2011: Post 65 – The One Hundred

One October 2, Tony hit his 100^th time in his kayak for this calendar year (see Post 44).  We paddled from St. Philips to Portugal Cove that day.   On that paddle there was just Tony and I as everyone else was busy and could not make it. 

Today was my 100^th time in my kayak(s) this year.  Again there was just the two of us; everyone else was busy or was not able to join us.  Imagine, it has taken me almost the full year to get where Tony was at the beginning of October!

We met at St. Philips and decided to paddle over to Bell Island….

We paddled past Dominion Pier…

And headed up the shore toward Lance Cove.  We had rain yesterday and the water was flowing over the cliffs so we stopped to watch the falling water for a little while…

Then we paddled a little farther and then turned and paddled back across the tickle…

We hit land near St. Thomas Cove, and then turned back toward St. Philips.  When we got back we washed up in the river and then Tony bought me coffee at the nearby By-the-Beach restaurant…

Thanks, Tony, for the coffee

It was a good paddle to do for my 100^th. 

2011: Post 64 – Christening the Disko

The forecast was calling for 40 km SW wind gusting to 65.  So we decided we would have a play day at St. Philips. A southwest wind meant there would be calm water in the cove.  I decided that it would be a good day to take the Disko for her maiden voyage.

I put the Disko on the car and began to strap it down.  I found there was too much fooling with the foam pads I had made up for the straps (see previous post/pic) and pulled them off…  I had a couple errands to do so I left the house early so as to meet the guys at our predetermined time.  My errands didn’t take as long as I figured and I arrived at St. Philips forty five minutes early.  I was anxious to get the Disko on the water to see how it felt so I did not wait around for the others….

I geared up and brought the Disko to the water’s edge. 

Since I was the captain of her I proceeded to give her my blessing…“I christen thee Sofie; may she paddle straight, edge well, and roll like a log” and then poured some Newfoundland Screech over her bow…

Then I put her on the water parallel to the slipway.  I had to steady her with the paddle on the slipway, sit on the back of the coaming, put one foot in, then the other, and slide down into the seat.  That will take some getting used to; with my Sirocco I just sort of drop my backside into the seat and put my feet and legs in after.  I put the spray-skirt on and sculled away from the slipway.

She felt tippy and I fit snug in it.  Sean had told me his was tippy at first and so I expected this.  I paddled around the flat water of the marina for about five minutes.  So far so good.  I decided I would paddle out into the cove and stay relatively close to the shore.  I paddled around the cove for about another five minutes.  Then I decided to try to carve a turn and I capsized.  I rolled up and thought “well she rolls pretty easy.”

I paddled around some more, paddled closer to the beach, and decided to do some rolls, on purpose this time.  I did both extended paddle and non-extended paddle rolls on both sides.  Then I paddled further out of the cove to get into a bit of wind and wave.  Then the guys started showing up...

I did not feel completely relaxed in the Disko and so decided I would not chase the guys out into the wind and waves.  I stayed in the relative calmness of the cove, but would venture out a little farther now and then to see how she felt in the waves.  I noticed Tony was not chasing the guys too far out either.  I had told him I found the boat tippy and I figured he was kind of hanging around to keep an eye on me.  I gave him my camera to take a few pics of me and Sofie…

Here are some pictures of the guys…

And, of course, we always rinse off in the river after we are done, and then we all went for coffee afterwards.... 

Here are my first impressions of Disko Sofie… Keep in mind these impressions are in comparison to my Sirocco…

Overall I am very happy with Sofie.  I found after about two and a half hours in her I was very ready to get out.  Obviously, I will have to spend some time in her to get comfortable before I take it on any paddles.  I’ll spend some time in her in the pool and some time in her at St. Philips, but I will not take her on any paddles just yet…

è I feel snug in her, but with enough room so as not to feel too confined.  I did get some cramping in my feet and legs, but that I know is likely just a symptom of not being relaxed enough in the kayak.

è When not moving forward she feels fairly tippy, when moving forward she still feels tippy but less so.  This feeling will go away after a while. 

