Hi Ben, For less than the Kee Klamp solution suggested, my local blacksmith has just made this rack to a design largely led by Mike B's (in the Almanac). Constructed of box section steel, it's a solid thing! The blacksmith charged £275 plus VAT (so £330 all in) which included undercoating it with re...

Hi seawolf, I don't even use a complete hi-vis vest, but cut out one of the retroreflective tape strips (leaving a bit of the hi-vis material either side) which gives a couple of feet of strip, and larks-foot that through the stern toggle so the two loose ends hang free. Simple, takes less than thre...

Hi ARP, Just to add to the info concerning flares. I'm a professional deep-sea mariner and we carry flare sets on ships, but with a Very pistol launcher. Handheld flares were a solution pre-GMDSS and modern technology, but even then had drawbacks. They're one-shot, can be damaged by immersion and se...

Hi VKGscotty, and welcome!

Have you thought about using a trolley with spherical "wheels"? I'm sure I've seen a design which used these for shifting sailing dinghies over shingle - if I can find it I'll post info here

Kind Regards

Ian

Hi Jason, Have a look at trips along the Moray Firth coast..... superlative paddling, regular harbour communities and camp sites if you want them, great pubs - oh, and the best chance of good weather....no midges either! Some ideas here: http://mountainandseascotland.blogspot.com/search/label/Moray%...

Hi Ken, I'd agree that it sounds like an internal failure. The display fogging seems to indicate moisture ingress somewhere, I'm guessing you've done a detailed look sround for case damage....have you tried dunking it to check fir signs of water getting somwhere nasty?. It'd be good to know what the...

Hi NB, Interesting...I've not had a handset do that particular trick! (I'm a seafarer and responsible for all the onboard radios on ships). The SH HX870E is rated at IPX8 which should give adequate water ingress protection, but I note that the strobe is water activated - even when the set is powered...

Hi Jules, I had an Aquapac bag for a GPS unit whic developed a leak and contributed to the demise of the GPS. I found a similar size bag from Overboard, less money and a bit sturdier, so far it's performed faultlessly. If I could have found one available at the time I'd have gone for a model by Ortl...

Do they shrink after salt water immersion?.....or is that just wooly thinking?.....

Hi Porteous,

Karitek appear to have the Trade Wind 0.8 available.... https://www.karitek.co.uk/shop/sea-kaya ... y=15487401

Kind regards

Ian

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...