Side Sculling…
While reading this post over at Fat Paddler, I was inspired to watch some of the videos I made while learning to roll and scull. I came across this older one of me side sculling that I don’t think I’ve posted before.
Short Update…
It’s been a while since I posted. Not that I’ve got a lot of readers out there, but hey, this was never about the readers anyway. So, here is a short update, to get things rolling again, hopefully with a little more regularity then before.
A while back I was heading home from work and decided to stop for some “retail therapy”. I tend to do this after a particularly crappy day as it helps take my mind off things. Maybe it’s my wife’s influence, but whatever it is, it works. Anyway, I’d been thinking about getting a new PFD for a while now, and this seemed like as good an excuse as any. I ended up getting the Astral Green Jacket. I had tried one on a while back and haven’t come across anything that fit as well since. There is a lot to like about the Green Jacket. It has a very low profile, so I barely even notice that I have it on when paddling. It also has a huge front pocket that holds everything I need. It has a integral harness with a quick release tow belt, and integrated safety loop in case someone needs to pull me out of some white water. Meh, I know, not likely but it makes for a good conversation starter.
The second part of my retail therapy happened later that night when I ordered a new knife for my PFD. I had been using a Gerber River shorty, but have noticed that the notches on the hard case that hold it in place have been worn out. Mostly this is caused by my own need to fidget with the knife on a regular basis, but the damage is done. After a little research I settled on a Spyderco Caspian2 Salt. There is a lot to like about this knife, but the three critical features for me are the fit, which is darn near perfect for my hand. The H1 metal which apparently won’t rust, and finally, the clip/lock that holds the knife in place. I’m a little skeptical about the no rust claim, but really that’s secondary as I don’t spend a lot of time in salt water. The clip on the other hand is really nice. I can release it while grabbing the knife with one hand, and it’s not a friction lock so it won’t wear out like the River Shorty case did.
In other news the whiptail remains largely unchanged since my last post. I’m down to the football section but haven’t really progressed past that. I hope to pick things up shortly have have the hull done soon. I was hoping to start on the deck in January, but I’m not sure that will happen. That being said, one of the reason this is going slow is that I’m determined to have fun while building. If I’m not enjoying what I’m doing, I stop, clean up, and walk away. The whole point of this is to enjoy the experience, so I’d rather go slow and enjoy it, then rush to get it done and be annoyed the whole time. Of course it would be nice to measure progress in something other then geological time scales. Maybe in the new year.
Along with the whiptail, my other kayaking related activity this winter will be starting to plan a trip up to Georgian Bay next summer. I’m looking at a couple of options but the front running are planned trips with either Black Feather or White Squall. I’ve heard good things about both but I know a little less about White Squall right now. If anyone has some input let me know… I’ll post more thoughts on the trip over the coming weeks…
Whiptail Update…
Progress on the Whiptail is slow but steady. The hull is slowly getting stripped, and is starting to look a little more like an actual kayak now. The bow is pretty straight-forward, but the stern has some pretty tight curves in it. I’ve had to break out a heat gun on more than one occasion. I’ve ordered the glass, epoxy and other supplies from Noah’s in Toronto so I’ll be ready to start glassing once the hull it ready. I’m moving to the 4oz glass instead of 6oz to help cut down on weight. This will also be my first time working with carbon twill, which was on sale. I’m going to be using Dan Caouette’s methods form the Njord he built for the coaming, hatches, and various deck fittings. I really like the fact that multiple cords can be passed under each fitting, something I always thought was lacking in other methods I’ve seen.
Paddling the Parliament
A while back I had the chance to paddle form the end of Blair Road to the Parliament Buildings with Tom and Alfred from TK2O. This was a fun paddle that last about 4 hours. A little over two upstream to Parliament, and a little less than two back. There was a fair bit of boat traffic but nothing unusual. It was a very different view seeing Parliament from the water, and the surounding parks are quite nice.
Here is a shot of Alfred and Tom by Rideau Falls…
Here is a shot of Tom making a hasty launch at out stopping point by the Ottawa Locks. He decided to park his boat on an old dock, but needed to move out quickly when a tour boat pulled up to dock right in front of him. I’m sure the tourists were wondering what the heck this crazy kayaker was doing…
All said, it was an excellent morning and lots of fun. You can check out a few other pictures in the gallery…
Boat Swap!
