Ah, twinges! I'm prone to issues (in mid 50s, numerous injuries, some very serious). 'Lock the frame' is a refrain from multiple coaches. Ivan puts it more bluntly "The top hand does nothing. If it does anything, it just stuffs it up." (paraphrasing a bit). If the top hand/arm/shoulder is 'locked' i...

I'm no great expert and certainly no athlete. The second fact has led me to put a lot of effort into improving my forward stroke (for Hasler racing). Jim, from that vid it looks like your top hand is diving. One of the best tips I was ever given was "Top hand moves parallel to the surface of the wat...

Paddling style is a factor. As is boat width.
Low, high?
I'm a shortarse at 170cm, but use 212 with a wing blade. That's smack on for flatwater, according to Epic. I'll probably shorten it a bit for rough sea paddling.

My maiden trip out on a sea loch last saturday was in force 4-5 (17knots, gusting to 37knots). I stayed in the loch, so there wasn't much of a fetch to raise wave height. There are numerous small islands in the loch, so the sea was quite confused at times, with waves refracting around the islands. W...

A cheap option is a LED bike light - reasonably weatherproof and can be set to constant mode instead of flashing. That is what we use in Cambridge, race training at night. white front, red rear. You might wonder about the need for lights on a dirty ditch like the Cam, but the traffic is busy. Rowin...

I'm thinking of lights for use when it gets dark or in dusk.

Has anyone used running lights? The type that are chest-mounted with straps, with a red light at the back and a white light at front.

what is the recommended route?

I think I'd put cycle up around 90 (apart from Weird bearded audaxers. they have a kind of anti-fashion). Does cost reflect quality? I bought a cheap cag. Not at all waterproof, stitching started coming apart after 4 paddles. I'll probably proof it myself and continue using it, but it was probably w...

I'm looking out of my window at a stormy loch - blowing about force 6 (the ferries are all cancelled and have been for two days). In the loch itself, most of the waves are not so high and just foaming at the crest. Paddling would still be difficult, due to the wind trying to tear the paddle out of y...

Beau Miles did this, taking a boat to Africa. He responds to messages on youtube.

The follow up question is "Why does wind against tide have the effect it does? Why doesn't a 12kt wind against a 3kt tide have the same effect as a 15kt wind?" This puzzled me for years, and there are a huge number "explanations" online, quoting friction, viscosity, vertical motion of water in the ...

There are always two tides per day - except when there is only one per day - or when the whole thing gets mixed up and there are one and a half - as happens in parts of the world - https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_tides/tides07_cycles.html don't forget the places that have 4! (I bel...

Has anyone ever tried fitting a bailer like they have in surf skis? No, but I have recently bought a surfski. These bailers do leak a bit. Just a very slow seep - people claim to have stopped this, but usually by lots of intervention. Activating them requires a good hard shove with a foot - you'd h...

Cyclists (well, road riders) are well used to coping with this and there is quite a bit of scientific study as well. On time-trialer's old saw was to suck on a boiled sweet part way through a long time trial 'for energy'. Loughborough uni thought this sounded dubious; the science said you wouldn't g...

Energy drinks and energy gels often rely on long-chain saccharides. These are notorious for giving people the squits. Not an insurmountable problem if out for a long bike ride (there are always hedges or walls to hide behind and deal with it). A bit more of a problem if you are several miles offshor...

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 fa...

I'd quite like to protect my Nelo 510 in a few places (bow, under heels). Was thinking of using Helicopter tape.

Does anyone have experience of using this on a plastic (rotomold) boat? Does it stick?

Two short trips on my new (to me) nelo 510. Unfortunately both on a boring river. Friday (company holiday), snowing then raining heavily. New Lomo trolley and some fun messing around on fast water below a weir. Years since I've done that, took a bit of adjustment. Today (Sunday), out again but for r...

I have a single layer Nelo 510 ski.
No discernable flex.

It isn't super heavy for a plastic boat - about 22kg.

I'd say don't go out in an inflatable if there is a breeze blowing off the shore (anything above a very gentle breeze).

Other than that, stick close to shore, watch out for boat wakes.

Ok, so your experience level is similar to mine, minus the coastal navigation skills. Can you do an open water re-entry into a boat, or roll confidently? As put to me; you are most likely to need to roll/rescue in bad conditions. Are you able to do that, well offshore (i.e. out of swimming distance ...

People might want to know a bit about your experience and skill level.

Also, the type of waters you intend to paddle in.

Does the watch actually display chart data?

That's fine, if you were paddling down with the ebb you would take out before the bore (leaving plenty of spare time in case it arrives early), and if you were going up with the flood, you could could either launch after the bore or attempt to surf it upstream. Are you saying the bore goes far enou...

Crikey, I'm repeating myself a lot here. The 'low water slack' doesn't really happen. The outgoing tidal flow (this is from downstream of Naburn Weir) continues after the flooding tide starts. This is probably because, the Ouse being a narrow windy river, the outgoing flow is not all that fast. The ...

I'm not sure you read what I wrote. The incoming tide rides over the top of the outgoing flow . This is a very very strange hydrological situation. It is even more strange when you are on a boat, on the river! Apart from during times of flood, the Ouse has very little flow. You are correct about the...

thanks - but that is sorter and fatter than a V7. I've done some research, had quite a bit of feedback (including from a club member, who has owned 3 surfskis and many kayaks). Fruit of my research Nelo 510 Pros Really good foot pedal adjustment. Cables can be rigged for either under or stern rudder...

A lot of rivers flow into the Humber, so paddling up it will be more critical on timings than down, but then I don't know where you'd launch or land at low tide... No, the Humber is completely dominated by tide, well past Trent falls. Even in the event of major flood, the tide sweeps up the Ouse as...

I haven't paddled on it, but have brought barges up the humber and ouse. If you are coming across on the canal, I guess you'll come down the aire from Leeds. Most of the Aire is fine - it is the Ouse that can be dangerous. You must be aware of tides - the Ouse gets a tidal bore. The bore (known loca...

I've been a K1 racer for a couple of years now and enjoyed it. However I'm moving to a new area (Scottish Islands); no racing and no suitable places to paddle a K1. Never learnt to roll, even though I used to paddle on fast flowing water (about grade 2-3 I guess) a lot and in an estuary. Had a bad a...

The electric Whales are less prone to blocking than the manual pumps (they have a better intake filter for starters).
What sensor did you use? Float sensors are used on boats, but they usually require a cm of water at least.