My Wooden Baby [59]

By David Baskett

She says:

It seemed like the obvious time and place to build a wooden kayak. Major home renovations. First baby on the way. A tiny narrow inner city terrace with a backyard 4m deep. Why not!? It’s all about the journey, he said. All about the process of just working with beautiful wood. Not a race to the finish. It won’t take me away from you and the new baby.

And it won’t cost much. Cheaper than buying the single kayak that was now a necessity after pregnancy made the double kayak a frustration more than a freedom vessel.

So just how many hours and how many dollars did it take in the end?

I’ll let Dave tell you the details. But I want to say that this is a very, very beautiful boat. And that it’s been built by a guy who’s never built a boat before makes it doubly impressive. Sure, I found it frustrating at the time, but I’m now really proud of this magnificent boat that David built.

He says:

During idle moments I’d been looking at websites showing these fabulous shiny sleek boats built in people’s basements. About the time that we were two thirds of our way through a renovation, with our first baby on the way (well, about to arrive), the desire to build one for myself crystallised into a plan. I had successfully completed the pencil case and the drill bit holder during year 9 high school woodwork, done a bit of research online, found some plans that I liked, felt pretty comfortable with the overall process and I wasn’t going to let the fact that I had no fibreglassing skills stop me. Nor was the fact that I had nowhere to build a 5.5m long boat.

I chose a design call the Outer Island from designer Jay Babina in the US. It is based on West Greenland kayak designs modified for larger European paddlers.

Luckily my employer agreed to let me use the delivery dock at work as my workshop over summer “as long as I kept the dust out of the server room”.

So I ordered the plans and got to work. I hunted around in speciality timber suppliers all over NSW for decent lengths of western red cedar and ended up finding two good sticks frm the timber merchant in the next suburb. I bought a 5.1m and 6m length, 300mm wide and 24mm thick with the grain running int eh direction specified in Nick Schade’s book The Strip-Built Sea Kayak. No knots and straight grain – perfect.

I took the planks downstairs to the sawmill and asked the guys to cut them into 6mm strips. At first they offered incredulous looks and a flat refusal and suggested I buy some less impressive pieces if I was going to cut them into tiny pieces. They took some reassurance that I’d be using this beautiful timber for something extraordinary. Later that week I got a call from the guy on the machine just to reconfirm that he really was cutting this timber into 6mm strips. They take timber seriously. A few days later a truck pulled up and my workshop was filled with the beautiful aroma of freshly cut Western Red Cedar.

By this stage the workshop was looking pretty good as it also contained our lounge room furniture, rug, stereo, and occasionally, dog, from home (renovations in full swing by this stage).

I had decided that I would try and make this boat as well as I could. That meant I wouldn’t rush and since I really had no idea what I was doing I had no idea when I would finish. This was not something I felt I needed to share with my employer. It was to be an example of what can be accomplished with myself as the client and deadlines are not pressing. To some extent it was also about taking personal responsibility as a paddler-if something goes wrong on a boat you built yourself who are you going to blame?.

There’s a fair bit of work to do before you actually start building the boat. I built some trestles from recycled timber and a strongback (the spine) from salvaged MDF. Finally I cut out the forms themselves and arranged them along the strongback in accordance with the plans. I was impatient to get going with sticking the strips onto the forms, but it’s essential to get the forms aligned correctly and fair as it will determine the shape of the boat you end up with.

First I laid out the gunwale strips and then, strip by strip, laid up the hull. I glued the strips together edge to edge and pinned them to the forms. When the hull was stripped I removed the forms from the strongback, turned it over, rested it in cradles on the trestles, and started on the deck. Once the deck was finished, I removed all the pins, replaced them with toothpicks (to fill the holes), creating a pretty bizarre spiky boat. It looked like an echidna art installation.

I trimmed the spikes and brought the boat home to sand, propping it up on $15 camp chairs wedged up the little walkway up the side of the house. After sanding it was back to the loading dock for fibreglassing. By this time our baby son Archie had been born and it was getting harder to schedule time for the tasks required to finish the boat. Luckily I had 24 hour access to work, which I utilised.

This was especially useful during the glassing process. The process goes something along these lines:lay the glass fabric on the boat, pour resin over it, brush / squeegee the resin into the fibre cloth, and 45 minutes later you remove the excess resin with a squeegee. Eight hours later you pour on a fill coat to give a smooth finish. 45 minutes later you squeegee off the excess. Repeat for hull, deck, inside and outside. The point is, once you start, you are committed to a 10 hour period of work plus clean up. In my case I had to fit this period in between work hours and walking the streets at night with the baby strapped to my chest trying to get him to sleep. The other important thing about fibreglassing is that you ideally shoud have a temperature- controlled environment that is also dust-free. Luckily that’s what I had been offered, together with good lighting.

It must have been interesting for my colleagues to arrive at work to see the development of this installation in the loading dock overnight. While they’d been sleeping (like most people except our son) I’d been fibreglassing and cleaning up.

By this stage the boat under construction in the basement had become one of the stops made by visitors and clients on tours of the building

After an eternity of fibreglassing and sanding I was finally ready to cut out the cockpit and form a coaming. I followed the instructions on Ross Leidy’s website (www.blueheronayaks. com) and built a carbon fibre coaming.

Then it’s joining the hull to the deck. Along with sanding the outside to a smooth surface, taping the inside seams is one of the least rewarding tasks in the whole building process. Basically you have to unroll an epoxy soaked roll of fibreglass tape using a variety of improvised tools, none of which you’re aware you are going to need until you try, along the deck to hull seam.

Sounds easy enough until you take into account that you are wedged into the epoxy thickened atmosphere inside the cockpit, wearing a respirator, with a torch and fan much more likely to end up in the rapidly rising pool of epoxy than any of the tape which is stuck everywhere except where it’s supposed to be.

