Nigel Foster Paddle

While my wife and I were at the East Coast Paddlesports & Outdoor Festival in Charleston, I found Nigel Foster on the Masters Beach and got to chat with him about the Whisky 16 and other things. He also let me borrow his paddle to give it a try. My wife and I both liked the paddle but with neither of us having the skill with it that Nigel does.

We are going to order one to share between the two of us. If we bothe find we like it as an everyday paddle we will purchase another. We found the paddle to be well designed and nice to handle.  Well worth considering for your next paddle. 

You can find it here.

We have arrived for the East Coast Paddle Festival.

We actually arrived last night.

After we set up camp we went to Sea Kayak Carolina for a visit. The wife got to meet Nigel Dennis. So that was nice. Then we came back to camp and had a cold night sleeping. Where is the warm southern weather?

Now we are having coffee and breakfast before going to move kayaks around.

Where is the warm weather I was promised?

Cherry Blossoms on the Potomac

This weekend was the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC. A friend arranged a paddle on Saturday and my wife arranged one for Sunday morning.

The trip on Saturday was just 3 of us because, everyone else canceled because of the 15 MPH winds. It just made for a little more chop and exercise. It was a fun day of paddling.

The story in photos.

Then on sunday we had a nice breeze and several paddlers on our trip. It was a fun day on the water.

Sunday's story in photos.

Running paddles can be a challenge, especially this time of the year when the days are warming up and the water temps are on the rise. The waters had bee moving to the high 50s but dropped toward the weekend and ended up at around 51 degrees fahrenheit on Saturday and Sunday.

We required people going with our group to be in at least a 3 mil  wetsuit but drysuit prefered.

Saturday was no recreational kayaks, kayaks under 14 feet, because of the wind and chop. The last thing we want is a hypothermic paddler spoiling the trip for everyone. Safety first.

We were surprised when we saw that the Key Bridge Boathouse was renting kayaks and SUPs on Saturday and Sunday. People were paddling in tshirts and shorts. I wonder what their liability is if someone goes for a swim and hypothermic shock sets in. Well, it is not my problem.

So we had a great weekend.

Practice Day on the Occoquan Reservoir

On Tuesday we headed out on the Occoquan Reservoir form Fountainhead Regional Park.

We paddled to an area we call fall out of your boat cove. It has a gravel slope going into the water up to about chest deep. This makes an excellent area to stand and help people with their balance brace and such.

We feel that you should take a day every few weeks to just spend time practicing paddle strokes and braces and rescues. Tuesday was a perfect day for it. It was overcast and about 64 degrees when we got on the water. The water temperature was 56 degrees so not too cold to hang out in a drysuit.

We enjoy the calm waters of the reservoir.

We played around with strokes on the way to the cove and while I was goofing around I went over. At this point I discovered that I could not roll with my pogies. The pogie on the sweep hand takes in water at the cuff causing drag and stalling my roll. First time I tried to roll while wearing pogies. You learn things about your equipment when you take a practice day. My wife was kind enough to give me an assisted rescue.

After this we made it over to the cove. I was not wearing my neoprene cap and got a little brain freeze while hanging upside down under my boat. Dress for the water!

Then once at the cove we both spent time in and out of our boats playing around.

It was an excellent few hour on the water.

Easter Sunday Paddle on the Potomac

For Easter we went kayaking to avoid any giant psycho bunnies in paisley suits. It is a phobia I have from childhood. The things parents do to scar there kids for life. I wonder if that is their plan. Well enough about that.

So, we launched from Leesylvania State Park. We launch from the beach because their car top launch is crap. The new ranger stopped me as we were getting ready to launch and asked if I knew they had a car top launch. When I said yes he asked what I disliked about it. Apparently he wants input to get it changed/fixed. Nice guy. He said launching from the beach was fine, he was just looking for input.

We paddled to the wildlife refuge then across Occoquan Bay in 14 knot crosswinds and broaching waves. That was fun. We stop at the beach under the cliffs at High Point then paddled back across the Occoquan Bay and played in the waves before heading to shore. We also to a moment to shoot some short tow video.

All in all a good day on the water.

Adjustable Contact/Short Tow Line Revisited

Below is a video of the adjustable short tow line in use. Since the person in the "victim kayak" was shooting the video, they are not laying on the "rescue kayak" so the video is not great. It shows that it is adjustable quickly and that it can be adjusted and released in gloves.

If you have not seen my contact tow blog yet, you can read it here. Then you will know to what I am referring.

I like to use high contrast and reflective line for this application so it is easy to see and recognize. I use 6mm cord for the low line and 3 or 4mm for the prusik. The one shown here is 4mm prusik. I used leftover deck rigging line.

This is the rope I use.
http://shop.blackjackmountainoutfitters.com/BlueWater-Ropes-6mm-NITELINE-by-the-Foot-500600REF.htm

And for the prusik.
http://shop.blackjackmountainoutfitters.com/BlueWater-Ropes-3mm-NITELINE-by-the-Foot-500300.htm

They also have this line in 4mm size which I use for deck line.

Now the Video.

Remember that this video is to show how easy the tow can be adjusted and is not an example of a good or safe tow.

Kayak Work Stand

This blog is about a kayak work stand that I built a year or so ago. I needed something to support my kayaks while I worked on them or was washing them. My wife had looked for something commercially made but she could not find anything suitable. So, one afternoon I had to go to Home Depot for something and the kayak stand was on my mind. I came up with an idea and off to the store I went.



The design is simple and it folds up and stands in a corner of the garage.