è She’s a wet ride.  The bow cut through some of the steeper waves or would submerge when coming down off a wave.  She is a lower volume kayak so this is expected.

è She seems to be quick.  Not saying she is a very fast boat, but compared to my Sirocco she is a faster ride.   This is expected as she is a full 2 inches narrower than my Sirocco.

è She did not turn easy.  But I am thinking that this is more a function of not being comfortable in her.  I think once I feel comfortable in her I will learn to turn her better.

è She seemed to track pretty well.  When the wind was on the beam I was very surprised how straight she stayed.

è She rolls really easy, but I have to learn to get my body down on the back deck

Anyway, thanks to Derrick, Clyde, Sean, Neville, and Tony for coming out today.  We did not get quite the amount of wind that was forecasted, but it was a fun afternoon...

2011: Post 63 – Death by Disko

Continued from Post 61…

By Tuesday past the marine goop I used under the coaming and in the deck-line holes through the gunwales had had three full days of curing.  The Disko was ready for the water.   I seriously contemplated bringing it to the pool Tuesday night, but it seemed sacrilegious to put her in the pool for her maiden voyage and so I left her home and took my whitewater boat instead. 

I had meant to add a rub-strip on the keel this week but I procrastinated and have yet to add one.  I do not like the idea of adding a wood or plastic strip and then putting screws up through the keel to secure it in place.  I would have to put a bit of sealant around the screw locations but that still would add several points of water entry if I don’t get a good seal…  Sean came up with a method that does not require using screws and I will follow his lead when I get around to adding the rub-strip…

One night this week I had put the kayak on the floor, put on my kayak boots, and got in.  The foam pads I had put in earlier bunched up (Sean had said they would) and so I took them out.  I also found the boots did not give me much room for my feet (size 11) and so I then pulled on my whitewater booties (which are basically neoprene socks reinforced with a Kevlar sole).  It felt much roomier with the booties on and the foam pads removed.  If I find the inside of the polyester is wearing then I will simply glue a couple pieces of leftover polyester in place to serve as a sacrificial skin…

I had placed my paddle on the kayak earlier and found the paint marked/scratched easily. 

So I used the foam I had taken out to make ‘cushions’ against which the tie-down straps can rest on the sides of the kayak when strapped on the car… probably a foolish thing as with use the boat will be scraped up with normal wear and tear… but I guess right now I am in the ‘new kayak’ phase.  The "new baby syndrome" will pass after I hit a few bumps under the hull…

The kayak is low volume and I have been reading that adding floatation is at least desirable, if not necessary.  I have a pair of floatation bags that I use for my whitewater boat...

...and so I decided to put them in the Disko.  The one in the stern was easy to add – I just pushed it in and blew it up.  But the one for the bow was a little harder.  The difficulty was not in putting it in place but in being able to blow it up once it was in place as the tube on it is only about a foot long and the floatation bag, once fully inflated, has to be in front of the frame where the feet will rest. 

Once I had the bag in place I had to turn the kayak on its side and put my head through the masik frame opening to inflate it.  I could only get one hand in there and so once I had the bag fully inflated it was hard to close the valve without losing some of the air. 

It was funny having my head in the masik like that… I kept thinking if the kayak slips to the horizontal position it just might break my neck in the process… That would be a funny way to go, but at least it would be kayak-related…

Well, sans rub-strip, she is all ready for the water.

2011: Post 62 - Addendum

Readers,

In light of the bantering in the comments in Post 62, I have decided to put an end to it before it gets out of hand (as these things sometimes do) and I offer the following addendum to the original post...  

Start of Addendum:

Please disregard all pictures of this happy paddler

from previous post titled 2011: Post 62 - Holyrood to Harbour Main and beyond and replace with the following pictures from a previous paddle in May of this year...

Also, disregard the last sentence in the post which reads:

Oh yes, I thought I would point out that three out of the four of us today were using a Greenland paddle...  there are those who keep fighting conversion... perhaps one day...

and replace with the following sentence:

Oh yes, I thought I would point out that everybody today were using a Greenland paddle... however some of them carried a Euro paddle as a spare and to use just in case we found a garden in Harbour Main and decided to dig up some potatoes...   