The day arrived when I could put the boat in the water for the first time. I was relieved that it tracked straight, and surprised at how low in the water it sat. I realised I would need to get myself a reliable roll as it was very tippy to re-enter compared to our Dusky Bay double. In hindsight I really do not know why this came as a surprise. It also exhibited one of its undocumented attributes: the capacity to attract crusty old yachties for a yarn.

It’s easy to underestimate how long outfitting the raw hull to a seaworthy standard can take.18 months later the hatches still haven’t met that standard. 4 different seal materials and methods later I’m ready to abandon my quest for flush timber hatches and install VCP hatches front and rear. This would have been much easier before the hull and deck were joined. Come to think of it the year 9 pencil case lid didn’t shut properly either.

The majority of the building work took about 14 months of intermittent work with a couple of pretty solid weekends in there. Almost all the work was extremely satisfying and enjoyable, after a short time becoming the thing I wanted most to be doing. I would encourage anyone with the desire to build their own wooden boat to go for it. For me it was one of the most enjoyable projects I’ve undertaken.

For the record the baby survived, the marriage survived, we’re even going back for seconds. Babies, that is, and building work at home, not wooden kayaks at this stage.. Although I have got that feeling again but this time I’ve decided the freedom machine is a motorcycle. Anyone know of any websites showing how to build a bike from scratch in your shed? Maybe I should just buy one this time.

A Great Weekend [59]

By David Hipsley

Who could have asked for a better weekend! Great weather, fantastic venue, and a programme to suit everyone with a minimal amount of cooking.

From the moment you arrived, you knew what you were in for – an entertaining and fun 3 days, starting with a night paddle over to Nelson Bay with fish jumping into your lap and the dilemma of trying to work out your orientation on the return trip.

Saturday’s choice of paddles made it a hard, but a trip to Nelson Bay and Shoal Bay with time to renew old friendships was the way to go with an interesting crossing across Tomaree Head.

The afternoon and evening was spent relaxing and hearing some of our speakers talk about expedition paddling, what to bring and how to pack it etc. – some food for thought here! And slide presentations of actual trips.

For all those that discovered the marine park at Nelson Bay what fun it was to swim with the hundreds of fish. A truly magnificent sight – you could almost think you were on a tropical island.

A few fun activities on the beach and a handicap kayak race in the afternoon, with the reality that if you need to carry an injured person on the back of your boat, it is hard work, even for a short distance.

For those of us who were able to stay for the Monday there was an impressive trip out to Fingal Island to end Rock and Roll.

Huge thanks to the organisers for a truly fun 3 days with plenty of positive feedback. It was great to see so many paddlers of all abilities having fun on and off the water. Also a special thanks to Rotary for providing an excellent meal service for the weekend.

A Simple, Strong, Economical Tow Line [59]

By Scott Harris

There are a number of systems used for tow lines. I have seen a few and none looked really good. As usual life is a compromise.

Background

Firstly I was told Venetian blind cord was just the thing, very strong, compact and a little stretchy to absorb the shock of the tow as the line loads and unloads with the action of the sea. Then the next instructor complained that my tow line didn’t float and could tangle rock or weed. The problem is that Venetian blind cord doesn’t float and the thin, cord is prone to tangle. It is made of nylon, which has a specific gravity (SG) of about 1.14 (water is 1.0).

Technical Stuff

We need a cord that is thin and floats (SG less than 1.0). A check of materials on the net quickly narrows the field to polypropylene and polyethylene (don’t laugh, if the polymers are aligned, polyethylene is one of the strongest plastics). But nothing is anywhere near as “stretchy” as nylon.

There are high tech (high cost) materials such as Kevlar, Spectra and Vectran of which, Spectra (High modulus polyethylene) will float but has been developed for low stretch so will have almost no give as load takes up and drops off in a bit of a sea.

Polypropylene is a low cost, low strength, rope making material and therefore a little frowned upon, but it is much used in low tech marine applications especially for tow lines due to its buoyancy.

Finding a suitable source of small diameter floating cord was not so simple, the only readily available product was water ski rope (usually polypropylene but sometimes polyethylene) which is about 9 mm and makes for a bulky tow line. I am told an elite K4 can pull a water skier but the power you or I are likely to develop towing another kayak should allow a lighter gauge.

Solution

I use clothes line cord from the supermarket as a general purpose cord around the house and camping because it is cheap and easy to work with. The cord is 4mm polypropylene and sold in 15 metre lengths. Perfect – the club has standardised on 15 metres for tow lines.

Splicing a loop

The cord is 8 strand diamond hollow braid, the same construction as water ski tow rope. A loop (or eye splice) can be made easily. Just thread the line through the snap hook then on the standing part of the line at a point 1cm up the chord from the hook compress the cord lengthwise to loosen the weave and expand the strands, now insert the loose end of the line into the gap in the weave and up the centre 3 to 5 cm. This is easy with water ski rope but a little more difficult with this 4mm polypropylene. It just doesn’t expand to the same degree. If the end of the cord is melted and smoothed as you would to stop the end fraying, you can use a copper electrical wire to push the sealed end up the inside of the cord.. The result is a very neat, very strong buried eye splice. Remember – pass the cord through the eye of the snap hook first.

The Tow Line in Use

The first one I made, I attached floats on the ends to counter the weight of the snap hooks. The first time I used it, one of the floats fell off. No problems, the cord itself has more than enough buoyancy, only the last few metres of the line sank as I retrieved it. An alternative is to thread the line through a small float before you thread the snap hook.

The 4mm polypropylene braid is supple, easy to handle, and doesn’t tangle nearly as easily as nylon cord. With a little care, I have never had a tangle. I roll it around my hand loosely and progressively and place it into small bag

One word of caution though, polypropylene has very poor UV resistance. Don’t leave it lying around in the sun for long periods between paddles. Keeping it in bag should make it last a lifetime, although replacing it occasionally is no big deal.

