aturday was the Virtual Vampyre's birthday, so
at her request the TV Queen and I took her, along
with some friends, to a Japanese restaurant in Ann
Arbor. I was actually rather proud of myself for not
stopping in Saline for a good American McBurger on the way
home. I no more than got in the door when the phone
went off. I figured it was a sales call, but it proved
to be Kayak Tom with something even more insidious:
a report of open water. It seems he'd been taking a
short cut when he found a mile or more of open water in
a channel between two lakes in eastern Branch
County.<br><br>Over the course of the next hour, I managed to find
all the kayak gear that for most of the year stays
loaded in the van, along with some other goodies, like
the neoprene gloves I bought myself for Christmas.
Bright and early this morning, I dropped the Firecracker
(I mean, what else are you going to call a bright
red kayak bought on July 4 weekend?) from its winter
home in the rafters of the garage onto the trailer
where it normally lives, and headed up to the
convenience store on the corner for a cup of eyeopener.
"What's that you've got on your trailer?" the girl there
asked. "An iceboat?" Not a bad guess, actually, and
perhaps pretty close to right.<br><br>On down to Kayak
Tom's, sipping coffee all the way, and then into the
wetsuit and everything in his living room, then on to the
lake. I'd never been there before, but it proved to be
a long, straight channel, perhaps a mile of it,
between Loon and Bartholomew Lakes, and wonder of
wonders, it was mostly free of ice, especially at the
little boat launch next to a bridge. I set the
Firecracker off of the trailer and onto the snow, and it
showed that it had been too long for it, too: it
immediately took off toward the water. Had a heck of a time
catching it. Although we were protected by trees, the wind
was still whistling, and it was cold. "Keep your eyes
open for guys in white jackets," I told Kayak
Tom.<br><br>"Why?" he said. "People kayak in the winter all the
time."<br><br>"Around here?"<br><br>"You might have a point," he said.
<br><br>Onto the water. The kayak felt a little strange after
being away for so long, and I was having a little
difficulty getting comfortable. Once we'd jiggled and
prodded and pried our way into the cockpits, getting the
spray skirts on and clothing adjusted, we set off down
the channel at an easy pace. Toward the end of the
channel, a thread of ice stretched across in front of us,
but a tap of the Firecracker's crusier bow opened us
a path for a ways longer, until the channel widened
out into a frozen lake. In front of us we could see a
guy out ice fishing, and I'm sure that he was more
surprised to see us than we were to see him.<br><br>We
turned around and headed back the other way, most of a
mile down to the other lake. In the channel there was
a flock of perhaps a couple of hundred mallards and
blacks, with three snow geese mixed in for good measures.
A lot of them took to the air as we passed, but a
few just squeezed over to the bank and let us pass.
All too soon, the channel widened again, and ice
blocked our way in the other lake. The wind was strong
here and it made it a little fun getting turned around
without being blown into a large ice floe, but soon we
were heading back down toward the channel. <br><br>We
thought about doing a second lap, but I was overheated
from being overdressed, strange thing to say, and
Kayak Tom's back was hurting a little, so we decided to
hang it up after only a couple miles, a lot shorter
than our usual trips, even though we've laid off it
for a while. But, what the heck -- we've logged one
in January to keep the string of being out at least
once a month alive, and not really a bad trip, either.
All too soon we'll have to dose ourselves with bug
dope and carry a towel to mop away the
sweat.<br><br>SYOTW, Wes<br>No longer tripless in 1999

y most regular kayaking buddy found some open
water over near Coldwater. Not a lot, but apparently
enough to get in a mile or so. The Big Red One gets
paroled from the rafters tomorrow! I've been eating so
much lately I hope the wet suit still fits!<br>SYOTW,
Wes

just had a few minutes to check out our new
member, Wes' web site (which incidentally is part of a
sea-kayaking web ring) -- great site!<br><br>Wes obviously has
"the passion" for our sport.<br><br>Check out his site
at:<br><br><a href=http://www2.dmci.net/users/wesboyd/kayak.htm
target=new>http://www2.dmci.net/users/wesboyd/kayak.htm</a><br><br>Especially
good and entertaining are the links in "Keyboard
Trails".<br><br>Wes, you should have written for one of the SK
mags!<br><br>Enjoy :)

think that most of us Michiganders are feeling
the same way right now. And with the recent thaw,
those of us who might have wanted to try XC skiing or
'shoeing can't even do that because the snow is
rotten.<br><br>So.... since we can't get into the river or lake right
now we talk about things that in theory keep us in
connection with what we love to do.<br><br>It's a good thing
that there are a few great kayaking mags out there
(the online ones have a way to go yet). Just picked up
an issue of Sea Kayaker yesterday and they had a
great article on ranging and drift. Not sure what you
have available when the weather gets warmer, Wes, but
being here only 50 minutes or so from Algonac, it's not
even a couple of miles across to the many islands that
form the St. Clair River delta as it empties into
Anchor Bay and Lake St. Clair.<br><br>Current is pretty
swift in there as well so this kind of article is
perfect study material for planning such a
pursuit.<br><br>I have to agree, though, theory is all nice and
good, but we all really want to get out and paddle.
This part of winter is the hardest to wait out,
especially with the temps we've had lately teasing us with a
thaw. (you know it's going to snow again at least one
more time!).<br><br>Unlike last year, however, you can
bet that the inland rivers will be much higher and
swifter, at least in the spring.<br><br>Looking forward to
warmer weather!<br>K-