What you need:
4 8'x1" PVC pipe
8 90 degree 1" PVC joints
2 bolts
2 wing nuts
PVC cement or screws to lock the joints in place.
6 feet of 2" webbing
6 screws and washers to attach the webbing

cut the 8' lengths of PVC to a 5' and 3' segments
drill whole in the center 1.5' of each of the 3' PVC segments
attach together in pairs using the bolts and wing nuts
attach the joints and connect the two X pieces you formed together with the 5' PVC segments
once you have it fitted together take apart and secure the joints with PVC cement or leave it together and secure with screws (I used screws so I can fully disassemble it if the need arises.
cut 3 2' lengths of webbing and secure as shown in the photos.

Simple and inexpensive.

It's Been a long winter.

Last week we made our first paddle out on the Potomac this season. We paddled up to Belle Haven Marina and across to National Harbor and back. The group was a little slower than I prefer so I took a couple detours to get in a little exercise. A chart and google earth image of the track.

Paddle on the Potomac

We did make a trip down to Southport, NC in February. The water was not frozen and we got to do a couple nice paddles and look at some real estate. Looking for a vacation place.

Paddle from Southport Marina to the point of Cape Fear

Paddle from Southport Marina to Fort Fisher Ferry Dock

I also attended pool sessions to improve my roll and just play around in my boat. I also spent some time indoors playing around with my video editing. This first video is just me playing around in the pool. My wife pointed out some errors with spelling but who cares? It is just me playing around with editing. I use Openshot Video Editor since I only use Linux on my computers.

Please ignore the stylish dive mask. I really hate chlorine in my eyes.

This second video is just me rolling my Point 65 XO16. A friend of mine in Sweden told me several years ago when I bought it that it was a hard boat to roll because of the high volume deck. Well, I had to make a video of me rolling it just to get her goat. Several rolls (extended paddle and not extended) and a reentry and roll. It is not a bad boat to roll for a high volume touring kayak.

I also spent some time doing kayak repairs for a friend and working on my equipment. Playing with different tow system ideas. Planning trips for the spring and getting ready for my ACA L3 assessment. So I have managed to keep myself busy. I just want the weather to continue on a warming trend.

Kayaking in Southport, NC

Back at the beginning of February my wife and I went to Southport, NC to visit with a friend and to do a little bit of kayaking. We paddled out to Frying Pan Shoals on our first day out. It is at the end of the video below.

I had surfed on Oak Island and Bald Head Island back in my younger days when I lived in North Myrtle Beach. This was my first time kayaking in the area. We also did a little property searching while we were there.

If you are into kayak surfing this is a great place to do it. I really do not have any good footage leaving the Cape Fear Inlet and the huge swells do to camera mount issues. I got it back on for Frying Pan Shoals only to have a wave rip it off again. I guess it is time for a new mount ot to use a helmet mount for surf.

If you are not into kayak surfing there are black water rivers, the Intracoastal Waterway and the Cape Fear River. There is much water to explore. We will be visiting regularly.

So here is my boring video of paddling at Southport.

Composite Kayak repairs

There are many opinions on how to repair a composite kayak. I am going to give you my 2 cents.

You will hear people talk about polyester verses epoxy resin. When you get into these discussions there is one question you need to ask the person, "What are the differences between polyester and epoxy resin." If they can not give you a simple answer then they don't know and they are spouting off someone elses opinion. Stay away from vinyl ester resin. Most likely you will not find it in your local boating shop anyway.

Polyester resin has a forgiving temperature range for working with it. The catalyst to resin mixture is also forgiving and is not as exact as epoxy resin. Polyester has a higher shrinkage than epoxy. Polyester has a better UV tolerance than Epoxy. Polyester is less expensive and offers corrosion resistance. Polyester resins are fast curing but continue to cure for a long time. This is what causes the odd smell in your deck hatches. The resin will off gas for a while.

Epoxy resins cure harder and provide a stronger bond with the composite materials than polyester resins. Epoxy resins are less forgiving of temperature and need a fairly exact catalyst to resin ratio. Epoxy yellows with UV exposure. Epoxy is more expensive. Epoxy can bond well to polyester. Some gel coats will not adhere well over epoxy but epoxy over the gel coat during initial layup adheres well.

Most composite sea kayaks on the market will be polyester. Some carbon and carbon kevlar may be epoxy if they have a clear finish so you see the fabric layer then it is a safe bet it is polyester resin.

When patching cracks in fiberglass hulls I like to use epoxy and 2 layers of 3 mil glass in a cross pattern layup. This adds extra strength to the weakened area without to much build up.

On punctures I plug the inside with a small piece of foam with a release material covering it. Then a use a thin sheet of glass and polyester resin on the outside of the hole and keep it lower than the gel coat layer. after it has set I remove the foam plug and patch from the inside with epoxy and glass as above. This ensures that the polyester gel coat will adhere properly.

Almost all production kayaks have an outer gel coat layer for color and UV protection. This is usually the first part of the layup of the mold. Gel coat can be applied by a spray gun but usually the repair kits you will find at a boating or marine supply store will be a paste gel.

Please avoid using epoxy you get from Home Depot this is an adhesive, it will work to seal a crack or hole but it will also be a pain to fix later. Repair kits with pre measured epoxy and catalyst packets can be bought and it is just as quick to do a proper repair the first time as it is to fix the hole or crack with two part epoxy adhesive.

When patching a cracked or fractured gel coat it is best to remove all loose original gel coat. as seen in the photos below.

Busted gel coat from a collision with a rock 

Area after cutting away fractured gel coat

Polyester gel coat paste

Gel coat applied and covered with wax paper

Gel coat after sanding. Watch out for air bubbles.
Cleaned it up and added a little more gel coat and it was good as new.