Materials

• 2 stainless snap hooks (50mm) from Whitworth’s $4.99 each.
• 1 Clothes line (15m) from Woolworths $3.69, Total cost $13.67

Common Rope Making Materials

Material	Specific Gravity	Other Characteristics
Nylon	1.14	10-15% wet strength loss. Poor wet internal abrasion resistance. Moderate creep.
Polyester	1.38	Good wet internal abrasion resistance.
Polypropylene	0.91	Lighter than water, moderate creep, lower strength, low water absorption

Surf Kayak Odyssey [59]

By Tracy Garner

A few weeks ago some friends and I swapped sea kayaks for surf kayaks and packed up the Subaru with as much camping gear and equipment as humanly possible and headed to Crescent Head for the ultimate surf kayaking holiday. A large rolling point break was the promise. With everything in walking distance of the caravan park it was the quiet season for what is a small town in a sensational location. The beach extends for miles from the park with a crystal clear river running to it surrounded by awesome sand dunes. It was a picture postcard.

Our arrival saw a beautiful day for pitching tents with only a breath of wind. However the swell on that first day was a little disappointing, but that was all about to change dramatically.

We were aware of the forecasted change but were hoping it would be downgraded. An east coast low was centered off the central coast and was predicted to throw our way huge seas of up to 6metres and howling winds in excess of 40knts but when you have been planning a holiday for months, a couple of bad weather days are not enough to trample the dream to relax & play. We ordered a trailer load of firewood from a rather dodgy looking fellow named Bud and equipped with the ultimate fire drum (the inside of an 8kg washing machine) we enjoyed a few quiet beverages and as the night wore on, the forecasted time for the low to hit came and went and we thought, “Yeh, it won’t be that bad”.

We woke the next morning to physically see a huge cloud mass front fast approaching. As we raced against time to add extra tent pegs to our humble establishment and with the offers pouring in from the retired caravaners across from us to go to the hardware for extra rope, we knew we were in for a hammering. So we settled in and waited. It came through like a freight train and although it was only 10:00am we were left with no choice but to grab a bourbon, lean hard into the tent walls during the gusts and contemplate our fate.

Although it made for an interesting few days, the resulting swell in the storms aftermath was exactly what we had all dreamed about. Huge, green faces, full and fast long rides – perfect for the Dagger and Pyranha whitewater slash surf kayaks we had as our weapons of choice. Fantastic practice for sea kayak skills like bracing and rolling in anger and learning how to read the surf, but with freedom of so much maneuverability. The specifically designed surf kayaks caused quiet a stir amongst the Mal hardened long board riders in the line up. We, as a group of 6 made sure we followed all the appropriate surf etiquette and after a very short time had earned their respect and was comfortably mixing it up. The Crescent Head locals are a great bunch and were quietly impressed by our level of control in the surf zone.

One of our guys had gotten his hands-on a new purpose built surf kayak that really shone above the rest and was a favorite amongst the surfers keen to cross over to the other side. What a machine this thing turned out to be. Built in the UK by Mega kayaks the XRAY had unmatched speed and carving ability. This kayak and those similar like the Mega Prowler have featured with huge success taking the top placing at the last couple of surf kayak world championships. With the option for up to three fins and a surfboard like shape with hard rails, it is easy to see why. Its ultra light Kevlar construction had us all in awe as it rode these beautifully long left handers carving up and down the face and performing vertical moves off the lip. He could stay on the same wave well after we had lost the pace needed to keep in front of the foam pile. We were all left thinking that it might be time to trade up from our plastic fantastics to this new beast which added so much more dimension to real surfing capabilities.

Over the next week or so the residual swell treated us to the best conditions we have surfed in for a very long time. The campsite by the river overlooking the beach made for an easy daily portage, great for those hung over days. Paddle out and paddle home, what could be easier and as with most trips, my favourite time was at night around the fire as stories of the ultimate ride grew and outgrew. Such was the nature of our most eventful and inspirational surfing odyssey.

Surf, Managing Groups in Surf, Risk Management [59]

By Mark Sundin

Surf, Surfing, Beaches.

Surfing for fun vs. surfing to survive.

In the Sydney region, there are two spots, in my humble opinion, on their day, which are suitable for enjoyable surfing in a sea kayak – Box Head & Bundeena. This has to do with the long, gently sloping, sandy ocean floor in these two locations, & their exposure to & behavior under the influence of ocean swells. On virtually every other beach from Palm Beach to Cronulla, surfing is something best avoided. If you consistently surf your sea kayak on ocean beaches, you will end up hurting yourself.

So, there is a distinct difference between surfing for fun – catching waves, carving faces etc, and surfing to land & survive. One involves intentionally trying to ride the green face of a wave, the other involves riding in on the back of the wave, in an attempt to avoid the soup completely.

Physical factors to consider in planning a trip with surf landing/launching likely.

