The palm Kaikoura...to be or not to be....that is the question............

There is a dilemma brewing …..do I replace my ageing Crewsaver buoyancy aid with a new one when the sailing season starts.

I am, I confess, a buoyancy aid man when in the dinghy.  Personal choice I guess. My Crewsaver is showing signs of wear and tear. The pocket zips have almost now corroded; they jam constantly, despite being rinsed in freshwater frequently after a trip. The Velcro on the adjustment shoulder straps is looking worse for wear too. An odd tiny tear in the fabric completes the look.

Don’t get me wrong, it is still serviceable. I think! It has kept me afloat when I have gone overboard on the odd occasion last year. But with pockets that now don’t zip up – well…..I think the time may have come to send it to a restful place of retirement…the garage shelf…where it can stay as a backup one.  Which now raises the dilemma – what do I replace it with?

Heading up the top of the list is the Palm Kaikoura. Met a sailing instructor last year who had one and he swore by his for dinghy use.

The blurb goes like this:

The Palm Kaikoura is a premium touring and sea expedition buoyancy aid.  It has a front zipped entry.  Packed with features and storage space.  Ideal for ocean expedition paddling, sea kayaking, touring, canoeing and instruction. Designed to give comfort and freedom of movement. The Palm Kaikoura took many years to develop and took on board views and opinions of many of the world’s top paddlers to offer a feature rich vest.

• Flex formed front panel wraps around torso giving unparalleled comfort and fit
• Neoprene lined armhole to prevent chafing
• Front zip entry; YYK tough plastic construction
• Large front cargo pockets with internal compartments, clip in points and velcro sealed opening for VHF radio aerial
• Fleece lined hand warmer pockets behind cargo pockets
• Shoulder pocket with whistle
• Large rear cargo pocket designed to accommodate a 1.5L hydration bladder
• 3D anti ride-up waist belt
• Easy Glide strap adjustment throughout
• Solas¨ reflective detail on shoulders, front and rear panels
• Front and rear lash tabs
• Vent Mesh inner lining for next to the skin comfort
• Gaia PVC free foam throughout

So much for the hyperbole. A video review is here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrhXHi2BWF8

Anyway, I have yet to find one locally but what is attracting me are the number of pockets. I am forever putting things down in Arwen and then watching them slide about or, worse still, I forget where I put them down due to my severe absentmindedness, which as anyone who knows me will tell you, is genuine and alarmingly getting worse. So what kind of things do I want to carry with me? Well strapped somewhere my SPOT PLB; sunglasses; my radio; knife; some chocolate bars or sweets; whistle; car key bag; money and cards pouch; personal mini flares pack. When you read canoeing forums, many have been impressed with it, not only in its capacity but also in its essential property of keeping you afloat.  Much has been made of its front zip entry which makes it easy to take off if you want to quickly remove an item of clothing or put an extra one on. My current BA is an over the head one which requires some interesting contortions from me, which as I age further, I’m damn sure will end up with me dislocating a shoulder, or falling out of the boat!

It would also suit any little canoeing adventures I want to do this year in Angharad, the wee canoe tender built for Arwen. There are other slightly less ‘pocketed’ palm BA’s.  The Palm Taupo is highly recommended.

Anyway, it is something to think about and try and track down so I can take a closer look. As I say, I may have to bite the bullet and then the ‘I like my old BA and I don’t have the money anyway’ feeling kicks in.

If you know of anyone who has one and you can get them to give an honest opinion of it – do please let me know

Steve

PS the BIG question of course is if I do bite the bullet, as my birthday approaches, what colour do I go for - red, blue or (shudder deeply) yellow?

I think I've found another sailing hero

Named Bill. I'll doubt he'll thank me for this but I've just been reading his sailing logs down around the Fal and that part of Cornwall in various small boats. Bill is 80 and has been finishing off the building of a paradox. Great boat, love it.
I hope I have Bill's wisdom, skills, knowledge, writing ability and zest for life when I'm 80. My dad does, so I'm hoping its genetic! In the meantime after a tough few days travelling up to North Wales and back for a family funeral, it has been nice to just chill and sit in my chair next to our window with its views out over the small town below and moors in the distance, and just read Bill's logs.
Roll on the summer sun. And thanks Bill

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2013_06_01_archive.html

Steve

More about the Cook Straits

Having read about Grant’s exploits sailing across the Cook strait, the geographer in me thought……..”Um , I wonder what that entails?”