've spent a lot of time the last few month
monitoring RBP for the occasional bit of flatwater info that
manages to worm its way through the babble, and spent
time on Paddlewise and CPAKayaker, and a few message
boards. After looking at all of this, I've come to the
conclusion that us flatwater boaters, at least in this neck
of the woods, are suffering from a serious problem:
paddling without chipping something. Hopefully ice, but
you could knock a nice hunk out of a $350 Epic paddle
on some of this stuff, too. Anyway, looking at some
of the message threads . . . and I suppose,
including this one . . . the conclusion is, "These guys
need liquid water badly!"<br><br>I know I'm among that
crowd. The creek that goes through the town I work in
got out of its banks last weekend, and flooded a
couple of ball fields. I happened by, and looking at how
far it had gotten up the stop signs and stuff,
figured that it was almost deep enough to take the boat
out. I was on my way home to take the Big Red One out
of the rafters, load it on the trailer, and go down
and get in least a few minutes worth of soothing for
my aching soul. "I had to brace hard and edge it to
get around third base . . ."<br><br>But when I got
home, the TV Queen had a whole list of things for me to
do, so the Big Red One stayed in the rafters. Looks
like another month, now, anyway. I missed my chance.
But, to even consider kayaking the ballfield tells me
that I'm having serious withdrawal
symptoms.<br><br>Talk what you will about GPS or marine radios and cell
phones, argue over paddle float re-enter and rescue vs.
cowboy re-entries, hold long, detailed discussions over
wet vs. dry suits -- darn it, gimme water! If this
keeps up, I'm going to be throwing the Big Red One on
the trailer and heading south until I see liquid.
This really is the most serious problem facing
kayakers right now: hard water.<br><br>SYOT(L)W, Wes

everal years ago, I soloed (canoe) the
Manistique river in the remote reaches of Michigan's UP. I
was on the river for 3 days covering 48 river miles
and gone for a total of 5 before making it back to
any sense of humanity. The only contact I had with
humans was at the put-in in Germfask where I paid the
local (about as local as you get) outfitter for a
night's stay in his primitive campground, and at the take
out several days later when I met a couple at the
state forest campground just outside of Manistique.
Just in case some of you have not stayed at a state
forest campground, the facilities are about as primitive
as it gets. If you're lucky they might have a well
head so you can pump water. This means no campground
office, and if no one else is staying there, you're
pretty much on your own. Since my trip took place during
the last week in September, chances of running into
anybody on the river or campgrounds were pretty much nil.
My actual experience followed that
theory.<br><br>Where I was at in the UP was pretty remote. Even if I
had a cell phone, I probably would not have any
nearby towers to get signal. Since I was inland, a VHF
probably would not have done much good either. I had left
an itenerary with the outfitter, along with one for
my wife, and the phone numbers of the outfitter, and
local ranger district office in case I didn't arrive on
schedule. I assessed the risks involved (and tried to keep
them to a minimum, since I had just come off of 21
weeks of rehab following a knee injury). I came out OK,
none the worse for wear, and carried with me what I
needed to for any foreseen contingency. A compass and
topos of the region with key checkpoints at the end of
each day, and using dead reckoning navigation got me
to my end goal at the end of each day.<br><br>Wes,
whether we stir up the hornet's nest so to speak will
remain to be seen, but it's refreshing to see another
member such as your self try to get things going and
inspire discussion. If the quality of our posts can be as
good as the ones that have been posted the last few
days, then we'll have accomplished much more than the
other clubs I've seen on the 'net.<br><br>Looking
forward to meeting up with you sometime and doing a club
outing together. Till then, let's keep up the 'spirited'
posts in the hopes that other people will jump in and
pipe up!<br><br>Best regards, and good paddling
soon,<br>Kevin

It is easy to get into a situation where
something such as a cell phone or VHF marine radio simply
does not work.", Kevin wrote. "Sounds like we should
conduct a workshop in the spring on basic self-rescue,
emergency preparedness, and navigation."<br><br>Actually,
considering where I live and paddle, I'd hate to have to call
for help, even if I could. Help is farther away than
you think."<br><br>Let's suppose I'm out on friendly
old Lake Hooterville for the umpteenth time when I
feel a stabbing pain in the chest. I pick up my trusty
marine radio, turn to channel 16, and call for help.
Silence. Nobody closer than 50 miles is monitoring marine
radio. I curl over in agony, and sooner or later Fred
and his beagle happen to troll by and see that I'm in
trouble, so he pulls in his muskie lures, grabbs his cell
phone, and calls 911.<br><br>Let us mentally monitor the
local scanner for a moment:<br><br>"75, this is 70
Central. We have a kayaker in trouble back up at the back
end of Lake Hooterville."<br><br>"70, copy a . . . a
what?"<br><br>"75, this is 70 Central. A kayaker. A guy out on the
lake in a boat."<br><br>"70, I'm not sure how we're
going to get out to him."<br><br>"75, this is 70
Central. 127-60 is out checking for fishing liscenses up
on Wamplers Lake. It'll be an hour or so before he
can get there."<br><br>"Uh, 70, how about the
Sheriff's marine patrol."<br><br>"We can't raise them. They
said something about a traffic stop, and something
about topless blondes."<br><br>"Uh, 70, let me see what
I can do. 75 Central to 75 C6."<br><br>"75 Central,
this is 75 C6, Go ahead."<br><br>"Uh, Bubba, did you
get your bass boat working yet?<br><br>"Uh, that's a
negative, 75 Central. I done blowed me a head gasket, and I
got motor scattered all over the garage."<br><br>That
should be enough. You get the picture. Actually, the
best bet is for Fred to haul me into his troller, take
me over to the boat launch, and then take me into
the ER in his car. Anything else is going to have to
wait until everyone figures out who else is going to
do everything. By then, I'm dead.<br><br>Actually,
dying out on the lake in my boat, of a non-boat related
happening like a heart attack, so the boating can't be
considered a major factor, well, that ain't a bad way to go.
I think about the longtime whitewater addict that
finished a tough set, pulled into the putout, and dropped
over from a heart attack. Can't do much better than
that.<br><br>Well, I suppose you can, but it involves blondes,
brunettes, and whipped cream . . . but that's another
story.<br><br>SYOTW, Wes

