lifting automobiles with his mind
Published August 18, 2006 | 
Kumbaya my lord, kellybladesKumbaya my lord, kellyblades
Kumbaya my lord, kellyblades
Oh lord, kellyblades
Someones singing lord, kellyblades
Someones singing lord, kellyblades
Someones singing lord, kellyblades
Oh lord, kellyblades
Someones laughing, lord, kellyblades
Someones laughing, lord, kellyblades
Someones laughing, lord, kellyblades
Oh lord, kellyblades
Someones crying, lord, kellyblades
Someones crying, lord, kellyblades
Someones crying, lord, kellyblades
Oh lord, kellyblades
Someones praying, lord, kellyblades
Someones praying, lord, kellyblades
Someones praying, lord, kellyblades
Oh lord, kellyblades
Someones sleeping, lord, kellyblades
Someones sleeping, lord, kellyblades
Someones sleeping, lord, kellyblades
Oh lord, kellyblades
Oh lord, kumbaya
- Oh, by the way Kelly Blades now has a website. And if there was ever a kayak coach in the US who needed to publish his schedule. . . . it’s Kelly. While you’re there, read his FAQ. . . www.KellyBlades.com
loaded for bear
Published August 17, 2006 | 
“8th August, 2006: Today we decided to have one final go at going south. We managed a couple of miles before we once again hit impassable ice. We had decided that it would be our last attempt, as we were running out of time. With great sadness and reluctance, we turned around and headed back towards Scoresby. Shortly after, we spotted a polar bear swimming towards us. A couple of warning shots persuaded it to keep its distance. We managed to make our way to Sokonens Bugt through thick, but passable ice, where we had a second polar bear come within 50m of our camp. Hope the photos come out ok with all the camera shake!”- Greenland East Coast Kayak Expedition
I needed that! A little dose of inspiration. Sometimes I think this whole planet is a pretty poor neighborhood. Buried in wars, greed, starvation, and disease, often it seems the poles are the only place left where sanity rules. And even then, you have to keep an eye out for bear!
* photo by me. This poor zoo imprisoned bear get’s to be a stand in for his wild brethren.
The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke and the Curse of the Feathered Grail
Published August 16, 2006 | 
There’s a thief and a dragonfly trumpeter – he’s my hero
Fairy dandy tickling the fancy of his lady friend
The nymph in yellow “can we see the master-stroke”
What a quaere fellow – queen
As we all progress in this sport a good “forward stroke” seems to become a bit of a mantra. Sure, we all tell people when we teach a forward stroke that we don’t spend enough time on it. . But somehow that just does not quite ring true any longer. Ever since Brent Reitz came out with his DVD a good stroke has been foremost on our minds. Hmmm, that’s not quite right, . . certainly Brent is an attractive man, . . yet maybe I should endeavor to re-phrase. . . No, if anything, since the dawn of time, a good stroke has always been foremost on all of our minds. . .which is also true, AND off-topic. But you get the point.
Then there’s the battle of the American vs. British stroke that went on a decade or so ago when the Americans were pushing down the bow and the Brits were rotating their arms/hands to the side of the boat. Even today we keep weaving back and forth. (literally and figuratively) I’ve found myself becoming a “rotate to the side” paddler recently. But things change. In the future, who knows what I might do!
Thing is, I think as instructors we have to watch making the “Forward Stroke” a religion. To much nagging on proper technique can really take the fun out of the sport for a lot of paddlers. Let alone coaches with lousy rotation lecturing students on that very same subject! Somewhere between safe, solid locomotion and Einstein-like mathematical efficiency is a line that probably is just not worth crossing for all but the most avid of us. And that’s ok. I’ve seen too many really good paddlers that don’t give a care for Olympic style technique and I’d put money down to see most of us keep up with them.
Then there’s the bit where your forward stroke has to change constantly depending on the boat and weather you’re paddling in. Hopping in a white water boat you find out really quickly that the stroke you use in your sea kayak requires a bunch of adjustment or you’ll be zigging and zagging all over the place. The weather will ask all sorts of adjustments to your stroke depending on the day. Sure all the roots of your efficient “master-stroke” are still there, but you may shorten up a bit or get a little more angle on the blade to compensate for conditions. I’m quite sure all those Uber-Kayakers out there would tell you they make no adjustment to conditions, but I’m betting it’s all become so natural that they just don’t notice making them.
