Sea Kayak Specialists Blog

Securing a boat over night is one of the key activities for me after camp is setup and dinner is done. There are many steps, most involved in getting ready for the next day to minimize time between waking and launching. Tasks such as refilling the hydration pack, making sure snacks & sport bars are restocked and any packing that can be done is done (ie stow the dinner bag, fuel bottle, etc.).

Below is a photo with the boat secured for night.

Note hatch covers are closed, paddle secured to the boat along with the spare paddle and a cockpit cover is used. In the cockpit the PFD, sprayskirt, booties, wetsuit and paddling clothes are stored over night.

Why am I concerned about securing gear? Several things, high winds will scatter it possibly causing it to be lost – not all high winds get forecasted. In the middle of the night, if the seas and/or tides come up and you misjudged where the high water mark is, you can quickly move everything. Finally, animals. In the Pukaskwa I encountered Porcupines, famous for eating the latrines for the salt from the urine as well as in the glue in the plywood. They also liked to sample items touched by sweaty hands. One glance with a flashlight will tell you if anything is near your boat. Nancy had one eat her water bottle top and sample her hatch covers. The water bottle top was done for, fortunately the hatch covers only had teeth marks.

Finally, when possible, I like to use my tow rope and secure the boat to a tree. (The above photo was take in Ireland and there wasn’t any trees nearby). Below is a thumb from another trip where you can see the blue tow rope going out of picture to a tree.

Why is that important? Obvious I like to think but here is a photo taken in Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) to make the point.

Yep that’s our boats floating and tied to the dock post. Thing is, we carried them up there at low tide for a LONG way and then ran to the ranger station to get our permit. We misjudged the tide and the time to get the permit. By securing the boats and all the gear, retrieved the boats instead of spending the first morning trying to track down our boats and/or gear.

Still think it is extreme? Here is a photo from Garnish, a small villiage in the west of Ireland.

I encountered some of the strongest winds of the trip here. There is no way I could move that row boat by myself, yet it is tied with two ropes to the sign and the oars are secured inside.

Think winds that strong don’t happen here? Think again, I’ve seen empty kayaks in the wind move several hundred feet along the beach at the symposium in Grand Marais, MI. I’ve heard of a double getting picked up by the wind in Lake Superior Provincial Park and thrown onto it’s paddlers who landed because of the building winds.

Securing the boat right now is a habit, I don’t even think about doing it anymore.

sam

Nancy and I have been selected to be members of Team Seals, paddlers who represent Seals Sprayskirts (click here). We are very happy to be associated with Seals. I have been using Seals sprayskirts since 2005. I was desperate to find a sprayskirt that would keep me dry. In the rough waters off the west coast of the Queen Charlottes, I thought my foot pump was going to wear out because my sprayskirt leaked so much.

My first experience with Seals was the skirt didn’t fit. After a second skirt did not fit, I was ready to move on but the sales person told me the owner of Seals, Joe, wanted it right. This was quite the change for me as the previous sprayskirt company told me their skirts don’t leak and even tried to convince me that I had worn the skirt out after only one season of use. Seals got the fit right. Obviously they stand behind their product.

Seals sponsored Ireland 2007 (click here), my circumnavigation of Ireland and an expedition that demands the best gear. Needless to say it was great to have a skirt that kept me dry – the way it should be.

Nancy and I both selected the Pro Shocker (click here), the best skirt out there and the skirt you see in the photo. Product innovation and being a good citizen  to Seals is more than a motto – click here.

Amazingly, even their nylon skirts hardly leak thanks to their rim grip feature. It is people like this I would like to see tackle something like world peace or ending poverty. If that could happen, everybody would know about Seals, not just paddlers.

sam

One of the things about paddling is that you should not be afraid to be in the water, no matter the temperature, even if it is 34 degrees. That is why you wear a drysuit, to keep warm in water that cold. The photo above is my testing out a new drysuit, an Immersion Research Double “D” (click here).

What’s it like in water that cold? Provided you have worn enough layers under the suit, it is like stepping into a freezer – you notice the cold but it takes time to get chilled. Far different than a wetsuit, where you immediately feel the cold water against the skin and you do feel chilled as your body’s heat warms it.

For the amount of paddling and instruction I do in very cold water, I need a drysuit. In may at our instructor workshop in Big Bay, I will be in the water for around 90 minutes being the swimmer on rescues or demonstrating self rescues. Before I needed a drysuit, I used a drytop and a wetsuit which works well.

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About the IR drysuit, it is a good one. The arms are articulated so there is little interference for the forward stroke. It has a streamlined fit on the upper body and fits more like a lightweight paddling top than a drysuit. It has the features you need – a relief zip and a neoprene cuff at the waist so it stays up even when not being worn on the upper body. (Useful when packing up the boat prior to launch or looking stylish buying groceries at the co-op after the paddle.)

One of the things I was unsure about was the rear entry zipper. After using it 6+ times now, I see the advantages. Primarily it comes from putting it on and taking it off – no more wrestling match type struggles – it makes that part easy. First time I used wore it, I immediately noticed the zipper, it rubs up against the back of your arm if you pull your arm at shoulder height backwards. Good news is that one doesn’t notice it when paddling after all that is approaching an unsafe arm position (ie shoulder dislocation) and should be avoided anyway. Only drawback is in zipping/unzipping it, it does take some yogi like dexterity I have not needed before but it is possible.

The only drawback I see is the size of the pants on it, they are baggy. Baggy in a drysuit means more air inside the suit to purge out. In this case in means a walk into the water after putting it on or using the relief zip to push the air out. My previous drysuit I could do the same just by crouching.

Overall the suit is a good one and I excited to have it. It was good to see IR expand their line of paddling gear to include drysuits just as my old drysuit was wearing out.

sam