hate to say it, Kevin, but you sort of missed
the point when you said, "I tend to agree with
everything Wes has said here."<br><br>See, the idea was that
you were supposed to disagree with me on some point
or another, and write a long post in response, and
I'd rip you apart with another one, and maybe someone
would join in, and then, when people stopped in to see
what this group is about, they'd say, "Boy, this is an
interesting and active and free-spirited group." Then, after
a while, you and I would only have to sit back and
occasionally throw our two bits worth in to keep things
stirred up.<br><br>That having been said, I follow
Paddlewise, among others, and they have been having a big
knock down, drag out about VHF marine radios for a
month or so. At one point in there, some guy said, "I
wouldn't go out in my kayak without one." It was all I
could do to keep from writing back, "I wouldn't go out
in mine with one."<br><br>Now, there is a point in
my life where I might have gone out with a CB radio,
though, mostly so I could have some entertainment without
commercials while paddling -- you know, listen to truckers
yap about whacking on their old ladies. But silence
is so much more golden.<br><br>SYOTW, Wes

tend to agree with everything Wes has said
here. In fact, the kayak navigation book that I've
cited on this and other clubs elaborates on many of
Wes' points in much more detail.<br><br>From an
opinion standpoint, I like GPS. Would I trust my life
solely to one device -- NEVER! The "aim-off" technique
of navigation across the fogged lake is also a
common problem when navigating overland with a compass
and a topo -- the bottom line is knowing which way to
turn once you get to the other side.<br><br>I combine
the *utility* of GPS with solid compass and chart
navigation theory, common sense, and considering Murphy's
law. When you undertake an adventure sport (and
kayaking is one of those) you assume a certain amount of
risk. It is our responsibility as adventurers to
understand the risk, and learn what we need to to minimize
the risk, and handle ourselves in the situations that
arise. <br><br>Electronics only work as long as the
conditions for which they were designed are present. As you
learn about the sight line limits from your kayak-pilot
perspective on open water of a curving surface such as our
globe it is easy to get into a situation where
something such as a cell phone or VHF marine radio simply
does not work.<br><br>Sounds like we should conduct a
workshop in the spring on basic self-rescue, emergency
preparedness, and navigation.<br><br>Gotta go!<br><br>Till Next
time...<br>Kevin<br><br>PS Thanks Wes!

hat does that have to do with kayaking?
Everything!<br><br>Let's assume that we're going to cross a Lake.
It's<br>the early morning, the fog is heavy, but we've got
to<br>get back to our car at a reasonable hour so we can
get<br>home in time to go to bed so we can get up for
(yuck!)<br>work. We know from the map that the car is at a
course<br>of, let's say, 330 degrees from us, but if we tried
to<br>follow that course exactly, we'd probably get off
course<br>a little bit one way or another, and the fog is so
thick<br>that we're not going to be sure if we're north or
south<br>of our car unless we know the lake real well, which
we<br>don't. So, since we don't have a GPS because we know
<br>that it will fail if we actually depend on it, we
cheat.<br>Rather than trying to follow the exact course, we
go<br>off course intentionally, paddling, say, a compass
course<br>of 300 degrees. We paddle for some time, until we
reach<br>the far shore; we can see it, perhaps a hundred yards
off.<br>Which way is the car? To the north, the right. How far
is<br>a little uncertian, but it doesn't matter, since as
long<br>as we maintain contact with the shore, we'll get to
it.<br>Which is kind of a bummer, in a way, since we won't
have<br>an excuse to not go to work on Monday.<br><br>Kayaks
with GPS, and marine radios, and cell phones,
and<br>the like tend to bother me, maybe even offend me.
After<br>all we're out for the peace and quiet and simplicity.
If<br>you're going to have all that jazz, then why not
have<br>a motor, too? There's no end to that sort of
thinking,<br>and the next thing you know you've got a 45-foot
<br>Bayliner with twin diesels, six bunks, and all
the<br>electronic navigational devices known to man, and
the<br>dream of the peace and quiet and tranquility is
something<br>that doesn't come to mind too often while you're
trying<br>to reconcile the 87-foot error between the GPS and
the <br>loran. I mean, I know of people that go out
to thruhike<br>the Appalachian Trail with computers
linked to cell <br>phones and GPS receivers. This is
getting away from it<br>all? Hell, I go out on the lake
to get away from <br>electronics, not to shell out
more money for more of<br>them.<br><br>What's more,
and I alluded to this before, all that<br>electronic
jazz is fraught with exposure to the<br>perfidous
Murphy, especially in a marine environment.<br>Not having
the dern things means that you don't have<br>to worry
about losing them overboard, getting water <br>in them
and shorting out, or just getting the
basic<br>electronic fritz when you most need it to be
working.<br>Better to not have them at all (and save the
money!)<br>than to have to depend on them. Get the
fundamentals<br>down right, and in most cases you won't need
the<br>electronics. <br><br>"But," I hear someone starting to reply,
"If I have
a<br>cellphonemarineradioGPScbradiohamradiolaptopcomputer<br>with me in the
kayak, if I get into trouble I'll
be<br>able to call for help."<br><br>True. If any of that
stuff works, if you can get your<br>hands free from
bracing enough to use it, if someone<br>can hear your
call -- and at kayak level, the range<br>isn-t far --
if someone cares enough to answer, and<br>if the
coast guard or whoever isn't so busy writing<br>up
someone for a busted position light in the
daytime<br>that they've got time to answer the call, get to
the<br>area, find you, and bail your butt out of
trouble?<br>It's far better to not get into trouble in the
first<br>place, by conservative planning and paddling, or,
if<br>you do, have the skills to get yourself out of it
<br>before you get out there in the first place.
The<br>fundamentals, in other words. Get the foundation in<br>right,
and build on that.<br><br>Put not your faith in
electronics: they will bite <br>you in the end.<br><br>-- Wes