Then toss in the “Feathered Grail”. At one symposium this year I got to see a well known instructor teach the forward stroke. Something I’d very much wanted to do. The first thing he does with his students is require them to “feather” their paddles if they had not until this class. Well, he lost me there. For the folks who used a feathered blade the class was great. However, I think he probably killed the usefulness of his class for the normally unfeathered lot. And why do that? Thing is, you don’t need to feather your paddle to have a solid forward stroke. Just ask any traditional paddler. Sure, we “Euro-bladers” all know that at some level feathering the paddle is more efficient. Don’t we? Wind resistance and all that. . .Yet as a person who bounces from a traditional paddle, to Euro, to playboat I know there are always a few moments of adjustment when I switch. Especially when I’d been immersed in one style for awhile and suddenly switch to something else. When I say a few moments, keep in mind I live in my kayaks and am not the average rec boater at my first symposium. My first day on white water was interesting in part because I suddenly switched to an unfeathered paddle which I hadn’t done in awhile. All day my bracing had gone to hell. I ended up switching back by midday. I can’t imagine how a student used to an unfeathered blade can concentrate on an efficient stroke and torso rotation when they keep feeling like their going to fall over with a suddenly feathered blade. (run on sentence alert!!) At that point video modeling and all that other fancy stuff just becomes mute. You could easily chew up a 2 hour class just making that single adjustment from feathered to unfeathered blades without ever even considering proper rotation. New Coaches, here’s a tip. If you have students with unfeathered blades, how about asking them “Why?” before you drag them into enlightenment? You may find they have very valid reasons for why they do what they do. And that’s ok. If you get that, then you can teach them to be better paddlers in their world. And isn’t that what we’re there for? When I think of the mantra “Safe, Efficient, & Effective” that leaves a lot of room for leeway if you ask me. In time if the student does want to move to that, “next level” so to speak, they’ll come back to the feather/don’t feather argument and find what works for them. But then as I often say, “What do I know??”
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Feature Link
Here’s something I want to start tossing in as a regular part of my journals. Every few days I’ll tag on a “featured link” to an article, shop, website or whatever just to give us another place to browse for the day if we’ve not yet absolved our kayak addictions.
So our Inaugural Feature Link for today is:
Adventurous Experiences – instruction & guide service located on the Isle of Man in the UK. Even if you’re not planning to run to the UK be sure to check out their photo gallery.
First Descent Chilton
Published August 15, 2006 | 
I’ll bet you think this song is about you. Don’t you? Don’t you?- c. simon
provisions
Published August 13, 2006 | 
All serious kayakers know it’s important to take liquids and snacks along on any kayaking adventure. Being serious kayakers, Derrick & Alex prefer Diet Coke and Mentos. . .
Kayak Weekend Event Photos - Top Gallery
Little Solo Gallery - Top Gallery
Can I trust you?
Published August 11, 2006 | 
i might be wrongi might be wrong
i could have sworn i saw a light coming on
-radiohead
So there we were driving down the road when Alex finally called. Yeah, we had his wallet. We tried to tell him. In fact we chased him down the curvy little road at insane speeds honking the horn and waving out the windows!! All most whiffed it on a gravel filled corner. We were sure he’d notice when we came to a stop sign. But he didn’t, and he headed south. Well, Keith tried to call him on the cell phone as we watched his car fade into the distance. Voice Mail! Damn! We certainly weren’t going to chase him all the way to Appleton. So in defeat, we headed toward home. When he finally did call and we were miles down the road. Keith answered the phone. As soon as I knew it was Alex I was already turning around before those guys had worked out a plan out. We were going back. Of course we were. No big deal. We’d head back and wait at a gas station until Alex could catch us back up.
Later on, Keith and I were chatting as we buzzed through miles of unremarkable northern Wisconsin landscape. Keith was telling me how he and his wife Laura were talking about the relationships you somehow gain through kayaking. Strange really. Over a couple years you may see each other for just a few hours time. In between you occasionally exchange email about a new boat or some event you may both attend. In a normal world you are for the most part, strangers. Yet, in our kayaking universe it seems quite normal that you’d suddenly find yourself sleeping comfortably on their couch, teasing each other like siblings, or tossing your wallets at each other when someone runs into a store. “There’s cash in there somewhere. . ” For some reason the normal years of nurturing that builds friendships has been condensed in those few hours we do get, intermittent, and stretched out over time. If you actually stop to think about it, you can’t help but wonder.
I think Keith had a wonderful insight. He is after all, a wise man. He said that although we don’t really spend much time together, through kayaking we’ve come to trust each other. .and this is key, “with our lives”. When you look at it that way, our friendships make sense. It’s obvious.
When we first planed to meet with Alex to run the Wolf, neither Keith nor I could claim much, (or any) whitewater experience. We’d be fools to just take off down a river we had no knowledge of our own. But regardless of what you may have heard, we trusted Alex. We naturally expected him to accurately understand his own abilities and our skill level, then use his best judgment to keep us, well. . . Alive. And of course he lived up to our expectations. Of course he would. We have good friends. (just don’t trust him with your paddle).
As paddlers we constantly lean on this trust in open water, crazy surf, and knarly seas. We play in our liquid world in the relative safety of our friendships.
