TT Kayaking Club

“yam, I didn't know you had a kayak. yep with TSRA”

“we will have to get a little trip together!!”

“that will be great. I have been wanting to get out but the weekends have been busy lately. I don't have the clothing for any type of winter paddling yet. more gear to buy :(”

“i don't have any clothing for winter paddling, either.......we could just freeze!! nothin' wrong w/ that, is there?? ; )”

“just depends on who is there to warm you up :)”

“yeah.

*sigh*”

“i'm warm.
























fuzzy, too!”

“I need some help from folks who have done a kayak/camping trip. Next weekend will be my first one where I have to supply all of my stuff.

what food wise do you take. How do you keep it cool.

anyone have some good ideas for some good food to take. I don't want to take bping food.

I know there are other items to take that I am not evening thinking about.

Any ideas on food, extras, gear, etc.”

“hey, i just got done learning how to kayak... I learned that you can take much more than a normal backpacking trip, the water around here is cold enough to act as a cooler for food and your lower body - steaks 3 days into a trip. I was wearing short sleeves on top and my long underwear on bottom.

I'm not much help am I... anyways, it was fun kayaking in and around the "sea" caves and arches, and if anybody is wondering, yes you can go "sea" kayaking in Minnesota, we have a very large lake.”

“Ewker, unless you're taking a canoe, with room for a cooler you're limited to the same kinda stuff you eat on a hiking trip. The good thing is there're no worries about weight. Your kayak isn't going to take a cooler unless it's a soft sided lunchbox type and that won't keep your food cold long enough. The water temperature isn't cold enough to cool beverages or food even up here. For the first day you could take frozen meat. Take potatoes for baking in the fire, striders stuffed onions too (recipe on Phil's page), and fresh fruit and veggies. Pack all the good stuff that's too heavy to carry on your back but doesn't spoil.”

“Lots of beer, wine bottles fit well in the pointed parts of the stern and bow,I think they are engineered that way on purpose.

Seriously though, the rigid shape of the storage compartments and the hatch sizes seriously limit options. You could freeze a staek or the like and let it thaw on your first day and eat it that night. The fresh fruit and veggies would work well too. Maybe some sausage in a softsided cooler sauteed with peppers and onions with a nice firebaked potato?”

“Sass and Birch, thanks for the ideas. I was thinking more of liquor in the beverage area. You can have it right from the bottle and it doesn't take up much space.

The reason I asked about coolers is I heard someone say they take one and strap it on the top of the kayak. Didn't seem safe to me.”

“Ewk, I would advise keeping the deck as clear as possible. It can really slow a rescue down. I am rethinking the ideas that supertroll posted on the PVC tube inside the cockpit for storage. On our trip last wknd I found that I keep a small drybag in my cockpit and that it shifted alot. I want access to it so behind the seat is no good. I have spent sometime at work tinkering with various sizes of PVC and I Think I may have a setup soon. I will test it out before it gets mounted but the results are promising.

Oh yeah, liquor is always good. Rum and hot cider is one of my favs, That or some DeWars white scotch.

I use a camelbak mule on my deck and hate it. I am going to buy or make a small pack to attach to my PFD for my hydration setup. My PFD and skirt have pockets for snacks etc...”

“I guess you could turn one of the storage areas into a cooler, wonder how much ice it will hold...lol”

“quite a bit Ewker! =D
We loaded monkeyboy's rear hatch with ice (3-4 bags) beer and sandwiches (on a day trip) and his stern was low in the water. Nice to float along with cold beer though!”

“wooohoo, the trip was great. Beautiful area over there. I will do a trip report with pictures as soon as I get them developed :(”

“I wish I was there now! I am looking forward to the pictures! My face is burned! What a great bunch of people! YIPPPPPPPEEEEEE!!!! ... and by the way, Ewker, snicker, snicer... It was an interesting Sunday morning, wasn't it? (raised eyebrows)”

“Smokygirl, always a pleasure to see you. yes it was an interesting Sunday morning. Just a swinging in the hammock, oops crash down it comes.”

“LOL! I am glad I finally caught back up with you after a year.

My thumb still hurts from my a$$ landing on it when the hammock broke...”

“bump...”

“ST, I haven't even dropped my film off yet. I will be doing that today though.

If you ever get a chance to go to Lake Santeetlah by all means do it.”

“Thats one of the prettiest lakes on the East Coast. I had the good fortune to live in that area for about two years and love every minute of it.”

“Ewker - did you get any groups shots of all of us in our kayaks? I wonder if we could swipe that from Tim?”