1. Beach type – steep, sloping ocean floor (Maroubra, South Bondi), or gentle sloping (Bundeena, The Pass)?
2. Swell & sea direction & influence on the beach topography – the predominant swell direction on the NSW coast is southerly, the southern corners of most beaches will be safest in most conditions, but there are exceptions (North Maroubra, North Bondi). Where possible, seek local knowledge.
3. Tide – an exposed sand bank at low tide will produce dangerous barreling surf, at high tide it might be no more than a peaked green wave. Consider effects of tide on exposed rocks or hazards, which may be hidden just below the surface at high tide.
4. Wavelength – A 1m swell combined with a 12 second wavelength will produce far more testing surf than a 2m swell with a 7 second wavelength. Wavelength data can be checked at http://marlin.mhl.nsw.gov.au/htbin/wave_data_plot.com?Location=Sydney

Reading the beach

1. When landing, determine the wave size & type – barreling or spilling. From a seaward vantage, if you see spray coming off the top of the breaking wave, it is probably barreling. A strong onshore wind will muffle the spray, so factor this in when making your judgment. For size you can safely double the size of the back of the wave, to calculate the face height.
2. Pre-plan the safest corner of the beach in the predominant conditions – the end of the beach most protected from the swell:
3. Check for hazards – rocks, logs, swimmers, surfers.
4. Look for rips – these can be useful in moderate surf, but these present a potential hazard in larger surf, as you may end up out of your boat caught in a powerful seaward or sideways current.
5. Watch the set pattern – get a feel for the rhythm of the larger sets & their frequency
6. Look for gutters – these are helpful rest points on the way in & out, areas where waves will not often break, in between the shore dump & outside breaks. Beware of gutters with strong side rips – you don’t want to find yourself slipping into the break zone while resting between sets.

Other factors to consider in planning a trip with likely surf landing/launching.

• Is the group capable?
• Do they all have a reliable roll, and surfing experience?
• Are they confident about a surf landing in the conditions set to prevail?
• On grade 2 trips, surf landings are to be discouraged if the landing is preplanned, however the need may arise if conditions unexpectedly change during the trip. Do you have a strategy to avoid the landing if the beach is dangerous (an example on a trip, might include factoring in a landing at the Coaldale boat ramp, rather than a pre-planned landing at Stanwell Park)?
• It is important to remember that many club paddlers do the bare minimum in the surf to attain their sea skills and often have neglected surf skills over forward paddle etc.

Note on Bracing

This is the most important support stroke in the surf, but one most often done incorrectly. It is important to reinforce to your group the need to high brace correctly – hands stretched above the head expose the shoulder to injury. Even on a large wave, correct use of edges & a tight brace with the paddle thrust into the face of the wave will avoid a capsize. Emphasise commitment to the stroke over involvement – like bacon & eggs, the chicken was involved, but the pig, the pig was committed!!

Managing Groups in Surf.

Surf Landing

On-water briefing – outline the beach characteristics, areas to avoid, allocate the order for each paddler to land & time separation (at least a minute), make sure everyone has a helmet & all deck gear is stowed or properly tethered, allocate beach-master (your best surfer), reinforce signaling & commitment to bracing

Psychology – in a rough landing, send in paddlers alternating between strong & not-so strong surfers. This builds confidence as the weaker paddler invariably sees the preceding paddler go through unscathed. Always encourage; never play up the dangers. On a more challenging landing, it can be a good idea to have the beach-master land, and then break out again, to let the leader know the full story of the conditions. This will raise the confidence of hesitant group members. It is also helpful if the leader & beach-master have a pre-agreed signal for a no-go.

Rescue – make sure all members are aware that in a wet-exit situation in the surf zone, the paddler is on his or her own. When in doubt, swim – the boat & gear will invariably wash onto the shore. The beach-master may be able to assist the swimmer, but this can’t always be guaranteed.

Keep waiting paddlers out of the break zone – 50 or 60 metres is sufficient distance to ensure a freak set doesn’t wash everyone through at once.

Guard against sea sickness among those waiting – point boats into the conditions & discourage map reading, looking down onto the deck to adjust gear etc.

Remind paddlers to stay on the ocean side of their boat when exiting the boat onshore, emphasise the perils of the shore break – better not to get turned turtle onto the hard shore sand.

Surf Launching

Check wave size, patterns etc, look for changed beach properties (high/low tide), between when you land, & when you intend to depart. Determine a route through the break, brief group on the rendezvous point beyond the break (further rather than closer). A rip can be useful, however as with the landings, this should only be an option where these is little likelihood of a wet exit.

Have an experienced paddler (probably not your beach-master coming in) lead out & follow the best route. Alternate paddlers by skill once again, to build confidence. Secure each paddler in their boat, pop on the skirt & steady them in the shallows. Wait for a lull, tell them to paddle hard & tuck into an impact (remember to emphasise the paddle position to the side, rather than over/in front of the face in an impact). Remind them you will be on the beach to fish them out in the event of a mishap. The leader should try to be out among the first few paddlers, to ensure any on-water incidents during the wait are attended to. The last paddler off the beach should be a strong & capable surfer.

The triangle of death is an area approximately 45 degrees to either side of the rhumb line of a landing route. The broad area will be more likely to come into play in accordance with swell size, wave type & currents, and should always be considered in assessing the risks associated with any beach landing.

A typical risk assessment

Hazard	Risk	Likelihood	Consequences	Control Measures
Dumping Shorebreak	Broken boat	Unlikely	Walk out for paddler (minor).	Land between prominent areas of shorebreak.
	Concussion or spinal injury from capsize in shorebreak.	Likely	Loss of confidence for paddler, serious injury or hospitalization (minor to extreme).	Helmets, pre-landing reminder of shore dump danger, land between areas of prominent shorebreak. Find another place to land.
	Lost Gear.	Likely	Minor	Tether or stow all deck gear.
Rocks	Broken boat or bones	Unlikely	As above	Land between prominent areas of shorebreak
Surfers	Injury to swimmer, possible insurance claim	Unlikely	Loss of confidence for paddler, injury or hospitalization (minor to extreme)	Land between prominent areas of shorebreak.
Swimmers	Injury to swimmer, possible insurance claim	Unlikely	Loss of confidence for paddler, injury, or hospitalization (minor to extreme)	Land between prominent areas of shorebreak.
Paddler caught between beach & boat.	Leg injury to paddler.	Likely	Multiple impact injuries from constant collisions in the surf zone.	Pre-landing briefing on this particular danger.
Collision with another boat.	Concussion, spinal injury, bruise, drowning.	Unlikely	Loss of confidence for paddler, injury, drowning or hospitalization (minor to extreme).	Clear landings – rather than landing every 30 seconds, or to some set time span, wait for each paddler to get to the beach before the next run.
Group member expressing panic or distress about landing.	Spread of panic through the group, paddlers worrying about the distressed paddler rather than their own game.	Unlikely	Loss of confidence in leader, possibility of spiraling problems.	Find another landing spot.
Seasickness while waiting to land.	Sick & distressed paddlers, unable to concentrate on the demands of a landing.	Likely	Dangerous lack of concentration, balance.	Point boats into the wind & sea, keep everyone chatting & focused, discourage any map reading etc.