Over the last few years I’ve come to call a large group of silly people friends. People I would trust with my life. Some I’ve hardly spent an hour with in person, almost our whole relationships are carried along by email. Others I’ve spent many hours or days with. Yet, I trust each and every one of my friends. I know if need be they would look out for me as fiercely as I would them. As kayakers it has to be that way. It’s understood. And in there is the wonderful insight. It’s about trust. In some relationships you may never even ask the question, however with other kayakers it’s one of the first questions you ask. Albiet in silence, “Can I trust you?”
Sure of the answer to an unspoken question you launch together out into the waves.
“Yes.”
On the water you can accept nothing less.
Return Of The Son Of Shut Up ‘N Fix Yer Kayak
Published August 10, 2006 | 
Evelyn, a dog, having undergoneFurther modification
Pondered the significance of short-person behavior
In petal-depressed panchromatic resonance
And other highly ambient domains…
Arf she said – zappa
I’ve had these little bubbly bits in my Explorer’s hull for a about a year now. I knew I needed to fix them as I didn’t want water getting in there. But Gelcoat repair had me spooked. Everyone knows by now that you wouldn’t have me along on an expedition as the “repair guy”. On the other hand, like vaccinations sometimes you just have to get it done. Which reminds me of the sadistic nurse I had when I was getting a TB shot before I started work as an EMT. . but, as silb says. . . I digress. . .
So I reviewed Brian Nystrom’s post on kayak repair. Since his excelent gallery is there I won’t make this a “how to” guide. But I do have a couple “finer points for the untalented” such as myself. I ran down to Madison and picked up a very expensive can of finishing Gelcoat. Mark that. “Finishing Gelcoat”. This will air dry without all complications of covering the repair with cellophane. Then after a couple days of suffering intense Gelophbia I was finally outside with the Explorer up on the horses ready for a bit of surgery. I got out my Dremel and put a little rounded sanding wheel on it and went at boring out the ripples and flaring the edges as directed by Brian. Now since I was working on the side of the hull I did have to be careful not to dig into the fiberglass that sits just a coins width below the surface. It’s easy to see because of the change in color from chalky white to the yellowish fiberglass layer. As soon as I took back the “bubble” I was glad I was doing the repair. Below the bubble was an open split through the gelcoat right down to the glass. Be sure to get all the cracks dremeled out. Any cracking left in the gelcoat will continue to expand even if you rework the worst bits.
After getting everything sanded out, cleaned and ready for the repair I had to mix the gelcoat. Now here is the part that got a bit strange. Every website on Gel-coat out there seemed to talk about using the manufactures ratio for mixing hardener to the gelcoat. Thing is, for a small repair requiring less than an ounce of gelcoat you seem to have to mesure the hardener on an atomic scale. Like I wanted to review Atomic-Scale Measurements and Control in Chemistry 101. Yikes!! After a little searching on the net I found that most companies recommended a number of “drops” to an ounce. Not the can I have, but I had to do something. Well, they all averaged between 10 & 20 drops. A couple 2 or 3′s that I tossed out as sensless blips in the cosmos. I also knew that you didn’t want it to dry too fast or the repair would be weak. You also didn’t want it to start hardening off before you had the repair complete. So I basically guessed. Since I hate even numbers I chose 13 drops. (and me without a dart board)
Then using a small wide ended paint brush (The kind you use for models and craft work), I went about filling the holes I had made layer by layer. The gelcoat was thick enough that each layer could be done pretty quickly. I was also sure to build it up higher than the hull so I would be able to sand it back down to the correct level and smooth it out.
So there I was with my lumpy kayak. My reading at Atlantic Kayak Tours led me to understand that I wanted to start sanding when it dried, but not waiting to long. A couple hours. It would be dry enough when the gelcoat did not stick to the sand paper. The point being that over night was too long. So after a couple Corona with slightly dried out lime I came back to the hull with sand paper in hand. I did put masking tape around the repairs at that point so I wouldn’t scratch up the hull around the repair any more than I had to. Thing is, the masking tape peeled right up almost immediately when I’d hit it with sand paper. Oh well, nothing’s perfect.
If you stare long enough. . .
With some time and lots of eyeballs down the hull, I got it looking pretty nice other than the new bits were much whiter than my yellowing hull. Like I said, nothings perfect. I suppose I could have added a drop of yellow to the gelcoat, but I’m not that fussy. Next we go back over it with rubbing compound to get the repairs a bit shiny like the rest of the hull and call it a day.
So, now I feel pretty comfortable doing gelcoat repair on a white hull. I can see it would be almost impossible to repair the deck in a way that would look “natural”. Color matching would be a nightmare. I hear Nigel’s going to be here in the states this fall. Maybe he’d stop off at my place on the way and help me out with the deck?? Bring that light blue dye when you come!! I’ll fill the fridge with various libations. 
)
All in all I have to say, If I can do it, so can you. Read Brian’s post, take a valium and go for it. It isn’t so bad. . .
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