It would seem the strait is between the north and south island of New Zealand, about 20 odd kilometres at its narrowest point (15 miles in old money?). Wikipedia said it is considered “ one of the most dangerous and unpredictable waters in the world”. 

Sounds intriguing I thought!

Apparently strong tidal flows are one issue along with the bizarre fact that if it is high tide at one end of the strait, it will simultaneously be low tide at the other end. That caused me some head scratching! Somewhere low water and high water have to meet!!

A quick check and it seems there is zero height change in the middle.  Tidal surges should flow one direction for six hours and then the reverse direction for six hours but in stormy weather this pattern can be severely disrupted with tidal flows going the same direction for several hours more than it should. Coupled with broken water caused by differing warmth currents along the submarine canyons this place probably deserves its fierce some reputation. 22 kilometres doesn't sound much until you factor in everything else and then........well quite some undertaking. 

Well done Grant!

Steve 

crossing the Cook Straits

Sailing a pathfinder across the Cook Strait

I’ve just learned that one brave soul has sailed a pathfinder across the strait between north and south island in New Zealand.  Grant Therese achieved this feat yesterday and it took, by my calculations, 9 hours. He was well kitted out with GPS, ERIPs, safety harness etc.  I think the Cook Strait suffers strong winds, fast currents and changeable weather. Friends comment on his excellent preparation and planning in advance.

I don’t think this is a small undertaking by any means. In fact I sense it is a rather impressive achievement. 

I’m missing sailing and am quite looking forward to doing some voyaging. It won’t be on the scale above but my intention this year is to try and sail down to Falmouth via Fowey and spend a few days around the Fal or alternatively sail eastwards around to Torquay via Salcombe, Dartmouth and Brixham.

Well done to grant. Quite some achievement in a small open boat.

Steve

Dinghy cruising: the perfect cruising dinghy?

The DCA forum has been spending quite a bit of time discussing ‘performance’ in a cruising dinghy.  What are the ultimate criteria for choosing a good cruising dinghy? This wasn’t a conversation about safety and how to ensure it in a dinghy – more about cruising performance and associated issues.

Not in any particular order, but forum members quoted the following:

·         Comfortable boat to reduce tiredness and improve decision making of skipper

·         Reduce dousing by dollops of water over the bow

·         Reasonable windward ability but not super critical

·         Ditto for speed

·         Habitability under way and at anchor

·         Ability to adapt to different sea and wind states

·         Reasonable manoeuvrability on land and sea

·         A dodger to reduce wind exposure

·         Minimising the times you need to go out onto the foredeck – so all sail controls leading aft; roller reefing and furling of jib

·         Perhaps having some rope system that allows anchoring and its retrieval from midway down the cockpit

·         Appropriate inventory for the cruising grounds and conditions covered

·         Easy availability of spares

·         Easy to repair

·         Easy towing

·         Ease of launching and retrieval of boat

·         Good ability of boat to run ashore to escape worsening conditions

·         Does purchase price/cost factor into this list?

·         Insurance costs – a known type/class of dinghy may well incur cheaper insurance quotes

·         The cost of fuel for the towing vehicle

·         Adequate floatation

I thought it was a very interesting conversation thread and as always reflected the deep knowledge and experience of DCA members. If you are a dinghy sailor thinking of dinghy cruising joining the Dinghy Cruising Association would, in my humble opinion, be a worthwhile move.  Intelligent, thought provoking debate about sailing and dinghies.

As a ‘secret lurker’ on the forum I have learned loads.

As for Arwen. Well she seems to do well on the small craft safety test; she passed the RNLI free safety inspection. I’m guessing that her performance is merely limited by the inexperience of her skipper!!

Steve

And whilst I was messing about.......

............with models..........Osbert in the meantime was getting down to practicalities........and actually working it out on his boat. Given I think he lives up in Scotland, I really can't blame the weather down far south for stopping me getting out on Arwen. Anyway, here are Osbert's thoughts......
http://forthsailoar.osbert.org/2014/01/19/re-thinking-the-boat-tent/

Steve

Model tents

Take one set of plans; mark out on 4mm ply and join the dots.
Then take a 3mm drill and drill holes judiciously.
Take some springy electric cable ties and then add plastic sheeting......
Simmer for a while as you grapple with tucks and cuts and then leave
Come back after several cups of tea and survey...........