Rock’n’Roll Statistics [59]

By Claudia Schremmer

Weather

Weather forecast for the RnR week-end, taken from BOM, Hunter Coastal Waters,Seal Rocks to Broken Bay and 60nm seawards:

• Friday until midnight: Wind: E/SE 10/15 knots tending NE 10/15 knots in the afternoon. Sea: 1 metre. Swell: S/SE 1.5 metres.
• Saturday: Wind: NE 10/15 knots freshening to 15/20 knots in the afternoon.Sea: 1 metre rising to 1.5 metres in the afternoon, Swell: S/SE 1.5 metres.
• Sunday Outlook: Wind: NE 10/20 knots.
• Monday Outlook: Wind: NE 15/20 knots.

Paddlers

• Number of happy paddlers : 107
• Number of Grade 1: 10
• Number of Grade 2: 64
• Number of Grade 3: 16
• Number of trip leaders = 17
• Number of trip instructors = 4
• Number of trainee trip leaders = 4
• Number of trips = 31
• Average number of participants per trip = 7
• Number of total individual paddles: 217
• Number of trips per paddler: 2.028
• Total number of destinations = 12
• Number of participants in rolling contest = 6
• Number of participants in handicap race = 26
• Number of participants in tug-o-war = 14
• Total distance of someone being towed = 20km (Good on you, Mark B.!)

Wildlife sighted

• 97 Dolphin sightings
• 1,284 Fish
• 1 Dugong

Catering

Number of dinners with the Rotary Club = 118 (including 3 vegetarian)

Other Items

• 1 Cappuccino Cruise
• 1 person who took three attempts to circumnavigate Fingal Island and never really got there
• Number of Rock’n’Roll-related emails that Claudia deleted on 18th March 2005 = 1348.

Rock & Roll Boat Survey (by Richard McNeall)

Mirage 530	F/G	20
Mirage 580	F/G	20
Nadgee	F/G	13
Dagger Apostle	Plastic	7
Pittarak	F/G	7
Penguin	Plastic	4
Storm	Plastic	3
Greenlander	F/G	2
Fibreglass Double	F/G	1
Freedom	F/G	1
Inuit	F/G	1
Kodiak	Plastic	1
Mermaid	F/G	1
Mirage 19	F/G	1
Orca	F/G	1
Osprey	F/G	1
Pittarak Double	F/G	1
Plastic Single	Plastic	1
Puffin	Plastic	1
Raider X	F/G	1
Rosco Double	F/G	1
Southern Raider	F/G	1
Southern Skua	F/G	1
Squall	Plastic	1
Tasman 19	F/G	1
Wooden Singles	Wood	4
Wooden Double	Wood	1
Total No. Kayaks		98

Retro Fitting a Skeg to my Nadgee [59]

By Kim Vandyke

I ordered a skeg kit from David Winkworth to retro fit to my Nadgee. The kayak actually tracks very well but I wanted the skeg just in case. I believe the skeg design is such that it could fit any kayak. Importantly, the quality of the product is first rate. David supplies detailed instructions on how to fit the kayak however I was looking for a fast installation. The following is how I did it. If you are thinking about a skeg, it will all make sense. If you aren’t – move on to the next article.

I supported the kayak keel up on two saw horses above the floor, marked the spot for the skeg then masked the area. I used a surform to flatten out the keel till a few mm’s wide then drew a pencil line down the centre and again marked the slot length. I used a hand drill to make a slot for a jig saw blade (metal cutting) to cut a thin slot. I kept surforming / filing / sanding down the keel ever so slowly until the slot was the correct size to accept the skeg box firmly when inserted from inside the hull.

I turned the kayak right side up and made sure it was sitting squarely on the supports. I used a level across the cockpit to check it was level port/starboard. I locked the kayak in place using my Thule racks and straps. I passed the skeg through the rear hatch and positioned it in the slot. David supplies a “keeper” for the skeg box to ensure it does not contract when glassing. The skeg was now in place with its opening facing down to the floor. I inserted another piece of timber (same thickness) but about 2 feet long at 90 deg to the skeg / keel line when viewed side on. This meant I had a long protrusion hanging down that I could eyeball and check for vertical positioning of the skeg (as the skeg is inside the kayak it’s a bit hard to see if it is vertical). Remember, I had the timber pointing down from the skeg toward the floor. I used my carpenter’s level to create a level timber beam on the concrete floor of the garage at right angles to the keel line. I used my carpenter’s right angle square to check that the angle between the skeg protusion pointing down to the floor and the beam on the floor was 90 degrees. I did all of this to make sure the alignment was correct before sloshing the gelcoat in around the skeg – it went off nicely and locked the skeg in. On reflection I think I would use 5 minute epoxy next time just to locate the skeg and then mask & brush gelcoat on from the outside to cover up for later wet rubbing.

Having experienced how tricky it was to work a brush with gelcoat around the skeg down inside the back of the kayak, I was clearly going to have some fun with glass and resin notwithstanding the curves etc of the keel. I had purchased the resin and glass etc but thought a bit more about it.