“smokygirl, I didn't get that shot I was in my kayak while he took all of them at both places”

“any of you Florida kayakers or anyone wanting to travel might be interested in this sea kayak symposium. Looks like it would be fun

http://www.sweetwaterkayaks.com/symposm2005.html#2005”

“I've always wanted to go to that one. It sounds as if they have a lot of reps and demos.

I may go this year.

I've gone to a couple of company demos around here. It's a great way to try out different boats.”

“Merry Christmas to all the Paddlers

DOGPADDLING CHRISTMAS, 2004

'Twas the day after TVCC's Xmas and all through my house
Not a paddler was stirring, not even this louse.
My headbone was hung by the beers from last night,
Yet still I had hopes that things would get right.

My Climax was hung on the Impreza with care,
In hopes that the Tellico would be 3+, up there.
Emails were dancing, the phone started ringing,
Tho' my head was deadmeat, my soul was a singing.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the curtains, threw up on the sash.

Some goon on the lawn had slipped down in the snow.
Must be a C1er, or some other type schmo.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a Coleman all loaded with Flying Dog beer.

That was one weird paddler, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment he had to be slick.
More rapids than flatwater his trips were as one,
He now whistled and shouted "Git up, Riverscum!"

Tho' crabby and stumpy, still one jolly old elf,
I laughed when I smelled him, in spite of myself.
He was dressed all in poly, from his head to his foot,
his Goretex exterior all mildewed with soot.

His shades how they twinkled! His helmet so cherry.
His toes were just frozen, his fingers just scary.
His downsized PFD drawn tight to his torso,
Corseted his gut, size 46, or more so.

He knew all the rapids and called them by name.
He's run them and swum them, all without shame.
From the Top Of The World! To the Crack In The Wall!
Now splash away! Crash away! Dash away all!

He ran not a playboat, not this time of year.
His creeker was all stuffed with his winter gear.
He cut into the stream, gave good Hairy Fairy.
He popped eddys so fine, it was almost scary.

As wet leaves into Vortex, many will fly,
When flipped over obstacles, quick roll-ups they'll try.
Then Swimming Panic or Saving Graces, brains will decide,
Downwrong or upright, a bodacious sleigh ride.

"Now Hell Hole! Now Truck Stop! Now Pipeline!" he said.
"On Judgment! Down Sinks! Under Tow! Ride A Red Sled"
But I heard him exclaim ere he flushed outta sight,
Merry Paddling For All! Run the Hiwassee tonight?”

“Sping is almost upon us, the lakes should be opening up soon. We blew our dividend on paddle stuff today, sealskinz gloves for each and a 55ft throw bag each. Gonna head out as soon as the water permits, I cannot wait to paddle.”

“if things go according to plan, i'll be putting my boat in easter weekend. can't wait!”

“I'm really looking forward to redoing that Huron River trip this year sans wifey. Or if I do it in the spring I might be able to talk her into doing it with the canoe.”

“There's close to 24" of ice out on my lake, so it'll be a little while before I'm out kayaking on it. I am looking forward to it though. Lots of cool islands off of the coast of Maine that I want to explore as well. I can't wait.”

“No excuses Artex. You're a New Englander and should act like one!

”

“LOL! That looks like fun.”

“Here in Balmy Northern Alabama I've been Yaking all winter...last trip was just this past weekend, I did the Sipsey River in the Bankhead National Forest...Camped with friends, did a stretch of Brushy Creek solo, then the Sipsey with the group...

Best item I've bought were the Chota Boots from Chota Outdoor...Waterproof to the Knee, just what the doctor ordered for the cold water launches...

I recently bought a better PFD, and a cockpit cover to keep the rain and creepies out of the cockpit on the nights spent camping by the water...(I suppose it'll help keep the black widows and the brown recluse out of there as well during storage).

Ya know, since I bought the Yak last September, I've Kayaked in 5 states, both Solo and with a group of Friends, the longest trip was 60 miles over four days...and I'm now quite comfortable in the boat, and a LOT more skilled than I was. When the weather turns warm, I'll be stripped down to shorts and a long sleeved "T"....and home so seldom I'll be arrested for trespassing when I get back...”

“I just fitted my new Yakima yak rack to my new Durango...can't wait to hit the water.

My friends own a shuttle service on the Elk River in Tennessee. I told Ewker and Walkindude I'd work up a paddle/camp trip this spring but I'm slackin' on that...”