Well I made one tunnel tent and got an idea of what it looks like in terms of cloth and cuts. I then tried the square tent using the BBQ sticks.

Now I just have to trim to shape and measure out and scale back up again to the real thing.
It was a fun couple of hours leaving me plenty to think about

Steve

boat tents

I'm back on that again. Osbert who owns a walkabout boat started thinking on his tent and how he wanted to alter it. That got me thinking not least because of a picture he posted of a pathfinder 'Moody blue' which had an interesting boat tent.

 

these are images of  'Moody Blue'

I think they belong to H Peerdeman who I haven't been able to contact yet. If you are Mr P, please contact me so I can formally ask permission to show these here; or, of course, remove them at your request. I quite like this design - very roomy inside - but will it 'catch the wind' too much?

As I see it I have two options

• buy an off the shelf cheap dome or tunnel tent and get one as close as I can to the dimensions of Arwen.
• construct my own and tailor make it to what I want

.........................and exactly what I want is still troubling me.........slightly

In no particular order are requirements such as

• easy of assembly and packing away
• storage in minimal space in boat
• minimal weight
• maximum protection from elements
• low enough so it doesn't act like a giant sail and cause swinging at anchor
• light colour - so light can come through
• minimal condensation on inside
• entrances - side; bow and stern
• windows somewhere
• option to roll up doors but have bug netting - allow breeze through if need be
• lowish height but high enough for sitting upright comfortably on side thwarts
• strong and rigid enough to withstand some wind force!
• goes over the side decks so I can put things on them without them dropping in to the briny..............so tight fitting around gunwale
• elasticated hems - attached to hooks below rubbing strakes on outside?

Some people have suggested buying a couple of real cheap tents and cutting them up and re-stitching them on home sewing machine to what I want - I could salvage tent zips, window panels etc; use existing tent pole tunnels etc. I guess it could be possible. Canvas seems very expensive.

again apologies but I don't know where these came from via the internet. I think the boat is a roamer? I suspect this is a DCA colleague but I am not sure. It is a very well made tent and I really quite like the design as long as there is comfortable sitting up room inside?

if you are the owner of these pictures, please do contact me and let me know - I will, of course either acknowledge your copyright immediately, or of course remove them. Thanks

Anyway this weekend what I am going to do is to try and make a mock up. I saw pictures somewhere where someone had laid out a scale plan of the boat on a piece of plywood through which they had drilled evenly spaced small holes along the outside end of the boat. Through these they had bent electric cable ties - the thin plastic ones. These formed hoops from one side to the other. Over this they had cut out thin plastic polythene shapes and assembled them over the hoops to make a sort of tunnel tent with tapered ends. In this way they were able to work out what kind of cutting patterns they needed; how many tent 'panels' there would be; what shape they might be etc.

It was a clever idea.  Which then made me think.........an alternative to the dome/tunnel is a box design and I could use the very thin BBQ kebab skewers to represent aluminium poles and make a mock up like that too!!

Well that is Saturday taken care of and I'll post photographs and you can make up your minds on whether it helped me make a choice or not!! In the meantime previous musings on a tent for Arwen can be found at http://arwensmeanderings.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/thinking-of-summer-dinghy-campingill.html

Steve

PS Of course if I was a real genius I'd design something which could act BOTH as boat cover and a tent........but that is probably stretching my little deteriorating grey cells a wee too much........or is it????
 

In a similar vein

Regular readers will know of my past musings about a tent for Arwen. Osbert has been doing similar thinking regarding his welsford 'walkabout' and you can read his thoughts here

http://forthsailoar.osbert.org/2014/01/12/reflections-on-boat-tent-design/#comment-261
 

Steve

Troy class sailing dinghies

Not quite welsford boats but lovely all the same, Gavin has posted a lovely clip at his blog 'intheboatshed'.

Enjoy at

http://intheboatshed.net/2014/01/13/highlights-2013-season-troy-racing/
 

Steve