What I did was resort to some marine epoxy and ephispheres (super light filler) which I had in my box of tricks. I used gaffa tape (strong) to create a dam about 10 mm from each end of the skeg. I mixed up a super light porridge of epoxy and ephispheres and poured it into the dam. It went off – very effective.

Now for the slider that lives on the deck. I placed it on the right side of the boat. I made a cardboard template of the underneath of the slider. I masked this to the deck then cut the hole. Then I masked the deck area before sanding the gel coat – I used 5 minute epoxy to attach the slider with flange onto the deck – I held it while it went off – I pulled the tape off while the epoxy was still “green” – again it worked well.

I have layers of foam for my knees under the deck which took some time to put in and I didn’t want to remove them for the skeg cable so I simply pushed a 6mm steel rod through the foam where I wanted the cable to run – couldn’t have been easier.

The skeg cable is housed in a plastic tube, the cable and tube run from the box in the hatch, through the slider and toward the front bulkhead, along this run the tube is separated by the slider. Both exposed ends of tubing in the slider need to be fluted; I achieved this by heating it lightly with a ciggy lighter and then inserting a Phillips head screwdriver. The tubing is now threaded into the slider, one aft to the skeg – the other forward. To prevent the short forward tubing moving back and forth as the cable moved I put an oversize piece of hose (held with zip ties) on the tube up against the forward face of the slider under the deck. To give myself friction on the cable, I placed some gaffa tape on the cable (short end toward bow) before I threaded the cable into the tube.

In hindsight the skeg was easy to install – I took the long weekend to do mine but the next one will be a cinch.

The Scourge of the Northbound Kayaker [59]

By Peter Dobbs Clement

Ahh! The Whitsundays: Idyllic isles of romantic dreaming. Where the sands are pristine and the waters teem with beautiful fish. Where city life is another long lost planet away. Where breakfast can be had with clouds of butterflies, in the warm breeze of sunrise, and dinner, to the splashing of feeding schools of fish. Where we drift off to sleep to the mournful call of curlews parading the tide line.

I was fortunate indeed to be invited to paddle the Whitsundays with Mark Berry, Rick Martin and John Wilde. Trevor Gardner had mistakenly chosen to go to Iraq instead. Our choice turned out to be a fantastic trip.

What could have been possibly be lurking there? Created by what motive of God that could have taken even the slightest edge off our blissful rapture?

If only the tourist brochures told the true story….

“Ah! Queensland – mosquitoes one day, sandflies the next!”

If only before the trip I had read Wilfred Reeves’ (1912-1968) poem, I might have been more vigilant.

…Where policeman birds parade the
beach for weeks without their food
To arrest the female turtles
That go swimming in the nude
Where sandflies that are bigger far
Than two Alsatian dogs
And unemployed mosquitoes
Live in holes they picked in logs…

He was referring to his tribal homeland of Fraser Island. The sandflies that we found or more correctly, found us, where incredibly tiny but with the appetite of two large dogs.

Aware of a few mosquitos and the sandflies we had applied repellent. This was fine. That was until Mark and I waded in the sea one evening to clean the dishes and forgot to re-apply it. These little sods bite without you being aware of it until several hours later. In our case, it was large, very itchy lumps and I even developed large, red blotches out of all proportion to the size of the beasts that caused them.

We were all bitten to some extent and during the course of our two week trip came across other paddlers for whom these bloody flies had become a major problem. One party had stopped midway on their trip to stay at Hook Eco Resort after one of the girls developed a bad reaction. They were stuck there in a state of extreme frustration. Another party at the same resort had incredible bite-to-bare skin ratios despite repellent use and one of these guys was bandaged from his neck to his ankles. He informed Mark that he had reacted once before with recovery taking eight months after coming down with toxic shock. I remembered reading that Donna Edye who had paddled from Cooktown to Wollongong had also been hospitalised with blood poisoning as a result of sandflies (NSW Sea Kayaker issue 56).

Our experience was probably typical of what you might encounter in Northern waters and I decided I had better do some research into this problem for my own future reference.

I wanted to know:

• How not to get bitten;
• How to lessen the effects of bites;
• What dangers bites presented;
• What were the alternative repellents;
• Why we had a problem in some places and not others;
• What medical supplies should have been in our kits;
• Why us;
• Who invented the bloody things anyway

After trawling the annals of medicine, thousand web pages and forgotten taxpayer funded research projects, I can hopefully avoid having to make a repeat sprint for antihistamines at inflated Airlie Beach prices ever again.

The beasts that caused so much woe, sandflies, are more correctly called biting midges. Small blood sucking flies the family Ceratopogonidae, if you really must know. These are different to the true sandflies which are not found in Australia and are different again to the small black biting flies which appear after floods in inland areas of Qld and NSW.

There are many species of this fly, each with different biting and breeding habits. Thirty-three species have been recorded in the Darwin area alone. Some do not bite vertebrates. Some prefer cattle, some domestic animals and only a few are serious pests of humans. This is an important distinction as it may explain why infectious pathogens are not transmitted to humans by these insects in Australia.

Coastal midge problems would appear to be from species which breed in mangrove swamps and move from there to feed. The fact that they travel from the breeding ground may account for us not being troubled by them when paddling through an area of mangroves near Crayfish Beach on Whitsunday Island. These particular species are major pests which generally invade recreational and residential areas near coastal swamps.

The number of midges hatching from pupae and then moving to feed is related to the lunar cycle. Hatching increases rapidly around the neap tide but females, who do the bloodsucking (NB. I am not making a comment here of a sexist nature – read into it what you will), disperse to feed on blood two days before the spring tide. This reaches a peak on the day of the spring tide with marked abundance when there is a full moon. They are also numerous around the spring tides with a new moon. This would explain why our party suffered the most bites on the highest tide with a full moon when arriving at Cockermouth.

