As others have said, Ortlieb for heavy duty use (sleeping bag etc), Lomo tapered bag for up in the bow and Alpkit for general use. I'm sure you're across this, but several smaller bags are a more flexible packing solution than a couple of larger ones

Kind regards

Ian

Hi Sandshark, welcome to the sea kayaking forum! I'd absolutely echo what my good friend Douglas has written above, and if I could add a couple of points too... The tides and sea conditions around the Mull of Kintyre itself are very committing, before you consider an open sea crossing. Any miscalcul...

Phil, that Seal should be apprehended by the long arms of the law and hauled up before the beak......


:o)

Hi McGruff, There's very significant tidal movement through these two channels - 8 knots or 16 Km/h in the Cumhann Beag at Springs. There are significant boils, upwellings and eddies, particularly towards the end of the ebb. We found that at the head of the inner loch the tide continued rising for s...

Everyone in a peer group should have a duty of care to everyone else in the group to act in a reasonable and responsible manner, but beyond that all this hypothetical hand-wringing over liability is just wasted energy. Go paddle, enjoy, and look after each other. Where's the "like" button?! Ian

Hi,

Both books sold - thanks for looking


Ian

Hi PJJ,

I've just posted up two sea kayak journey books for sale here viewtopic.php?f=38&t=129829

Kind Regards

Ian

Hi All,

Two books for sale, both in good condition -

Blazing Paddles - Brian Wilson
Fallen Pieces of The Moon - Robin-Lloyd Jones

£5.00 each plus whatever it costs to post them


thanks

Ian

Hi kayakbiker, I've done this trip twice, once in high water conditions and once in more "normal" river levels. If there's one piece of advice I can give you, it would be to definitely take a trolley, especially if you're doing it solo. To get an idea of the river in both levels, take a look at my b...

Hi Bluey, Platypus for me. Tough, flexible, nasty-free construction and easily cleaned- Milton tablets work well. Rather than one big 5-10 litre container, I use two x 2 litre and 3 1 litre containers. My thinking is this: These are more easily stowed than one huge bag, a two litre and a one litre g...

Impressive stuff, and a permanent change to the view from Kyleakin.... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-43111943 As reported by some friends, a sea kayaking couple who were probably the closest people to the strike and had a closer view than they would maybe have wished! http:...

Hi Phil Douglas beat me to it! "EPIRB" has become quite a generic term, as has SART, but I used the wrong terminology above. You're quite correct: A PLB will usually consist of a 406MHz EPIRB function and a 121.5Mhz Homing beacon function which can be DF'ed by aircraft and surface rescue craft. A SA...

Chris & Rowland - one possible reason for the difference between Calmac and Northlink/Brittany Ferries rules is that Calmac services regularly carry bulk fuel in road tankers on their shorter sea routes and that will be factored into their certification; as far as I know that's not usually the case ...

I concur absolutely with the posts Douglas has contributed above. I was also in Loch Tamnabhaigh when Gordon nearly lost both hands (and his head) firing a rocket flare. The recoil also took a chunk out of the cockpit rim.....and remember that this was on flat water with plenty of time to prepare th...

Hello Mac, I didn't miss the question mark in your post, but thank you for clarifying. Owen says he's tried several GP's. Your default response was that it was (probably) due to poor paddling technique. You don't know Owen, and neither do I. To quote from further up the thread " Paddles really are a...

Mac50L wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 29, 2018 8:58 pm

Poor paddling technique (probably)?

Regardless of the pros and cons of GP versus Euro (yawn), that is an incredibly arrogant statement......

https://media.ukriversguidebook.co.uk/uploads/737/1516981896894-4071.png in between Phil appears to be having a spot of localised bladder difficulty there Douglas! :o) Jason, I absolutely agree with Douglas and Pathbrae's comments - and with Jim's note about the tidal gates on the ASKT. Regarding C...

Hi Jim, I usually do the same, but knowing what channel will be used I've found helpful. Being a Comms geek (and doing it for a living!) I've marked the antenna sites on my maps and mapping software so that I can have a pretty good idea which antenna is likely to be the closest in a visible line, an...

Hi All, Those of you who are out and about regularly will no doubt be aware of this as it's being announced on each MSI broadcast at the moment - the channels on which MSI broadcasts are transmitted are changing from the current 23,23 or 86. From the MCA website: "From Wednesday 6 September 2017 HM ...

Hi CC, We use the Aqua Zoom DSLR bag from Ortlieb. It's good...... https://seakayakphoto.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/thank-lord-for-ortlieb-aqua-zoom-bag.html If you look at the header picture on Duglas' blog, he's surfing a Cetus under sail with £3K of camera gear in the Ortlieb bag on the foredeck. The...

Rainshine wrote:
Oh well, I shall just keep paddling on and enjoying myself!!

Good plan.... these are the only "stars" that matter in our paddling group!.....

:o)

Well, I guess the situation is a bit different in NL. Channel 16= Coastguard= emergency only. IN case of an ongoing emergency, the CG assigns a separate CH for involved parties. Every "traffic- area"has its own VHF channel via which all traffic is managed. This is what we as kayakers use to contact...

Hi JB, this makes absolutely no sense to me.... The purpose of Channel 16 is a Calling and Distress channel - vessels call on 16 and then shift to a working channel as a routine procedure. I work on vessels visiting Netherlands ports regularly - there is no restriction on use of #16 as a calling cha...

Hi Mal, In some ways our approach is very similar, but in some ways a bit different. Like you, I'm camping four seasons - over 50 nights in my tent over the last 12 months in conditions ranging from perfect spring/autumn evenings to midge hell to -15 celsius to gales high in the Cairngorms. A look t...

Hi Penelope, I've suggested what I and others use further down this reply, but if I was to offer some advice it would be to concentrate on the practicality and reliability of a tent rather than the space it takes up in your boat. Look for something semi-geodesic or geodesic initially, these will pit...

Sobering stuff Mal, and a prime reason why GMDSS PLB's are the best option.

Kind Regards

Ian

Hi there, KCS all the way for me - the best trolley I've ever used bar none. For reviews see here.... http://mountainandseascotland.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/equipment-review-kayak-carrier-systems.html and here..... http://seakayakphoto.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/kcs-expedition-kayak-trolley-test-and.html ...

Hi, It looks like the differences are that the ResqLink is smaller and lighter (half the weight of the AquaLink) with slightly less power output on 406MHz (the GMDSS satellite frequency) but the same output on 121.5MHz (RACON homing used by SAR craft when in the vicinity of the beacon). Battery life...

My point is more "so what?" and "what difference does that make"? Sometimes bad stuff just happens, conditions change, tides and weather might not do what they were forecast to do and a 1 knot tide with a gentle breeze can quickly turn into a 3 knot flow when the wind picks up unexpectedly and empt...

It's a fairly big place Chris.....

:o)

Ian