If you had a beam sea from the left, big enough to require concentration, it's very likely that the waves were big enough to hide your kayak from anyone approaching from the left. I doubt they would have seen you until 100m away, and that doesn't give them long to manoeuvre if they were going fast. ...

asking club members for short spins in their boats Definitely a good idea the assumption a roto moulded kayak lifespan is 12 years That's not a good assumption. Polyethylene is not all the same, there are things like plasticisers added to the mix. These can improve the properties when new but incre...

Yachts can change course quite quickly if necessary, but whether they will wish to often depends on their direction relative to the wind. If going downwind, they can adjust their course without much difficulty, if going upwind, they can't go closer to the wind without tacking, and they won't want to...

Another thread recently brought up that P&H are saying square hatch Capellas may be past their use-by date . I think they're being cautious, and boats that have been stored indoors are probably fine, but if replacement hatches are not available (they're non-standard) that limits the life of the boat...

Hasn't logged in. May be reading replies as a guest but bad form to ask for advice and not repond.

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I was surprised to see that, but you're right , P&H are no longer selling hatch covers or cockpit braces and recommend using pre-2004 Capellas close to safety or cutting them up, based on UV degradation. They are probably being cautious, and calculating UV damage on being stored outside. The 2 boats...

I'm not familiar with the cable route on Valley skegs, but if there are any bends, 4mm wire is much stiffer than 3mm and will create a lot of friction on the casing as it's forced round.

Not before or it will just lead to confusion. Just to check, I think you're saying start with one type of paddle, GP, Euro, Wings or whatever, and don't try others until you're competent with that? I agree, I know paddlers who started with Wings and don't use anything else. The same thing probably ...

why so many? So that you don't need to post your phone number for every spammer on the internet to harvest. Relies can be read by anyone - so if somebody asks for more photos, they can be posted so that other potential buyers can see them too. PMs and emails for anything you don't want published, l...

Just for info, P&H made a version of of the Icefloe with a retractable skeg, called a Fjord. I tried one in about 1984/5, it surfed well (on a following sea, not a beach break).

That's the same woven cloth I remember from a Baidarka of that era. Whether it's glass or Diolen doesn't actually matter, a repair with Kevlar and epoxy is the appropriate fix in either case.

I think straight arm paddling works better with 'high angle' stroke, that is with the shaft more vertical in the water (70º?) and the blade is closer to the boat for most of the stroke, compared to a low angle stroke in which the shaft is nearer to horizontal (30º?) and the blade moves outwards from...

If it's furring, it's probably diolen [polyester] cloth, not glass. That would be common in boats from that time. Glass doesn't fur, the fibres break off cleanly. I would use kevlar cloth if you can, as it will resist abrasion better, and lay it up with flowcoat or plain resin, fairly generously, wi...

Thanks, slim, that's good from two aspects. One, it's a PRN, and managed by C&RT - so clearly OK to paddle, I would also make C&RT aware of the signs. I don't know if C&RT actually own the banks but they may control the fishing rights. Two, BC are responsive to access issues and supporting the recre...

Please report the situation to British Canoeing . There's good evidence of the Public Right of Navigation (PRN) on all navigable rivers , but I'd have thought the Trent has a stronger case than most; it's historic use is indisputable. Provided you have public access and egress the PRN takes priority...

Kayaking in a pair is helpful, as you won't have to do steering strokes, partly because your partner can do them and also because most doubles have a rudder. I suggest using unfeathered paddles. Even if you grip with your good left hand, rotating the paddle between strokes is an extra complication y...

That's a very impressive shape to have built from bent plywood.

I can suggest two possibilities to consider. The first is to paddle a kayak with a strongly rotational paddling style; instead of bending your arm you push with your leg to rotate on your seat, and twist your abdominals to rotate your torso, twist your shoulders, etc. This is actually recommended te...

I've sent you a PM, Stephen

Yes, people with a whitewater background often like to be tight in the boat, while those who have paddled racing K1 balance in the boat with legs free and let the boat move. That also allows better rotation. If you have tight hamstrings, sitting with knees down increases tension in your lower back. ...

Yes, Stephen, it's still for sale, thanks.

I would approach it a different way, but I make no claim about whether my method or PlymouthDamo's is better or has more chance of working. I would use superglue (cyanoacrylate) in stages, working from the ends of the split, to temporarily hold the edges together. Then I would apply a layer of Aquas...

I think Euro blades will be a bit easier to start with. For ease of transition to GP, or alternating between paddles, I suggest setting Euro blades to zero feather. Actually, I'd suggest zero feather irrespective of possible use of GP - it removes a complication from learning and has no disadvantage...

On the other hand I'm still using a my 4 piece Lendal paddles with Paddlok, 15 years and 2500 miles, no problems. I haven't used leverlok though, and they might be more convenient for the centre joint, but I wouldn't want anything other Paddlok for the blade-shaft joint.

I think you did well to skip the Rapier, it's really a race boat and less stable than others. The original Nordkapp had a reputation for being tippy compared to 1980's boats. If you want a plumb bow look at the Rockpool Tarantella (the version of the Taran for smaller paddlers) or the Tiderack Pace ...

Welcome to UKRGB! If you're generally happy with your balance on flat water, you should be fine with a narrower boat; a wider boat isn't necessarily more stable in waves. Width of boat isn't always an indicator of width of cockpit, nor of waterline width, but if you look for boats built for people o...

I'm not sure how much I would trust GPS to help with this Jim, I wasn't using GPS elevation, I imported my GPS track into Memory Map as route on the OS 1:50k. Memory Map has the OS landform embedded so generates a profile for the route. I could have just plotted the route but since I had it as a tr...

A Facebook post asked whether there are any long profiles of Scottish Rivers online. I'm not aware of any, but I can see they could useful (and not just for Scotland). So I've drawn one for the Spey, based on my own GPS track and Memory Map. https://media.ukriversguidebook.co.uk/uploads/1849/1598703...

I have never heard of silane binder and my first thought was that it was binder as used in CSM. That holds the fibres in place until you wet it out, and then dissolves in the resin so that you can manipulate the mat. CSM bound with PVA emulsion doesn't work with epoxy, you need to use powder bound C...