Afloat

[Jim]

The Affordable Boat Show, is part of the Scottish Caravan and Outdoor Show which is on at the SECC from the 2nd to the 5th.

I just received my free ticket from Trident who made and recently repaired my drysuit. The offer was for email subscribers only but they will of course be at the show displaying their wares alongside, presumably many others.

Can anybody think of anything I need? I'm planning to head along Friday afternoon after work so suggestions will be required by lunch time Friday!

JIM

[seismicscot]

The Affordable Boat Show, is part of the Scottish Caravan and Outdoor Show which is on at the SECC from the 2nd to the 5th.

Can anybody think of anything I need? I'm planning to head along Friday afternoon after work so suggestions will be required by lunch time Friday!

JIM

A larger volume boat perhaps?



Well, you did ask!!

Cheers,

Clark

[Geoff Seddon]

No I don't think that would help. Sh** expands to fill 37% more space than is available for it. He'd only take more stuff.

[capsized8]

Perhaps a drone kayak. Fill it with your gear and let it follow, I'm sure China will produce one soon. Might even help the Solo Paddlers in a very recent post. Perhaps a new slant on self rescue :0)

[Jim]

That IS a large volume boat!

JIM

[MikeB]

Indeed. With a large volume of kit!

[paddling grandma]

Holy sh** !! Surely that's not for real,I wonder how long that guy was going away for.

[MikeB]

Mr Jim Wallis - long time and most respected contributor to UKSKGB is "the guy". The picture is very real - and the trip was understood to be a week! A little research will find you the original source, and from there you will find the story that goes with the picture.

We like and respect Mr Wallis greatly - that doesn't stop us taking a certain joy in the picture! Or indeed the other classics of the man.

Mike.

[Jim]

Mr Jim Wallis - long time and most respected contributor to UKSKGB is "the guy". The picture is very real - and the trip was understood to be a week! A little research will find you the original source, and from there you will find the story that goes with the picture.

We like and respect Mr Wallis greatly - that doesn't stop us taking a certain joy in the picture! Or indeed the other classics of the man.

Mike.

Woah - steady on big man!

My entire sea kayaking experience amounts to less than what a lot of other contributors do each year!

Yes the photo is real. The trip was more of a holiday than an expedition so I had creature comforts and such essentials as my tripod and powerkite somewhere in that lot. Not to mention having stashed a slab of beer and a couple of bottles of whisky inside. However as I was recently reminded on another forum, at least I'd had the foresight to take more than one pair of shoes for the week (and one of my pairs were probably 4-season mountain boots) unlike the hapless girlies who had one pair each, whoever was running errands got to wear the dry pair.....!

Anyway, you can't see it in the photo but there isa small space on the other side of the front dry bag - what do I need to get to fill that space?

JIM

[sub5rider]

- that doesn't stop us taking a certain joy in the picture! Mike.

This photo is in danger of assuming a life of it's own, rather like the Eye's favourite photo of Brillo Pad avec Asian babe, to be republished on the specious whim of all and sundry. Tough sh*t, Jim!

[Jim]

Well if the Etive photo is anything to go by, it has a lot more mileage in it yet!

The only thing that disappoints me slightly is that it's the photo of me getting into the boat, and as such I haven't actually got myself right into the seat (hah - you thought sea kayaks were roomy!) so it appears to be trimming badly by the stern, whilst the much less published shots of me on the move reveal that the boat was actually pretty much level :(

If only my photo of Nigel with an inflatable device on his paddle had worked properly - unfortunately it was a plant and he didn't allow me to get a useable photo :)

JIM

[MikeB]

Well, I'm thinking of starting a UKSKGB "general gallery" - for those memorable pictures - such as that one - - - - -

Otherwise, there is a very real danager of such moments being lost in the grimy depths of our archive, never to be seen again. Material which forms part of a trip report, or something specific from the Almanac will always be accessible over the millenia, but these jems may become relics without constant reference.

So - for posterity, do remember the URL - http://www.ukseakayakguidebook.co.uk/si ... es/jim.jpg - save it to your desktop, your favourites, where-ever will ensure it's survival in eons to come, from the dark depths of cyberspace. Just think, in 3000 years, as someone pokes around in the debris of the web while doing web-arceology, that particular picture may well reveal itself to human-kind.

God knows what they'll make of it, maybe even regard it as some forem of religious icon, but there it will be. A tribute, if ever there was, to the inventivness of mankind, and in particular, to the multiple uses of the bungee strap!

No doubt they will wonder at the primitive craft, and will gaze in awe at the substance on which it is floating. (Well, just floating then). Perhaps it will re-kindle the genetic knowledge of the need to be near what they remember as the ocean.