The breeding occurs in areas of mud associated generally with mangroves and certainly the areas where we had the most trouble were creek beds existing close to the landing/campsite such as at Cockermouth and Haselwood. Interestingly we had little trouble where beach and camp areas were on coral rubble which is unfavourable breeding material.

The insects have a peak daily feeding period about one hour either side of sunset and a smaller peak in the one hour after sunrise, periods when they annoyed us the most. They seek shelter if the wind is above 8km/hr and our experience would concur with that. So set the tents up where there is more likely to be wind, away from vegetation and swampy areas, go to bed early and sleep in. This should help avoid most of the buggers.

Midges are attracted to bright lights and of course we sat round yarning with our head torches on and wondered why they avoided our repellent smeared faces but burrowed into our hair to bite scalp! It has been shown that they are not attracted to red or yellow lights but that’s ok, we only took bright white LED headlamps. I’m sure they were pleased about that. It would be interesting to see what pests you might attract if you tried camping with a red light hanging over the campsite!

And of course, to prove we had our timing spot on, the annual peak breeding season is August to October with the lowest numbers in the wet season of January and February.

One repetitive story I came across on numerous (even commercial) websites is that the midges urinate on you and that is what is aggravating. This is just not true. They inject a salivary secretion and it is this which we react to. There is a classic allergic response with no noticeable effect for the first bite but subsequent bites producing a reaction. The average reaction for newly exposed victims is a small red spot which develops into a domed blister with a hole at the top. More sensitive people can develop a red swelling over a few centimetres. This was certainly the case for me.

When we called into Lindeman Club Med for a coffee I was pretty uncomfortable with the stares the staff were giving me.

“Look at this …dripping wet, filthy kayaker with leprosy or something. Put the price of coffee up so they leave straight away…”

And we did, too!

Reactions last three or four days and then slowly subside. Soothing lotions such as Eurax, Stingose, Medicreme, Democaine etc give relief from bites and help prevent secondary infection. The main danger in tropical climes is scratching the bites and thereby allowing secondary infection to take hold.

Tea tree, Eucalyptus oils and Aloe Vera gels can be useful too. More severe reactions require antihistamine treatment. Telfast worked for us, though Phenergran or Vallegan are recommended as well.

The best cure is simply avoidance. Also being aware of the moon and tides when extra care should be taken to protect all exposed skin which should be easy for kayakers. Then it’s a case of covering up and applying repellent.

In the ‘Middle East Area of Operations’ where TG had been sent, midges or sandflies present a major problem. There they carry one of the most virulent strains of Leishmaniasis, a disfiguring viral disease, some strains of which are fatal if left untreated. I am sure TG would have had good briefing about this nasty and also about the prevention of bites. The Defence Force use Permethrin or Bifenthrin impregnated clothes combined with repellent on skin. This product can be bought at farm supply stores as it is used to protect horses from “the Queensland Itch” caused by midges. A solution can be applied to tents and clothing. Interestingly, Leishmaniasis was recently discovered in red kangaroos in the Northern Territory but the midges are not believed to be a carrying vector for humans. The buggers that bite kangaroos don’t bite us and vice versa. Kangaroos also have been found with midge borne choroid blindness disease in W.A.

Now, on our trip, we had several brands of repellent which worked ok but there are repellents and repellents. I was increasingly concerned that most of my reaction was due to the cocktail of chemicals being rubbed into the skin. Mark felt the same way. There are basically two types of active ingredients available in the manufactured products. Deet or di-ethyl toluamide has been around for about fifty years and you know you have it when you kneel inside your tent and your legs stick to the now melted plastic. This is not a good thing relative to how much you spent on your gear. The newer Picaridin was developed by Bayer after testing 20,000 products. It has been bought here by S.C.Johnson who market Autan Repel which can be found in supermarkets. This one doesn’t melt plastics which is a good thing. Repel in aerosol or gel has been reported as being ok for babies under 12mnths, a claim none of the other brands are willing to make. So if you are planning to make babies on your trip…..

If you are like me, you will be worried about chemicals in general and keen to see what natural products have some historical benefits. I found plenty of tips on this one.

Oil of any sort acts as a barrier to being bitten so spread your sunscreen then liberally apply any suitable vegetable oil. Adding Citronella, Lemongrass, Lavender, Pennyroyal oils will greatly add to the repellent effect. On Thomas Island we met a yachting couple who had run a charter business for a while. They had suggested that being smeared in oil also protected you from Irukanji stings. Don’t forget to turn over and fry the other side.

One tip was to dissolve Eucalyptus, melaleuca, grey myrtle, Huon pine, citronella and clove oil in vodka, then mix with water for spaying on. Personally I think you would be better off rubbing on the oil and saving the vodka for a more general tonic.

There are several commercially available natural blends such as “Boys from the Bush” and “Walkabout” which are sold through Australian Geographic. They were developed from concoctions used by Aborigines.

But the best thing I found from all the research done was this….locals build an immunity to these terrible little mongrels. What does this mean to a sea kayaker? When you find your idyllic isles of romantic dreaming such as Wilfred Reeves…

Have you heard of Fraser Island
Where the whiskey rivers flow
Where cockatoos and parrots
Stand upon their heads to crow
Where the porcupine goes fishing
With a whip snake for a line
Where instead of making honey
The bees are brewing wine…

Then just stay there. With the help of your oil and vodka you too will build an immunity and all your other troubles will go away as well.

A nuisance they may have been but the midges did not spoil our trip. Paddling in the Whitsundays with three great guys was an awesome experience and the testing things only served to enhance the great times. Go there!

What would I carry in my kit next time?

• Aluminium Sulfate gel such as Stingose. It worked for Mark until he ran out. It is also listed as being good for relieving blue bottle stings;
• Telfast or other non-drowsy antihistamine;
• Natural oil blend repellent or Picaridin based gel;
• Vodka

Summary R&R 05 [59]

By Stuart Trueman

Paddlers become members to get trained and go on trips and have fun doing it. R&R 05 reflected this admirably.