End of Addendum

2011: Post 62 – Holyrood to Harbour Main and beyond

The weather promised a temp of 0 Celsius, sunny skies, and wind of 15 km from the west in the afternoon.  Tony suggested we paddle from Holyrood to Harbour Main which would make for about a 24 km paddle there and back. 

I picked up Gerard and we met Tony at the predetermined meeting place at Donovan’s Irving station.  We hung around there until 9 am to see if anyone else was going to come along… no one showed so we headed down the road to Holyrood.  Sean had told us if he coming he would meet us at the put-in by 9:30…  he did not show…

Tony and Gerard gearing up

It was about 10 am by the time we got on the water.  There was a little malfunction with a skirt and while we were dealing with the situation Sean appeared on the slipway with his kayak and we become a group of four…

A welcomed latecomer...

The weatherperson did not lie; it was a great day on the water.  We followed the shore from Holyrood up to Harbour Main...

Waiting for Sean...

Gerard

Sean

Tony

We had lunch on the beach Harbour Main when we arrived there…

After our break we decided we would continue up to Salmon Cove Point before heading back.  There is a cave along the way that has an opening at the other end that would be passable on the right day.  It was tempting to take a chance and try to get through but with the bit of water coming in and out the timing would have had to be spot on… We all went into the cave and had a look at it and I think we all would have liked to have gone through, but I guess we all decided for ourselves that today was not the day because nobody tried...

We hung around at Salmon Cove Point for a little bit and then headed back the way we had come...

 

It was a great day for a paddle.  Not much in the way of excitement of big swell or waves crashing on the shore.  This is about as exciting as the water got today…

But days like today, when the ocean is tame and the skies are clear, we enjoy the paddle just as much as when we get to play and paddle in rougher or bigger water…  I think we all took our turn saying it today along the way, but I’ll say it once more … ”What a day!”

Oh yes, I thought I would point out that three out of the four of us today were using a Greenland paddle...  there are those who keep fighting conversion... perhaps one day...

2011: Post 61 – Disko Done

Continued from Post 59…

Last week I finished painting the Disko.  It was a slow process… I would paint the hull one evening, let it dry overnight and then flip it over and paint the deck the next evening after work... I finished painting it on Sunday night past and on Monday night I started in on the finishing touches…

I had an old foam sleeping pad that I cut to use as a seat cushion.  I don’t know if I will need it for comfort but it won’t hurt.  I have been wondering if sitting directly on the wood floor boards might not be good for the dry suit - wouldn’t want a splinter to poke a hole in the suit…

I also cut a couple pieces to put under my feet.  I am thinking that grit on the boots may eventually cause premature wearing on the inside of the polyester skin.  Like the seat cushion, it can’t hurt to have there if not really required…

I tried out the under deck bungees… seems to work well enough to hold my pump in place.  I will have to wait until I get on the water to see if this is a good idea for my pump location…

I added all my deck lines and then, using my soldering iron, trimmed off the excess polyester around the cockpit.  This worked very well as it would melt through the polyester and there were no strands to contend with…

I ran a bead of marine goop around the cockpit and attached the coaming by screwing stainless steel screws from inside… and also attached the back band…

I needed to fill the holes in the gunwales with marine goop where the deck lines run through but the nozzle on the tube was too big to be able to get the goop in the holes.  I had a tube of sealant that had not been used and I cut off the plastic nozzle and then ‘screwed’ the nozzle of the goop into it. 

I was able to fill the holes with the goop without making too much of a mess of it around the holes…

So all I have left to do with it is to add a rub strip on the keel.  This is suggested as optional but is a good idea and I will probably add one next week.

We are planning to paddle tomorrow but the instructions on the marine goop say it can take up to 72 hours for the goop to fully cure, depending on the room temp.  So I will let it sit for a few days now.  And it is not really wise to go on a paddle the first time out and then find out she is taking on water and needs more paint!!!  I am tempted though to bring the Disko to the pool on Tuesday but it just doesn’t seem right that the first time she is put on water would be in the pool.  So I guess I will wait till next weekend, weather permitting, and get her on the salt water to see if she will sink or float.