et me expand on that last a bit, since it really
is an<br>important technique. For the sake of
discussion, let's<br>put this in the context of a flight I
really did make<br>once upon a time. I was in Spearfish,
South Dakota, out <br>in the western part of the state,
where there ain't <br>nothing. I mean, there's nothing
out there, period. The <br>Seney stretch in the Upper
Peninsula has more <br>navigational features. I wanted to
fly to Dickinson,<br>North Dakota, which is on a
compass course of about<br>40 degrees. Two problems
arose, however: for whatever<br>reason, I'd flown off of
the charts I had with me, and<br>that compass course
came off of the chart that had<br>been glued to the
wall in the airport office; and, more<br>importantly,
the compass in that old Aeronca Champ that<br>I was
delivering for a third guy permanently read 240<br>degrees.
Easily solved: pick up a course of roughly north,<br>or
maybe a little to the right of that as told by the
<br>angle of the sun and the fence rows. The next time
I<br>hit a 4-lane highway I knew it was I-94, so all I had
to<br>do was turn right and follow it to Dickinson. I
was<br>technically lost from the point that Spearfish fell<br>behind
me, but I was following a course that I knew<br>would
bring me out at a place where I knew where I was.

robably pretty close to right in your<br>assessment of
average speed taken with GPS readings.<br>Over a long
enough distance, the errors should pretty<br>much iron
themselves out, but I'd be reluctant to put<br>much faith in
them over short distances.<br><br>The big problem I
have with GPS is that people in
this<br>electronically-addicted age tend to put too much faith<br>in them at
all.
With modern electronic equipment, it's<br>easy to
forget about the basic skills that underlie<br>their
use.<br><br>The most important navigation skill is
situational<br>awareness, which is a modern, fifty-cent word for
<br>"having some idea of where you are". I remember
many<br>years ago, when I'd just first gotten my pilot's
liscense,<br>when a friend of mine and I decided to fly down to
<br>Sandusky to look at an airplane engine he was
thinking<br>about buying. "Cool," I said, or the sixties
equivlent,<br>whatever it was. <br><br>I got out the sectional chart,
laid out a rhumb line, <br>looked up the variation,
wondered what the plane's <br>compass deviation was, and
started working out a<br>wind triangle before my friend
stopped me. "What are <br>you doing?" he
asked.<br><br>"Working out the course that we have to fly to get
to<br>Sandusky," I told him.<br><br>"Look," he said. "To get to
Sandusky, you fly down<br>the section lines until you get
to Lake Erie, then <br>turn right."<br><br>In the
years since, I've often reflected on how much<br>wisdom
were in his words. The first lesson there was<br>one
of the most important: Look out the window,
<br>stupid. Maybe keep a thumb on the chart to see
where<br>you are, but be situationally aware of your
position<br>on the planet. <br><br>Other lessons were:<br><br>--
Don't trust to numbers and instruments: they can
lie,<br>and have been known to go to cobs just when you
need<br>them the most.<br><br>-- The lowest-tech approach is
the most reliable. It<br>may not be the most
accurate, but usually will get you <br>where you're going
with more time to look at the scenery.<br><br>-- If
you don't know where you are, you should at
least<br>have some notion of how to get to some place where
you<br>can figure it out.