“I feel like I found a gold mine!!!! I was driving and found a 3 mile stretch of open river today, I called the appropriate authorities and can paddle at my leisure, next thursday my boat is getting wet!!!! Its not much but seeing as how the locals are ice fishing still its a start, I will do laps or something.”

“good for you.
my evil sister is coming in for a visit. thought about taking her yakking, but seeing she has never done it before, I opted to not go yakking in the cold weather. I will save the drowning errr the trip for another time. But boy I have ithchy feet to get in the water!”

“I made a couple more calls today and found a big ole stretch of open water far better then the spot I saw yesterday. Next thursday will be the first trip of the year. I hope to get out weekly for fun and race training, man I yearn for spring, this winter has been a looooooong one. The best part will be that no one else will be out yet and the birds are on their way north, outta be some nice stuff to see.”

“I'm driving over to Pensacola FL in the morning to go to Demo Day at Pensacola Kayak & Sail.
Gonna test paddle a Wilderness Systems Tempest 165 & 170, and a few other brands of touring kayaks.

Dang, hope I don't like any of them too much. I don't really NEED another yak. ;-)”

“I just bought a Pungo 140 today. Weee!!!”

“Time to hit the road!”

“Got my kayak on the water on Saturday. Niiiiice. Yam and I paddled around Eastfork Lake. I'll get some pics up sometime soon.”

“Friday was my birthday, I took the day off, and put the Yak in the water about 1pm, I did a circumnavigation of Buck Island on Lake Guntersville,(I camped out Friday night on a TVA island at the mouth of Town Creek), then proceeded up river to South Sauty, where I Hammock camped on another Island within the TVA Reservationon Saturday night. Weather was supposed to be Rain and Thunderstorms, but all held off until Sunday morning, when having all the extra flotation and the outriggers proved it's worth...

I very often break the cardinal rule of "Never Kayak alone", so I wanted to be sure that I could do so more safely than a standard yak would allow, so....

I have been experimenting with both outriggers and Sponson-like floats, this trip was a perfect test for both. The Floats:

http://www.geocities.com/bobsbooks_2000/yakfloats/

The Outriggers:


http://www.kayakfishingstuff.com/articles_view.asp?Kayak_Articles=31

Both are excellent, with a few modifications...

The floats I used are closer to 48" long, and are mounted with the leading end about 2 inches higher than the trailing end(little or no drag), with velcrow straps mounted midway down the length to prevent the floats from riding up when they hit the water

For the outriggers I used the actual bouys the author used, but constructed the mounting system like this one:



http://www.kayakfishingstuff.com/articles_view.asp?Kayak_Articles=25

No drilling of the yak to mount them.....

All that to say this: I can indeed stand up in the yak as the photo shows, and a concerted effort to overturn the yak left me happily frustrated. My midnight yak trips on the lake will be much safer (Although I do not at ALL presume they will be risk free!).”

“So where are the pictures of you on this said trip? LOL!

I had a kayaking dream last night and now I'm chomping at the bit to go.”

“Finally made it out this afternoon. The day was drizzly and cool with moderate winds. We said screw it and donned the dry suits (very snuggy warm) seal skinz socks and gloves (awesome stuff) and headed out for a 2hr 115 min paddle. We had the lake to ourselves and saw cormorants,mergansers,buffleheads,geese,mallards and swans plus a few carp showing off by jumping outta the water. It was FANTASTIC!”

“Awesome, birch! The ice is super thin now on my lake, and there's even open water in a few spots along the shore. I can't wait to get my yak out on the water, and look forward to the loons coming back as well.”

“we went yakking on the indian river when we were in florida visiting my parents last week....what a blast!!

close up viewing of several manatees....we saw porpoises, osprey, and a lot of fish that were jumping right out of the water....

would love to do this again!!”

“Aretex, two weeks ago people were ice fishing where we paddled, a quick melt this year.

Goonzo, that sounds beautiful( and warm).”

“Ice in April, this Georgia cracker can't even imagine it.”

“Went out again last night. Birch and I put in the Huron River and paddled upstream for about 35 minutes. It was really low and pretty fast moving compared to summertime. Some spots were challenging because of bends, rocks and current all combined. It made it fun and challenging though. We scared up a sandhill crane and some wood ducks. Once we turned around it took about 8 minutes to get back to where we put in. We continued on into Kent Lake and found that the osprey who nearly attacked us last spring is in the same nest (we checked it out from afar this year, lol). Paddled for about another hour and took out and went to dinner. My kinda date. =)”