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#009:
April 2008
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Cape Horn: Des Keaney
Island-Hopping in
the Yasawas: Louise Southerden
The Old Man of the Mull of Logan: Dr Douglas Wilcox
The Basking Battalions of Coll: Mike Thomson
Too afraid to
ask... What should be in my first aid kit?
Repairs at Home: James Stevenson
Forward Paddling Technique: Nico
Hakkarainen
Review: SKS/SKUK
Explorer CS
Review:
Eddyline Equinox
Stern Words:
Kayaks Against the Alien Menace!
and, much, much
more..
- All the
latest news from manufacturers and expeditions;
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Includes:
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Cape Horn: Des Keaney
‘That was close!’ Tucked into a little cove on Isla Jerdan, we
were sheltering from the 30 knot winds whistling over our heads.
Just half an hour earlier we’d left Puerto Maxwell in the
Wollaston Islands in a gentle north-westerly. This was the day!
It was Monday, January 21st. We were rounding Cape Horn…
Well, that was the plan, but things weren’t going to plan; Cape
Horn was still 10 miles away and it might as well have been a
thousand. The Southern Ocean weather was reminding us who ran
things down here…
more.. |
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Island-Hopping in
the Yasawas: Louise Southerden
It was three
o’clock on a Fiji afternoon, the sun setting, losing its bite
and the headwind we’d been paddling against all day was
beginning to ease. It’s been a great day, but a long one, so it
was a relief when Al, our guide, pointed to a beach just up
ahead and shouted across the water, “That’s where we’re camping
tonight.”
more.. |
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The Old Man
of the Mull of Logan: Dr Douglas Wilcox
I slowly paddled
out of the narrow channel, through the high rocks towards the
magnificent rock arch. The impassive stone features of the Old
Man of the Mull of Logan peered over my shoulder towards Tony
who was drifting below the arch. This paddle on the Rhinns of
Galloway is one of the best anywhere in the west of Scotland, so
why don’t you come and see if you can find the Old Man!
more..
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The Basking Battalions of Coll: Mike Thomson
How about this for an offer that you (and I)
couldn’t possibly refuse: Ronnie has a free ticket for car (and
contents) to Coll and/or Tiree (he takes pictures for the
Scottish Tourist Board and this is one of the sneaky perks) -
Would I like to go? Would I? Oh Yes!
more..
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Too afraid to
ask... What should be in my first aid kit?
We all know we
should carry a first aid kit when out kayaking, don’t we? But do
we really know what’s in it and why it’s there? In this article
we’ll take a look at what’s needed and why. We’re not going to
give you a prescriptive list, but instead, we’re going to get
you thinking about why you carry what you carry and get you
better informed when it comes to selecting the ‘essentials’.
more..
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Repairs at Home:
James Stevenson
In Issue 7 we
looked at how to deal with a damaged sea kayak in the field, in
this article we will look at the techniques needed to carry out
fibreglass repairs at home.
With a bit of
time and patience it is possible create a sound repair that will
have your boat ship shape and sea worthy and quickly ready for
your next trip
more..
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Forward Paddling
Technique: Nico
Hakkarainen
Making the kayak go forward is easy, but with
proper technique you can paddle faster and more efficiently and
with less strain on your joints. Here are the primary elements
of a good forward stroke. But keep in mind that the ideal
paddling style depends also on your physical condition and the
style of your paddle. Be sure you are holding your paddle
correctly before proceeding.
more..
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Review: SKS/SKUK
Explorer CS
Sea Kayak Services, run by Craig Pinder, is a new UK based sea
kayaking manufacturer / repair shop for sea kayaks, based in
Weymouth, Dorset. SKS manufacture, under license from Nigel
Dennis, a cedar-strip version of the SKUK Explorer, which they
call the Explorer CS. When we first caught a glimpse of it on a
roof rack, we took one look and thought ‘Wow, what a fantastic
looking boat!’ Now,we get our hands on it to try it for real…
more..
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Review: Eddyline Equinox
The Eddyline Equinox is a 14-foot coastal day-tripper, made in
Eddyline’s Carbonite 2000 material, and aimed at the type of sea
kayaker who favours a more leisurely style of coastal cruising.
It’s the smaller cousin of the Eddyline Fathom that we reviewed
in issue 008, and the second of the boats being imported into
the UK by Reed Chillcheater. So, how did it fair in the hands of
Ocean Paddler reviewers? To find out, read on….
more..
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And Finally.. |
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Stern Words:
Kayaks Against the Alien Menace!
When Dougie MacDonald and I paddled around the
Azores in 2003, in T-shirts printed
‘CITY of
ATLANTIS – Perimeter Patrol’,
it was just for a bit of a laugh really. But occasionally since
then it has occurred to me that – to the innocent bystander at
least - sea kayakers must indeed often seem like a patrol of
some sort. At any one time thousands of us are to be seen
cruising slowly, picking our way carefully, steadily along the
shorelines of the world, landing, launching, exploring, even
stopping overnight – almost as if we were all searching for
something but can’t remember what it is! Sometimes I’ve wondered
whether such a vast patrol potential – disparate, disorganised,
anarchistic though we are – might not be put to some practical
use: whether we could, for example, act to some extent as the
eyes and ears of the coast.
But has
Atlantis any real need of a Perimeter Patrol?
more..
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P.S.
Images are taken from final, final, final draft proofs - yet more
changes may have occurred by the time it finally goes to the
printers. If so, it's only us trying to ensure that you receive the
best quality magazine that we can physically produce!
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