Idris the Dragon

Idris was a dragon I remember being a character in Ivor the Engine which was a children's television program back in the 70s.

Idris finds a home

Dragon's tend to live in caves, and as the Cetus HV's storage capacity is cavernous I think it's quite appropriate that Idris has taken up home here.

Jones the Steam and Idris the Dragon form Ivor the Engine

(have a go at making your own Ivor the Engine)

Jolly Green Giant

Find out more about the Jolly Green Giant for the UK Circumnavigation Expedition.

P&H Cetus HV

Storm Gathering 2011

It's was three years ago that I last ventured up to Anglsey. The island is situated at the north westerly tip of Wales and has some exceptional tide races to lure paddlers to play. It was stormy then, and it promised to be stormy again for the 2011 Storm Gathering. With the weather blowing a good southerly F6-7 there was to be no playing out on the races, and with pretty much everywhere having rough water and high winds I decided that a spot of surfing would be just the ticket to get me into the groove.

Rhosneigr for a spot of surfing

Surfing the plastic Cappella was fun - but turning around in all that wind was a bit of an effort. I took the opportunity to try out a P&H Delphin, it was a surf specification version. Shorter than the Cappella and with an excellent fitting seat and a lot of rocker it was just the job. Turning in the wind was so so easy, and surfing it was the most fun I've had in a long boat. I loved it so much I didn't want to give it up for the rest of the session. (Sorry Kate).

Surfing the Delphin in a bit of wind!

Oh dear, think I want one

I think the cheesy smile says it all

Surf pics thanks to Kate Dufus

Duh! . . . might be useful

Thought I'd pass this on as it might be of use - I know it's obvious - but it was so obvious I overlooked it.

Did a little rolling and self rescue practice last night - after a few dunkings I thought it prudent to let the coast guard know what we were up to in case someone phoned in thinking we needed some assistance.

"You are very muffled and broken up" 

was the gist of the their return call, together with a misinterpretation of my call sign.

"Try turning into the wind sir" - 

 what wind. I couldn't figure out what the problem was.

Then it dawned on me. I don't carry my VHF in a pouch, it's "waterproof`" :), and of course during the immersions the speaker/mike grill gets flooded and doesn't necessarily drain quickly - there is a function on the radio to blast out the water by emitting a tone for a few seconds - remembering the key combination I used this and hey presto transmissions were restored strong and clear.

It made me think how important this might be to remember If I needed to make that call in dire need after being dunked or still being in the water.

How something quite simple hindered communication.

I've got fibre

That's not the kind with roughage.

I owe the misfortune of trying out other peoples carbon fibre blades for the considerable lightening of my paddle and my wallet.

I ended up not sure if it was going to be Shuna or Corryvrecken.
The Shuna wasn't giving me enough resistance, I felt it wasn't grabbing enough water for my liking, wasn't stalling in the water. Might have been poor technique, I don't know.

I went for the Corryvrecken. If I've made the wrong choice, it will show soon enough.

Chris and I went for a spin along the coast around Nash buoy and back to Southerndown.

It felt a bit wierd. No strong opinions yet on the blades, many variables have changed for me to get used to. The weight, blade shape, cranks are set up in a different way. Got to give them a chance to make an impression.

Initial feedback is the difference was like starting to walking with an empty rucksack. I can get used to that!

I am lusting

Let's be clear about this. It is the boat that takes my fancy. Made by Glyn Edwards out of cedar strips. It is dead gorgeous to look at and to feel it's curvaceous body is just the dogs blokcols.
It has 5 fin boxes so various combinations of fin set up can be used. Sadly it will have to remain an object of desire, as will some other extremely nice toys at the CanoeExpo held at Stonleigh this weekend. I thought it was a great venue, central, free car parking, a fantastic lecture program.
I hope Brookbank find a beneficial solution to involving other companies that they don't act as retailers for. Some of the stands stocks were restricted to Brookbank stock items, which was a bit annoying for me as all the stuff I wanted to buy wasn't there.
The talks, however, did it for me (as well as the ceder surf kayak). Inspirational and educational.
The show had a great buzz about it. A great opportunity to see and talk to many great people in the kayaking world.
I hope Brookbank come away thinking it was a success, as the last time I remember going to a show like this was over 25 years ago in Crystal Palace.
Hopefully next time the weather will be really bad. I felt guilty for losing a fantastic day for kayaking.

Best Kit

I had to think a while when asked what is the best bit of kit for Sea Kayaking. To my mind there isn't a right answer to this. Not one piece could I single out, as it all could be needed, and when in deed it is needed it will be the best bit of kit at the time! It's about having the kit available to deal with what arises.