It might seem odd, but it’s been over 2 years that my wife has been paddling a Impex Cat 4. In all that time I’ve never had it out for more than a few minutes. This past weekend that changed when Nat decided to try my boat for a mid-morning paddle. Having paddled a single boat for more than 2 years, I’ve become rather accustomed to it. In particular I find my seat, a minicell foam seat from Redfish Kayaks, the most comfortable seat in the world. After about 5 minutes in the Cat 4 my butt started to hurt, then my back, etc… After some changes to the back-band, and adjusting my position I found something comfortable, but if I was going to spend any real time in it I would need to make some modifications. I’d probably get ride of the back-band and replace it with a solid foam block.
On the plus side I found the boat handled nicely, and was very easy to hold an edge. I also found it very easy to roll, and balance brace in. Overall, with the exception of the molded seat, I found it to be a very enjoyable boat to paddle.
Paddling with the parents…
My parents were recently up for a visit from Nova Scotia and my Mother really wanted to try kayaking. She had mentioned she’d like to try it in the past, but the timing never worked out. In any case, I got both her and my Father out for a nice little paddle in Shirley’s Bay and both enjoyed it immensely. Here is a picture of Mom executing a perfect stern rudder…
And here is a picture of Dad as we paddled though a nearby marina…
You can check out the rest of the photos here.
Learning to side scull…
Lots of people kayak, and lots of people who kayak don’t know how to roll. That’s fine because rolling isn’t necessary to enjoy kayaking. That being said, a great skill to learn, and a first step towards rolling is learning to side scull. Aside from being an excellent skill that’s very practical, it’s also a huge confidence booster and makes learning to roll a lot easier. Linda decided recently that she wanted to learn to side scull, so while at their cottage this weekend, Munch ran a short clinic for her…
Check it out in the kayak skills gallery.
Balance Bracing…
Nat shot these videos a few days back at Shirleys Bay. The first is a reasonable attempt at a balance brace. While it still needs a lot of work, I’m able to hold it for a few seconds and get back up. The second is a butterfly roll, which I actually learned before the balance brace. Usually it’s taught the other way around. Go figure. This was also the last rolling session where I used a nose plug. I’ve started practicing all my rolls are braces without a nose plug, since I’m not going to have one when I go over accidentally. The following day I was able to do the storm roll a couple of times as well. Sadly my technique is still awful and I haven’t been able to duplicate the roll. I think this is mainly due to not getting my following arm far enough around the kayak. This causes the paddle to dive instead of arc across the water and I don’t get any lift. Meh. Soon enough…
Balance Brace…
One of my goals for this summer is to be able to do a reasonable balance brace. While I was able to do a butterfly role last summer, I wasn’t able to hold the balance brace position for any length of time. If I didn’t roll up right away, I’d have to revert toa standard layback roll. On the plus side I got to practice the layback roll a lot, but I was never able to sort out the brace.
Last weekend we spent Sunday at Munch and Linda’s family cottage. Munch and I spent most of the time in the water practicing. After working on my sculling technique I was finally able to hold the balance brace for an extended period of time. Later in the day, I tried again but wasn’t able to hold it for more than a few seconds. At the time I attributed this to the dry jacket I was wearing in the morning, but not in the afternoon. I figured the extra buoyancy made the difference.
While practicing this afternoon however, Nat pointed out that my shoulders were not quite parallel to the water, and it looked like my paddle was diving a bit. After thinking about this a little I tried again, arching my back a little more, and rotating my shoulders to get as parallel to the water as possible. Essentially getting as much surface area in the water as possible. This made the difference, at least for a short period and I was able to hold the balance for a reasonable amount of time.
I’ll try to get a video of the brace, as it’s pretty neat to see. Hopefully over the summer I’ll be able to sort out the legs and add this to my rolling repertoire.
Raccoons…
Our house boarders on a school yard with a large garden and lots of big trees. Every summer, at least once or twice, a raccoon will make it’s way along our back fence heading to or from some appealing tree. This year we saw not one, but a whole family of raccoons. While I’ve read that raccoon have up to seven babies in a litter I had never seen this many. A Mother and six babies….
You can check out the rest of the pictures here.
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