An entire generation of explorers will then re-create (possibly only in simulators, as the oceans will hvae ceased to exist by then) similar craft - the norm will be such a load, and those who dare to sim-paddle without such acroutaments will be scorned as traditionalists and ridiculed by their peers.

In time however, they too will be accepted in much the same way we accep the skin-on-frame boat and Greenland paddle now - the preserve of an ideosyncratic few, but an enjoyable novelty non the less.

And Jim? Well, he'll by then have reached similar status to that pioneer of recreational canoeing - Rob Roy. How fitting, given the cultural heritage of RR being a Scot, and Mr Wallis' obvious Scottish ancestry.

I stand in awe of the future - Mike.

[Mark R]

Jim is using one of my tips - I also fill the hatched compartments with fresh water for the trip ahead.

[MikeB]

The only thing that disappoints me slightly is that it's the photo of me getting into the boat, and as such I haven't actually got myself right into the seat (hah - you thought sea kayaks were roomy!) so it appears to be trimming badly by the stern
JIM

Ha! And you'll remember your comments regarding a certain photo of your editor, taken by one Dr D Wilcox, where an unseemly comment was made regarding the relative position of the lubber line to the water!!

;-) revenge is a dish best savoured - - - - ;-)

Mike.

[seismicscot]

That IS a large volume boat!

JIM

Jim,

I did say larger! In the spirit of fairness, you're not the only one with gear 'issues':



I have to admit that is me towing the 'barge' back from a BBQ on Loch Lomond (the Californian version, not the Scottish original). And if you think that is bad, look at Dean McC, organiser of said BBQ:



And if that was not bad enough, Ken



and Fiona



were in on the act, and we all had to do two 'runs'!! Admittedly, this was a BBQ for 118 people. Under normal circumstances I tend to have everything inside my kayak ;o)

On a more constructive note, perhaps compression sacks may be a good investment.

Cheers,

Clark

[sub5rider]

this was a BBQ for 118 people

Heroic!
.
What we've actually kept secret up to now, is that rope you can see dangling over the jetty is actually a tow rope for Jim's butty-boat (in the canalwise usage, rather than summat dedicated to the transport of tasty snacks) which has not actually been launched at the time the pic was taken ;)

[Pelagic]

It may be worth mentioning that at the time the photo was taken Jim was technically aground................

when the boat actually floated (loosest possible term) it was actually slightly lower in the water, the other strange thing is that it was very similar a week later. The only explanation we could come up with that Jim must have been replacing his liquid ballast with.............water.

Phil

[Geoff Seddon]

Or, as it's Jim who is consuming the edible items packed in his boat the overall loading remains the same . A sort of conservation of mass thing.

[sub5rider]

A sort of conservation of mass thing.

This theory would surely require the use of a portapotti .....

[sandpiper]

Perhaps thats what he's sitting on.

[sub5rider]

Well if the Etive photo is anything to go by, it has a lot more mileage in it yet!JIM

Speaking of which, where does said image live?? Doesn't seem to be in it's rightful palce, eg Etive river guide......
I think we should be told.
Cheers 'n' Beers

[MikeB]

A special, safe place for it has been found! It's here : http://www.ukseakayakguidebook.co.uk/si ... _etive.jpg



Mike.

[Jim]

And all I did was ask if you had ballasted the boat for a day trip :(

Does anybody have any proof that I can float a boat and don't always pile the decks 3 feet high?

JIM

[MikeB]

Well, lets see - hmmm, after quite a bit of searching, I happened across proof that you CAN indeed float a boat - well, boats tend to float AWAY from you that is - - -

(Acknowledgement to BCC from whose site I nicked this, and indeed of course also the other one)



Titled over on BCC as "Jim's boat makes bid for freedom, Tanera Beg".
Copyright acknowledged to Mr Crompton.

Mike.

[sub5rider]

"Jim's boat makes bid for freedom, Tanera Beg".Mike.

...the boat slid silently and surrepticiously over the smooth round boulders and launched itself into the briny. Himself forced to leap in after it, to the accompaniment of a certain amount of mirth from everyone within a mile radius. Raucous, it was......

;)

[Jim]

If we'd have carried my boat up first as I suggested (whilst everyone felt fresh and strong) the tide wouldn't have nicked it! It does look far up that slimy boulder beach, but to do it without breaking any ankles (or worse) takes 6 people per boat about 5 minutes round trip - I think we'd shifted a few before getting to mine....

And by the way big man - your gettin it!

JIM