gt;Wesboyd1, on behalf of the rest of us here,
I'd like to welcome you to<br> the Great Lakes Kayak
Club and encourage your participation on our<br>
message board, planned chats, and club outings and
activities. Please tell<br> us a bit about yourself when you
get a chance.<br><br>I'm down south of Jackson, MI. I
don't get out<br>on the Great Lakes as much as I'd like
to --<br>haven't been out since Dec. 13 at all, darn
it --<br>but try to get out on the local lakes,
mostly,<br>when I can, and like to explore. I have an Old<br>Town
Heron I put about 580 miles on last year (I<br>keep a
log). When the weather gets warm and the<br>jet skis
are thick, you're welcome come down to<br>my normal
practice grounds, which while not big<br>water, are
totally no-wake: Lake Hudson State<br>Recreation Area. I
was out there sixty-some times<br>last year, mostly
after-work paddles.<br><br>&gt; Also when you have some
time, the URL you posted to the club returns<br> a
document not found error when clicked on. Perhaps there is
a typo in<br> there - we'd love to see what you've
put together.<br><br>Sorry about that. It's
really:<br><a href=http://www2.dmci.net/users/wesboyd/kayak.htm
target=new>http://www2.dmci.net/users/wesboyd/kayak.htm</a><br><br>I corrected
the listing on the links
page.<br><br>-- Wes

esboyd1, on behalf of the rest of us here, I'd
like to welcome you to the Great Lakes Kayak Club and
encourage your participation on our message board, planned
chats, and club outings and activities. Please tell us a
bit about yourself when you get a chance.<br><br>Also
when you have some time, the URL you posted to the
club returns a document not found error when clicked
on. Perhaps there is a typo in there - we'd love to
see what you've put together.<br><br>Kevin

omeone in one of the other online clubs made
some statements about not trusting a GPS because of
the erratic nature of the readings when he knew he
had not changed his paddling effort. Also a statment
was made that the GPS was a nice toy to test the
efficiency/effectiveness of different paddle strokes. Au contrere mon
frere'!<br><br>I had to reply and debunk the myth -- here was the
reply:<br>-------------<br><br><br> Actually it is indicating to you not so much
the
efficiency or effectiveness of paddle strokes, but<br>
rather the effect that unseen currents and wind are
having on your course.<br><br> At a cruising speed of a
kayak, that is between 3 and 5 knots, the speed measured
over open<br> water is quite accurate (given the
selective availability margin of error built into civilian
GPS<br> transmissions). Most of the time over open water
you are tracking somewhere between 5-8<br>
satellites, more than enough for a position fix (you only
need 3 for lat/long, and 4 for elevation as<br>
well).<br><br> For instance if you are cruising along at a
steady 4 knots, and don't change anything about your<br>
stroke cadence, and there is no change in wind speed or
direction, and suddenly you find that<br> your speed has
dropped down to 2.5 kts, you have probably cruised into
an area where there is<br> an undercurrent. In order
to regain your former cruising speed, you have to
paddle harder or<br> concede to a delayed arrival to the
next waypoint.<br><br> Wind will be a factor also in
the perceived speed. Your body above the deck is like
a sail and will<br> cause your motion to be
affected as well.<br><br> Correspondingly if the current
or wind is anywhere behind you, you will notice a
speed over<br> ground increase. <br><br> A headwind or
tailwind is simple subtraction or addition, but from any
other angle will have a<br> vector effect on your
progress.<br><br> The sensitivity of the GPS receiver and whether
it is a multiplexed receiver as opposed to a<br>
parallel receiver also plays a role. How effectively it is
predicting the position of the next satellite in<br> the
navigation solution vs. what it actually receives as a
position on the downlinked almanac that<br> the satellite
sends during its multiplex window can result in erratic
behavior if not enough satellites<br> are being tracked,
or the ones being tracked are at low angles (&lt; 30
degrees) to the horizon.<br><br> David Burch's book
"Fundamentals of Kayak Navigation" discusses all of this in
detail

e have probably all come up with unique ways to
store a kayak or canoe.<br> Stories abound on the
Internet however about a sort of "stolen kayak<br>
underground", so it's probably best to NOT store it
outdoors.<br><br> In the past my canoe was stored in the garage
suspended from the wall or<br> ceiling with, of all things,
climbing hardware. All it takes is about 20' of 1"<br>
tubular webbing, two pieces of hardware called "bolt
hangers" (usually bolted<br> onto a cliff in strategic
places and clipped into with carabiners for
protection),<br> two "carabiners", and a couple of lag bolts that
you can bolt into your wall or<br> ceiling. All of
this hardware is available at your local outfitter
(one who supplies<br> climbing gear) for about
$20.00.<br><br> The first things to do is measure your canoe or
kayak, and then drill two pilot<br> holes for the bolts
into a stud or rafter about 3 feet shorter than your
boat. You<br> want to determine where you can place
your kayak or canoe, and then center<br> this
bolt-pair placement along that distance. Bolt hangars are
usually made to<br> accommodate 3/8" bolts, so you'll
want to drill pilot holes smaller than that as<br>
they'll be sharing the weight of your boat. Use the lag
bolts to tighten the bolt<br> hangers through these
points. Clip the carabiners into the bolt
hangers.<br><br> Now take the webbing and cut it in half. Melt the
cut ends to prevent from<br> fraying. This webbing
will take about 3200 lbs. of dynamic load before
it<br> breaks so it will more than be capable of holding
your canoe or kayak. Now tie<br> the lengths of
webbing into a closed loop. You can do this with a water
knot<br> (someone at the climbing shop can show you this
one -- it's an overhand knot in<br> one end with the
other end chased back through the first knot which
intertwines<br> the ends with each other making a knot that gets
tighter with a load). Now clip<br> each of these loops
into each of the carabiners.<br><br> Hanging your boat
is a matter of slipping one end into one of the
slings, lifting<br> the other end and slipping the other
sling over the free end of the boat,<br> suspending the
weight of the boat from both loops near the ceiling. The
one I<br> have for storing my kayak is on a
wall.<br><br> Canoes like to hang upside down on the gunwales,
kayaks on their sides,<br> according to
manufacturers.<br><br> For about $20.00 you can have a worry free
storage system that keeps your<br> boat out of the way,
out of sight from a thief, and is easy to
use.<br><br> (amazing what cold weather can do to one's mind,
eh?)<br><br> Till next time,<br> virtfusn :)

