Best of Luck to thepaddler.co.uk

This morning, while trying to conquer my overflowing inbox, I came across an email announcing the launch of thepaddler.co.uk, a new carbon-neutral (aka web-based) kayaking magazine. We're always happy to see new kayaking-related media and this one looks like a particularly-promising launch! I haven't had much time to look through it, but we wish them all the luck in the world. Check out their inaugural issue by clicking the screenshot below.

Dream Car

I just wish this beautiful creation could support a roof rack with kayaks or tow a trailer! This is "Golden Gate" by S.F.-based artist Jay Nelson.

The Golden Gate is an electric camper car measuring 96"x54"x64". Made with fiberglass, epoxy resin, plywood, glass, bike parts and electric motor. The vehicle can drive 10 miles on a charge and goes up to 20 mph. The interior has a kitchen with sink, stove, cooler, storage cubbies, toilet, a bed and storage below the bed. All of the controls are in the steering wheel. The driver sits cross legged while operating the vehicle.

Click to read more ...

Hudson River Project - Nowness

Found this on Nowness... can't wait to see how it turns out.

Hudson River Project from Antony Crook on Nowness.com.

Kevlar - "the Wonder Material"

This site's got plenty of techncial jargon like: "The aromatic components of Kevlar polymers have a radial (spoke-like) orientation, which gives a high degree of symmetry and regularity to the internal structure of the fibers. This crystalline-like regularity is the largest contributing factor in the strength of Kevlar. Only with bright synchrotron radiation could the secret strength of Kevlar be revealed." But, its strength is its simple examples involving spaghetti and trains. Check it out!Even people who know nothing about composites have often heard of Kevlar as a "wonder material" that can stop bullets and make heavy things lighter. We think Kevlar's very good for some things (abrasion resistance, for example), but not so good for other things (compressive strength!). If its limits are properly understood, Kevlar is a useful material for building kayaks. While clicking around on Nick Schade's excellent list of kayak building resources, I found this neat little activity that uses simple examples to illustrate how Kevlar's underlying molecular structure yields the properties it does. I'm sure the explanation suffers from oversimplification, but I found it entertaining and educational. If you're at all interested in materials sciences but don't know much about chemistry, I'd recommend checking out the web page. You might learn a thing or two (if you can get past the early-90s graphics and design).

How to Store Your Kayak

There's nothing worse than hearing about a kayak damaged from something as preventable as inadequate storage. While scrolling through this weeks Paddle News, I found an excellent article detailing the proper way to store your kayak for extended periods of time. I hope you haven't already hung up your boat for the season, but if you're at all unsure about what you should do when that time comes, make sure to read "Smart Storage Keeps Boats Healthy". And, while you're there, make sure to sign up for the  Paddle News newsletter if you haven't done so already.

This is the rack on which we store most of our demo boats... Notice the fact that the boats are all stored on edge and that the racks are cut to provide a large (and padded) area of contact. Also note that the hatch covers on the Jaeger have been removed to allow the boat to dry out. Once the boat is dry, we generally replace the covers to keep dust out of the hatches. A special shout out to Bob Mclane for spending many hours working out the specifics of this system and figuring out how to fit 12 boats in 30 sq. ft. of floor space.

Tide Book

ᔥ feltron.tumblr.com

Almost as much fun as kayaking?

Whether or not this is actually the "world's largest", it's definitely awesome!

First seen on the Austin Canoe and Kayak blog.

Tipping Barrels

Tipping Barrels from Sitka on Vimeo.

I saw this video on the Wend Magazine blog a few months ago and am surprised I haven't seen it everywhere since. This is a welcome exception to the hours of well-filmed but monotonous surf films. The cinematography is great and the surfing's pretty mediocre, but it has much more going for it than just that. It's a genuinely engaging take on an environmental issue that might otherwise seem quite remote or even irrelevant. This looks like an incredible place to see by kayak. Some screen shots from the video below the fold:

Click to read more ...

"The Walruses Have Landed — Walrus Kayaks Come to Maine"

Reblogged from Waterlines: A Maine Sea Kayaking Journal

One of the best things about owning a small kayak shop (besides scouting out new sections of the Maine coast as potential tour destinations) is having the opportunity to paddle new models of kayaks.

I’ve had that opportunity recently, as we’ve “taken in” a few Walrus Kayaks built by a small company of the same name in Winooski, Vermont.  This is something to like about the kayak industry — that even though you have the relative giants like Current Designs and Old Town, you have plenty of small companies that you might not have heard of building quality. innovative boats.  More than 50 kayak manufacturers are listed in the Canoe & Kayak Annual Boat Book. My guess is that there are at least 50 more small companies that are not listed, Walrus Kayaks being one of them.

It must have taken a bit of chutzpah to start a kayak company in the midst of a bad economy, and — at a time when many other builders are moving their manufacturing operations to China — to insist on building them in small town USA.  It must have taken a bit more chutzpah to choose uncompromising designs and high end materials as central to your business model, but that’s just what Walrus Kayaks did.

Read the rest of the post HERE.

Packing a Kayak

Here's a great video from the guys over at Canoe and Kayak Magazine that goes through some of the basics of how to pack a kayak efficiently. There's nothing completely groundbreaking, but it's a great presentation of the some of the things to keep in mind if you haven't done many extended trips in your boat.