
>> layers though.
>
> Knowing of your woodworking skills (we'll ignore those finger incidents
> ;-)
> I'm very surprised you haven't built a plywood/glass boat.  I would
> think you could
> crank one out quickly.

Yeah...still affraid of chine damage and paddelability without the hull 
section profile I'm used to. Hey, I think digitus-longevitus should be aided 
now that I have oxygen flowing to the brain again and good hemodynamic 
perfusion, though I did opt for the pig valve to negate blood thinner use - 
given that I'll still be woodworking. :-)

BTW, I did consider prepreg nomex for a possible self-built Nordkapp, but my 
kitchen oven won't fit the full length for curing.

And, the other alternative, epoxy infusion, seems awefully daunting and a 
poor economy for a one-time build.

Doug L
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