ey all,<br><br>The 1999 Boat Show is coming up
at Cobo Hall on the above dates (for those of you
not local to Southeastern Michigan, Cobo Hall is in
the heart of Downtown Detroit).<br><br>Why is this
important to paddlers? Because Great Lakes Docks and Decks,
a major Perception dealer in Algonac (and where my
Carolina and accessories come from), will be there. Unlike
experiences with "typical" outfitters in high end suburbia,
Kris, the owner is very personable, knowledgeable, and
helpful. She knows that a cared for customer that's coming
in to drop anywhere from 1-3 grand on a kayak and
gear is a happy customer. <br><br>In addition to good
service and knowledgeable staff, and unlike the "typical"
outfitter, their prices are not unnecessarily inflated, and
they provide the opportunity to demo the type of boat
you're interested in. Being right on Anchor Bay and
reasonable paddling distance to the islands at the mouth of
the St. Clair river, you have the opportunity to "try
before you buy", and to get the boat that's right for
you. There's no pressure to get something you don't
want, or to end up paying more than you have
to.<br><br>Great Lakes Docks and Decks will be somewhere near the
center rear of the exhibit hall. You'll find them by all
the kayaks standing on end.<br><br>After shopping
around with several outfitters in the area, and in some
cases being treated rudely, I was referred to Great
Lakes Docks and Decks, and highly recommend them if
you're in the market for your first kayak or you need to
purchase/upgrade gear and accessories.<br><br>Also becoming a
customer of Great Lakes Docks and Decks gives you lifetime
dock and launch privileges, and the opportunity to
also become a member of their kayak club. Being in
proximity to St. John's Marsh (a wetlands wildlife area),
and on Anchor Bay, they are in a unique position that
inland outfitters simply can't touch.<br><br>You can
reach Great Lakes Docks and Decks at 1-810-725-0009 or
by e-mail at: gldocks@...

will be in Michigan in late July thru mid
August. I look forward to the Michigan fun. As the time
approaches I will give you full details of my iternary so
that we can get together for a trip Good to hear from
you and i will be around much more.

s we prepare for the new and upcoming season,
we'll get the calendar updated with events, outings,
CHATS, etc. So people like yourself can keep in touch.
There's a good place to rent for open water trips on or
near Algonac, MI (near the mouth of the St. Clair
river and Anchor Bay).<br><br>I can give you the
details when you're in town.<br><br>Regards,<br>Kevin

have been kayaking for 10 years in Hokkaido
Japan which is now my home. Grew up in Nothern MI and
did canoe most of the rivers in Mi before moving
here. I will and do go back to Mi almost every year but
have never had anyone to kayak with. Hoping that being
involved with this club will give me some opportunities to
have some fun and to be in touch with other people of
same intrest and from the same state. Hello to
Michiganders "Michiyakers". I will be in touch with you all
soon with stories of my kayaking here in Hokkaido,
Japan...( u got the time to come to Japan, we( me and
family) would be glad to give you a place to stay and
good kayaking fun.<br><br>Perry

ickey,<br><br>A good start would be to pick up
the book "Kayaking" which is part of the Trailside
series. It's a no-nonsense book which goes over all
aspects of kayaking, both touring style and white
water.<br><br>Additionally, the best way to get started is to rent a kayak
and see how you like it. It also gives you a chance
to see how different kayak designs perform before
you go and plunk down some bucks for your
own.<br><br>If you're interested, I'm in another club which is
for customers and rental customers of the dealer I'm
buying my kayak from. We go on outings, and you can rent
from a number of different kayaks to see which you
prefer. We kayak rivers and open water around Anchor Bay,
the Michigan thumb area, Detroit River, and St.
John's marsh.<br><br>Glad to have you on
board!<br>Regards,<br>Kevin :)

.. and I'm thinking that maybe this is the year
I'll get into Kayaking. I've paddled a canoe for many
years now but want something lighter and easier to
pick-up-and-go with. You know, an evening spur-of-the moment
paddle?<br><br>Anyway, I live in Ann Arbor (not the Dagoba System as my
profile suggests) and am thinking about getting a small
kayak for paddling about on the Huron river and the
ponds along it.<br><br>My dad is a longtime paddler and
kayak instructor/guide on Cape Cod and I'm going to ask
him for his advice and counsel on this, but I
wondered if y'all had any suggestions for
me.<br><br>-mickey

e now have a photo area for pictures of our
boats, club outings, etc. (you could even use this to
provide pictures of boats, gear you have for sale). Mail
your gifs or jpgs to kevin.dupre@... for
inclusion or if you only have regular photos, send them to
Great Lakes Kayak Club c/o Kevin DuPre, 2727 Renshaw
Dr. Troy, MI 48098 -- we'll get them scanned, convert
to a web-compatible format and upload them for you.
Please provide a SASE with sufficient postage so we can
return them to you.<br><br>Thanks!<br>Kevin

f you're a sea kayaker and looking to link up or
exchange trip information with sea kayakers in the Great
Lakes region, invitations to our club are now open --
we'd love to have you. Several members who are still
in the process of signing up have expressed interest
in sea-kayaking other parts of the country and we as
well as others wishing to travel the Great Lakes area
can benefit from such an exchange. Just follow the
instructions at the top of this club page to
join.<br><br>Looking forward to your participation :)