At the end of the day I concluded that the best thing in Seakayaking was the ability to make the right decisions. To gain this, learning through experience was high on the list but this wasn't really kit. Learning through others experience would also be valid and to this extent the kit must come down to books and blogs.

So there is my answer.

XXS is good

Following on in my failed to roll when solo in rough water capsize scenario. I have so far managed to get back into my kayak with re-entry and roll with my paddle float assistance. I can now support myself while I start the process of pumping out the water from my cockpit. I don’t have a foot or electric pump. My spray deck is tucked under the twin seal waist of the paddling top, so I can’t push the pump down the front and have the spray deck back in place. I think it is going to be difficult to keep the big waves from refilling the cockpit.

Unless I have spent extra cash on a Reed spray deck with a bale hole.
Which I haven’t.

But seeing this spray deck gave me an idea to adapt my existing deck to have it’s own retrofitted hole.

I came up with the idea of using the smallest dry bag I could find (an ExPed XXS which cost less than a pint of beer), as a ready made sealing hatch device. So now all I have to do is cut the bottom out of the bag, make an appropriate incision in the spray deck and sew/seal the bag in. The bag is small enough I think, that when rolled right up, will not allow water to pool.

Magic.

When it’s done, a picture will surely follow.

Please Sir, Blow in the Bag!

I’m on my own. First line of defense is to roll. If that fails then it is a re-entry and roll.
Ok so I’m back in my boat, upright and the cockpit is full of water. That is why I’ve got a pump. It is a hand pump. To pump the volume of water that remains in the cockpit is to say the least tiring, it is really hard work.

So considering that conditions must be pretty difficult for me to have capsized in the first place, I can see a spiral of events here. Pumping out, getting tired, trying to stay upright. It is not unreasonable to say that during this operation a capsize is again likely to happen, the re-entry and roll may or may not happen depending on how tired/cold I am etc.
To increase my chances of staying upright while I perform the vertical stroking of my bilge pump, I have considered a paddle float.


The philosophy here is that it should make the re-entry and roll easier, but more importantly act as an out rigger providing stability while pumping out the cockpit. I am assuming a hunch forward position over the paddle shaft and leaning into the float, while using the pump.

Down side of using a float is the delay of getting out of the water while inflating the bag. Considering the advantages of stability the float will offer during pumping, I think it is a trade off I am happy to make.

Other uses for this kit include a pillow while camping and as a splint device for leg or arm. This requires cutting the bottom of the float between the seams of the two floatation chambers. An arm or leg can then be put through and both chambers inflated to provide quite a good splint, (blow really hard!). This could also be used to provide pressure to an open wound. This sort of effect is used to a greater effect in MAST pants (military anti shock trousers), but that is a different story.

GlowStick alternative

Glow sticks (chemical light sticks) are relatively inexpensive, last for 6-8hrs and then you throw them away. These Lazer Stik devices are LED powered, waterproof (100m), float upright and can be turned on/off when required. The 6inch wand gives off a nice broad beam so I've got hold of a red one to use as a deck light to look at my chart and general night time use. You can also make them flash if you want. In a group night time paddle they would be useful to put front and back of PFD so that everyone knows where everyone else is. I found glow sticks very bright at night and put them in a net bag to reduce their intensity. I don't know yet how bright these LED's are in comparison.

Compass Light

This was my attempt at creating a deck light to illuminate the forward mounted compass.
It has the additional use of being able to secure some plastic/drybag as an emergency hatch cover if needed.
I used a red "Guardian" LED light threaded onto a short length of webbing, then stitched a double length of bungee to go around the hatch cover rim.

It sits nice and securely inside the rim of the cover so wont easily get washed off. (A small piece of string attached to the tab on the hatch acts as a safety just in case).
The red light was chosen to give illumination but not to reduce the effect on loss of night vision,

There is very little light spill from outside of the compass well. The image below is from the front right looking back, from the cockpit there is no glare at all from the light.

Illuminating

To make the most of my kayaking down time, I've been getting stuff together to enhance my night time paddling experience. The SOLAS self adhesive tape has now arrived. Now if I am in the beam of anyones light, glow like a glowing thing I shall. Love the way that stuff reflects light.

Came across a few interesting tiny waterproof lights. The Guardian (above), which is really tiny (41 x 33 x 33mm 20g). It is described as "Rugged-designed to withstand being driven over by an average car". Why?

Useful design traits however are the fact that it is water proof (100m), is very very tiny, batteries last for ages, easy to use with cold hands. You can make it flash but this requires the batteries to be turned around, not recommended out on the boat. It comes in White, Red, Yellow, Green, Blue and Infrared. You can apparently see the light, so to speak, from up to 2km at the front and 0.5km from the side. All this for less than £8 and that includes batteries.