A good choice of venue ensured a wide variety of interesting paddles for everybody and a great area for training.

For members who are more involved in the Club having the AGM omitted helped create the relaxed atmosphere, allowing everybody to concentrate on what they joined the club for, paddling.

To see 100 sea kayakers coming back from various trips, training & demonstrations busting to share the days experience with others shows why there is a NSWSKC.

The R&R 05 was a showcase of Club policies & procedures at work. Paddlers were out on trips and being trained by sea kayakers who have been trained and assessed by the NSWSKC to gain nationally recognised qualifications. These members choose to contribute to the Club by using these qualifications to help members paddle the ocean, who in turn have the opportunity to contribute to the Club.

No one person has the motivation or time to be responsible for NSWSKC year in year out. No one group of people hold positions on the Committee continuously. It’s this rotation of Committee members, qualified members and new members that has developed a Club that can give 100 paddlers a weekend like R&R 05.

As long as there are those that appreciate the value of what is being offered and are willing to contribute, this club will continue to develop and offer members a chance to get whatever they want from sea kayaking.

Rock’n’Roll 2005 Volunteers [59]

Ever wondered what happens behind the scenes of an event like Rock and Roll? Below is a list of the volunteers who helped make Rock’n’Roll 2005 happen. Many more volunteers offered to help but in the end we did not need to use them as all tasks were covered. 1000 thanks to everyone involved. Without you, it would not have happened!

(in order of appearance)

Ian Phillips sharing all his past experience with us of what has to be taken into account and who to contact for such an event (Council, Waterways, Ambulance, National Parks, catering services) and what to look for at a Caravan Park (free access in case of boom gates, amenities that are not key locked, free hot showers, portages, access to both open and closed waters) Dave Winkworth suggesting to move the Rock’n’Roll into the summer months Richard McNeall preparation of the event · trip leading (with real cappuccino involved) · organising presentation equipment · chairing “Club directions” session · staffing the headquarters on Monday morning · organising the removal of the Marquee Mike Eggleton communication with Council, Caravan park, Waterways, National Parks, Ambulance Services, Rotary Club, organising our Aquatic Licence · trip leading Nick Palmer managing all the money related issues: memberships, registrations, dinner tickets, cancellations and refunds, raffle tickets, maps, chockies, merchandise · staffing of headquarters on all four days · being Beach Master Peter Kappelmann design of our R’n’R 2005 logo · constant updating of the Web · taking photos during the event · providing the projector for the presentations · sharing his photos with us Adrian Clayton looking after possible trips in the area · trip leading · being the Master of Ceremony for the Handicap Race · finding and managing our Marquee · tables and power Stephan Meyn organising the presentations · organising the manufacturers · organising the raffle prizes · being the Master of Ceremony for the Tug-o-war Contest Sue Brennan managing all the 1000 registration-related issues with her data base · printing of forms, dinner tickets, lunch tickets, ID cards etc · laminating the ID cards · UHF radios · laptop, laminating machine, printer at headquarters · staffing of headquarters on three days · boat compound fencing · load hailer David Hispley organising the catering with Rotary and selecting the menu · being trainee trip leader Kristin Young staffing of headquarters on three days Paul Loker printing of maps and aerial photos · briefing of trip leaders during R’n’R 2005 · trip leading Keith Oakford briefing of trip leaders during R’n’R 2005 · trip leading · staffing the de-registration on Monday Peter Osman trip leading · checking and communicating the daily weather forecast Nick Gill trip leading · training sessions · presentation “Bass Strait” Stuart Trueman trip leading · training sessions · being the Master of Ceremony for the Rolling Contest Terry Ward presentations “Photography – Basics” and “Photography – Advanced” · being Beach Master Elizabeth Thompson Yoga teaching Sharon Trueman presentation “Paddling Nutrition” Ian Coles providing the sun shelter for the Beach Master · changing the issue of this magazine at short notice to include R’n’R 2005 related information Mark Sundin trip leading · special tuition of “our Queenslanders” Trevor Gardner trip leading Mark Berry trip leading Sharon Betteridge trip leading Andrew Eddy training sessions/ trips · presentation “Cape York” Rob Mercer training sessions/ trips Laurie Geoghegan trip leading · presentation “Experience from Expedition Kayaking” Henry van der Kolk presentation “Trip planning and packing for overnight touring” Peter Rattenbury presentation “Why folders are different” · Christian ceremony on the beach Trevor Costa being Beach Master Helen Eddy-Costa being Beach Master Doug Taylor providing the Tug-o-war ropes David Whyte taking photos during the event · providing the screen for the presentations Kate Beirne being our raffle queen Kevin Brennan finding and managing all the above people · R’n’R 2005 timetable · trip leading (with a special Dugong feature) · being the chief trips organiser · presentation “Workshop: Sail making, paddle bag, tow rope” · driving up to Hawks Nest four times to check out locations and organise things, check out the trips, test paddle the “mangroves” and the “fish feeding” trips, get an understanding of the tides and currents in Port Stephens · finding and managing the security guard for the boat compound at R’n’R 2005 · six months of endless effort in parallel to his ongoing commitment as trips convenor · inventing the photo sharing Claudia Schremmer finding and managing all the above people · R’n’R 2005 timetable · presentation “Workshop: Sail making, paddle bag, tow rope” · leading the morning sunrise walks on the surf beach · composing letters to the authorities in Hawks Nest and Port Stephens · inventing the Handicap Race · driving up to Hawks Nest four times to check out locations and organise things, check out the trips, test paddle the “mangroves” and the “fish feeding” trips, get an understanding of the tides and currents in Port Stephens · communication on the Web sites, Forum and email · laminating of maps and print outs · six months of endless effort