ack in November, I had only tested the Pioneer
in the city and in the back country<br> overland.
Conditions on open water are quite different, but the
biggest difference is in<br> the speed of travel, and the
openness of the sky which allows the unit to track
more<br> satellites, thus improving the speed of
acquisition of a position fix, as well as insuring<br>
maintaining a tracking status while under way.<br><br> The
unit was mounted to the foredeck of the kayak just in
front of the cockpit on its<br> matching swivel bracket
(about $15 from Magellan) and held in place with velcro
(the<br> kayak was not mine to drill holes in!). As an
extra measure of insurance I had<br> tethered it to the
inside of the kayak with a piece of nylon cord as a
safety line.<br><br> Prior to the trip, coordinates of
several waypoints along the river were derived from<br>
the Lake St. Clair nautical chart using compass
dividers to interpolate actual values.<br> These
coordinates were entered into the GPS and units selected in
the SETUP menu<br> from mi/mph to nm/kts and a route
created from these waypoints.<br><br> At put-in the unit
was switched on and allowed to acquire a position fix
(denoted by<br> the "TRACKING" indicator in the display).
The route was activated, and at that point<br> began
providing continuous update of speed, cross-track error
(XTE), ETA<br> (estimated time of arrival) and distance
to next waypoint, bearing, heading, and a<br> moving
compass display. <br><br> Over open water, the XTE value,
combined with the moving compass and ETA<br> display,
instantly shows you the effects of wind and current and
tell you which<br> direction to steer to make course
corrections continuously between waypoints rather<br> than
making one large (and possibly strenuous correction upon
arriving at the next<br> waypoint).<br><br> The unit
continued functioning despite receiving heavy splash from
the paddle as well<br> as occasional deck splash.
Upon arriving at home the unit was rinsed under the
faucet<br> with no consequence (the Clinton is not the
cleanest river!).<br><br> At the time of this writing,
Magellan has also released the Blazer in the same form<br>
factor (size, shape), as the Pioneer with the primary
difference in being that the unit<br> will SIMULTANEOUSLY
track up to 12 satellites in parallel rather than<br>
MULTIPLEXED as the Pioneer does (sequentially switching from
one satellite to the<br> next to simulate parallel
tracking). Over water in a kayak this probably doesn't<br>
matter, but if you'll be using the GPS for powerboating,
driving as well as hiking,<br> biking, etc., you'll
notice a significantly longer acquisition time to
initial position fix with<br> the Pioneer than with the
Blazer. The incremental cost difference is about $39.00
for<br> the Blazer.<br><br> Also a note of caution: GPS
units know where they are and where they have been,<br>
and require movement to provide display updates.
Don't rely totally on GPS if you're<br> going to take a
coastal trip -- use a compass as well, one designed for
use on a<br> kayak, and know how to read a nautical
chart and use it to confirm position with the<br> GPS
and the compass. A very good book for kayak
navigation is "Fundamentals of<br> Kayak Navigation", by
David Burch. The latest editions has an entire
chapter<br> devoted to using GPS to supplement the navigation
experience, and is available from<br> some local bookstores,
Amazon.com and probably Great Lakes Docks and Decks.<br><br>
Looking forward to warmer weather!<br> Kevin :)

just received a catalog in the mail from
Wyoming River Raiders. They look to be a<br> small
outfitter out of Wyoming. Their selection is not huge, but
they do have some<br> great sale prices on many
accessories (much cheaper than I've seen locally). I've<br>
recently placed an order and will let you know about
service/timeliness/quality. The<br> number is (800) 247-6068, web site
www.riverraiders.com. (I haven't checked out<br> the web site
yet.)<br><br> It's always nice to give the little guys some
business.

