The principle that should be being promoted is to to take your exercise as close to home as it is safe to take it, and to take whatever form of exercise is normal or you.

The Welsh situation is appalling, and I beleive is causing paddlers to take more risky forms of exercise.

The general situation around the UK is that the flood tide goes towards the north and west, and the ebb towards the south and east, but local topography can cause streams to run in completely different directions than those. Local ?! For over a third of the Great Britain coastline, from John o' Gro...

I was clear about 'ocean currents' not being due to gravity, but I wrongly thought it was temperature, I hadn't realsied salinity is the mechanism that moves the water which happens to be at different temperatures. It really is quite fascinating! I didn't have to do any oceanography, but did do a mo...

How are you judging the wind speed you're paddling into? For me, usually by the descriptions of Beaufort wind scale up to about Bft 4 or 5, above that it all just looks a mess and I go by inshore waters forecast or coastal station reports, which I also often do for lower speeds too. I do have some ...

mcgruff wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 21, 2021 8:38 pm

I guess that's why the Greenland inuit developed a short storm paddle.

I bet they had the sense to only use them to get to the nearest land/stable ice and find shelter!

Topography (more correctly bathymetry which is underwater topography) causes the tide to flow around it as it rises and falls, causing tide streams, which are being abbreviated to 'tide' in the examples given. The general situation around the UK is that the flood tide goes towards the north and west...

Also I wonder what the maximum head wind speed can be paddled directly into and what distance would be covered ? (Assuming tidal flow wasn’t a factor) if it was blowing 80mph it could be about 400metres before your arms fall off ? Difficult to say because we all have different limits, but it is imp...

Chris Bolton wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 19, 2021 11:43 pm

Google suggests that the vast majority agree with Northern Blue, wind over tide = wind against tide. I've always used 'with' or 'against'.

Fair enough, I'm sure I was taught the options as over or against but it looks like it is time to drop over for consensus and clarity!

Try to plan for wind over tide rather than wind against tide, the waves will be much smoother and less likely to explode randomly in your face, which will make it more feasible to time your breath in between the hits. Of course that means your upwind-uptide leg is even harder, but that might be a pr...

A smaller roll of tape? Epoxy putty can be useful (you could even cut smaller lumps off the sticks and re-wrap), but I find if it has been kicking around unused for a few years it can get a bit hard and difficult to knead (although so far I have always found it possible, just a lot more effort). Tap...

Pretty unusual for sea kayak manufacturers to bolt hatches now. Since they are Kajaksport rims you could consider taking them out, filling the holes in the deck, and then bonding them back in properly. Once the existing adhesive is cleaned off, if the rim is a close fit to the deck, a methacrylate a...

Stainless dome nuts? You may still need to cut some screws to the right length to work in dome nuts. A cheaper alternative is plastic/rubber caps you can stick on the screws, but I don;t know where you get them and they always fall off anyway. You might be able to achieve a compromise using some of ...

I disagree, a rudder is VERY useful to control weather cocking or lee cocking, in fact that is the main purpose it serves on my boat, the times I actually want to make a turn sharp enough to use the rudder are fairly few, and then I find it best to stick to no tighter than about 50m radius to avoid ...

There are plenty of useful exercises to get you started without buying anything - step throughs, windscreen wipers, get ups (start without a weight, then you only need something light that you won't drop on your head so doesn't need to be actual gym equipment). The flexibility will be useful for rol...

Never really understood the history. Corran was one of the founders and was at the leading edge of playboat (freestyle) design - I still rate the Glide as one of the best boats I have ever owned, despite the pain. But something happened, I don't know what and I realise the internet view of corporate...

Yep, due to slippy mud I only tend to paddle around HW, so I've had a few days off so will be making use of tomorrow (0804 I think) and Christmas day unless the wind is howling up here

I would talk to a plastic fabricator/welder and see if they can weld in a thick PE plate, maybe cutting the rectangular bit with the holes out completely to make way for it. If they can attach a pre-drilled/threaded stainless steel back plate onto the PE plate before welding it in it would help spre...

You’ve got some backstory Beryl! Jim, could you recommend a chest strap to connect with an Apple watch?I’d like to start the monitoring you mentioned. Thanks in advance. I don't have very much experience with heart rate monitoring, but I use a Wahoo Tickr which has the accuracy needed for HRV monit...

Sugar is used too quickly to be a long term plan, it has uses for recovering when you overdo things but but far better to use slow release energy (carbs). It will also interfere with your ability to absorb water so for hydration, despite all the fancy drinks on the market, water is best. If you are ...

For Maverick777, my suggestion is similar to PlymouthDamo's, but I would say find a plastic fabrication shop rather than a car body repairer. AFAIK most of the plastic used in car bodies is polypropoylene not polyethylene, so they might be able to have a go, or not. But if you can find a plastic fab...

What kind of boat is it (PE, composite, Skin on frame) and what are you trying to achieve (repair a hole, stiffen the spine of the kayak, add abrasion resistance, add impact resistance)?

I've never used Keeleazy, is it primarily for abrasion resistance?

Flat calm out today ...a bit chilly though so layered up ...100% polyester thermal suit and thin fleece seems work best under drysuit for cold days .any other ideas what to wear that isn’t going to overheat too quickly I was only out for a short interval session on the river today, but wore the sam...

I'm a little shorter, a little heavier and only have size 11 feet but I love my Rockpool Taran - it is a fast sea kayak not a beginners tourer, but coming from a K1/K2 racing background you will find it rock solid and if you allow for acceleration being a bit slower from stationary and a lower top s...

You lucky people with access to the coast. I'd have to drive 20 miles and then it would either be mud or half a mile to the waterline and waves the colour of milky tea. Never bothered paddling my bit of coastline. 20 miles seems a bit far under travel restrictions, but the mud and distance issue is...

No, but most of us like to waterproof the actual connections, you would end up with an ordinary plug in a position it could accidentally get wet. Mine is bit bigger than my sealed lead acid battery, but a lot lighter, I would need a bigger waterprrof box which might cancel out the weight saving, but...

Prior to Covid I could count the number of other kayaks I had seen on the Leven on 1 finger, then I spotted one from the office window just before I moved out to work from home, and then I met a couple of sea kayaks one day, and another day 4 SOTs. So that's 8 in total, ever. A couple of years ago I...

Seems I misudnerstood slightly! You are asking a group of primarily WW paddlers, of course we think it is worth the commitment of time and money! :) You will probably find you transfer some WW skills to playing in tide races, so even if you get fed up after a few months and sell the WW boat, it will...

No need to sneak out where I live, I have mostly been paddling on a tidal river for ages (as safe and socially distanced as your estuary I'm sure!), but with the put in and supermarket only a couple of miles away the drive hasn't been keeping my battery charged so the car wouldn't start today. So no...

"White water" covers quite a range, grade 1 essentially isn't whitewater, grade 3 and above you don't really just pick up on your own, most people will at least want to be in a group for safety reasons, and for safety reasons the group should be aware of how to help each other out in WW situations.....

I completely agree - displaying a small number of useful fields as large as possible works really well for tracking progress. I am interested in increasing my fitness (and speed - I race WWR and slalom as well as my sea kayak) so can gather various useful bits of information by tracking my speed and...