his boat just came out, in fact it just arrived
at my local dealer late last week. I<br> picked it
up this weekend and used it on about a 10 nm river
trip this past weekend.<br> While I saw both the Basic
and Expedition w/rudder models, only the Basic
was<br> available for rental. This had its upside because
it allowed me to evaluate the Carolina<br> purely on
the merits of its design without the bias of a
rudder.<br><br> This boat was tested on a 10 or so mile stretch
of the Clinton River from just below<br> Mt.
Clemens, MI to the mouth of the river where it empties
into Lake St. Clair.<br> Weather conditions were
overcast, winds moderate 6-10 mph. River conditions<br>
varying current depending on direction and orientation to
the wind. Date: November<br> 1, 1998.<br><br> Loading
and unloading the Carolina off of a roof rack proved
quite easy. The boat<br> exhibits good balance from the
cockpit, and can easily be loaded and unloaded by<br> one
person of average build. Since this was Michigan
November, there was not a<br> whole lot of interested in
getting feet wet, especially at the put-in. This boat is
long<br> enough to get enough of the bow into the water
from a sandy boat ramp, board the<br> kayak, and with
a slight scoot forward get it afloat -- all without
getting wet. Stability<br> seems good, although the
Carolina feels more prone to rolling than its more
forgiving<br> cousins, the Acadia and Spectrum. This capability
alone, might account for more<br> maneuverability to
carve a tighter turn, or to right a capsized kayak more
easily by<br> rolling.<br><br> Unlike the Acadia or
Spectrum, however this boat tracks extremely well, and is
not<br> prone to weathercocking especially in moderately
windy conditions. Acceleration is<br> quick and once
you get up to an average 3-4 knot cruising speed,
maintaining that<br> speed is effortless, and the combination
of the swept bow, and channeled hull really<br> go a
long way to make this a good day touring boat or
multi-day with the expedition<br> or the
expedition-plus-rudder equipment package. This boat is molded of
superlinear<br> polyethylene which doesn't require any additional
stiffening members other than the<br> channels built into
the hull design itself. The swept bow is similar in
design to more<br> expensive models both in rotomold and
composite boats, and slices through the<br> water with
minimal deck splashing while piloting through waves such
as those<br> encountered when sharing the channel
with motor powered boats.<br><br> In the showroom I
saw the expedition-plus-rudder equipped boat in
Perception's<br> new "Smoke" color, and this boat comes equipped
with 8600 cubic inches of dry<br> storage, bow and
stern hatches, thigh braces, seat back pad, bow and
stern deck<br> rigging and rudder controls. The rudder
has a molded in channel for the shaft,<br> minimizing
breaching the hull for installation. The performance of
this boat is<br> incredible and still comes in at a
price tag under $1000.00<br><br> Rental was provided by
Great Lakes Docks and Decks<br>
(<a href=http://www.gldocksandhoist.com
target=new>http://www.gldocksandhoist.com</a>). Great Lakes is owned by Kris
Dombrowski and<br>
her husband. Kris is friendly, knowledgeable, and
will outfit you with the right boat<br> and gear
because she is interested in happy customers. They are
Perception dealers<br> and carry the complete line of
Perception products.

ecently I acquired an inexpensive GPS receiver
for use in kayak navigation.<br> Inexpensive is the
key here, but this unit is not without features, ease
of use, and<br> reliability.<br><br> The Magellan
GPS Pioneer is the first unit to provide basic GPS
data under $100,<br> and appears to be made to be used
in a marine environment as well as overland. The<br>
unit can track 12 satellites, acquires and begins
providing navigation data within 35<br> second to 2.5
minutes or so after the first use(depending on
temperature), and<br> operates for nearly 24 hours on two AA
alkaline batteries.<br><br> The unit provides three basic
navigation screens which include position and satellite<br>
status; heading and bearing to a waypoint with remaining
distance, speed and moving<br> compass display; and
bearing, remaining time, cross-track error, speed, and
steering<br> directions to a waypoint. It will store 100
waypoints, and one active route with up to<br> 10 legs.
While following an active route it automatically
switches to the next waypoint<br> after you have passed
the first one. For kayak use, you'll be able to
continuously<br> determine the effects of wind and current on your
planned course, as well as<br> calculating your speed and
arrival time to your destination or course
waypoint.<br><br> The unit weighs 7 ounces, displays in MI/MPH,
KM/KPH, &gt;&gt; NM/KTS &lt;&lt;; can<br> use 11
different map/chart datums in worldwide use; displays
coordinates in decimal<br> degrees, degrees/minutes/seconds,
UTM, OSGB, Swiss, Swedish, Irish, Finnish and<br> will
calibrate during first use in approximately 10 minutes
using their EZ-Start<br> initialization (all GPS have
to be initialized during first use).<br><br> Is it
easy to use? EZ-Start initialization is automatic.
After that, this is probably one of<br> the most
intuitive units to use. Magellan obviously made it with the
kayaker in mind as<br> well as the backpacker and hiker
due to the fact that it is both waterproof and
floats<br> if dropped in the water (although I'm certainly
not going to test this theory!).<br><br> The unit
tracks quite well in the city (which is the worst case,
due to radio<br> interference from other sources,
buildings, etc.), and even better overland (the<br> second
worst case due to tree cover, clifflines, etc. Since it
tracks so well in such<br> adverse conditions, the
availability of "visible" satellites on open water should be
a<br> cakewalk for this unit's super sensitive
receiver. The display also has an<br> electroluminescent
backlight for night time use.<br><br> Using the USGS online
atlas site
(<a href=http://www-atlas.usgs.gov/scripts/start.html
target=new>http://www-atlas.usgs.gov/scripts/start.html</a>)to<br> obtain
coordinates for trip planning, entering
them into the receiver's landmark<br> database and
verifying them in the field, resulted in this unit
correlating almost exactly<br> to the center of towns, river
landmarks, etc. (GPS for civilian use are subject to
what<br> is termed "selective availability" or "SA" and
the US government who is in charge of<br> the 24
sattelites circling the earth will only guarantee 100 meter
accuracy with SA at<br> its worst case setting). The
Pioneer's accuracy is stated to be 49 feet (15 meters)
for<br> position, and 0.12 mph RMS steady state for
velocity, without SA in effect.<br><br> For under $100 this
unit can put GPS navigation in the hands of kayakers
to enhance<br> the navigation experience and make
open water kayaking more enjoyable. <br><br> I have to
agree with David Burch's "Fundamentals of Kayak
Navigation" that GPS<br> and traditional compass navigation
should be used together. While GPS is no<br> substitute
for good solid navigation knowledge, it does make
getting a position fix and<br> correcting course while
underway much easier over traditional methods. David
Burch<br> states that "GPS is one of the most dramatic
technological developments in history".<br><br> An open water
review is forthcomin

Welcome, This is the Yahoo! Message Board for Great Lakes Kayak Club community.