Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Wreck and rescue

In yesterday's paper:

~20 kt wind (according to Colchester Reef station) on Lake Champlain Sunday, 4 kayakers capsized and bailed out of a group of 12 and needed Coast Guard/Police rescue.

They were all from out of state, no mention of experience level. All wearing PFD's, no injuries.

The 2 things that struck me were..

1) It would be nice if they could have recovered amongst themselves.

2) sounds like a nice day.. wish I was out paddling.


While we're on safety.. while vacationing on Lake Winnipesaukee (NH) the big hubbub was a fatal accident in July where a "high performance"* motor boat crashed into an island. The ironic part was that the driver, whose family owns a marina and representing a boat dealer's association, had recently testified to the legislature against the need for speed limits on the lake.

The prior fatal crash (high speed boat ran over a smaller boat) in 2002 also had a driver who owned the marina that sold the boat. Maybe the key is just banning dealers from driving their own boats on the lake?

At any rate, the speed limit law passed (45 mph day, 25 at night) a few weeks before the crash but doesn't go into effect until Jan 1 next year.

*"high performance" meaning a general class with top speed around 100 mph.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Appliances on strike

Did you ever notice that appliances seem to know when you're going on vacation?

The day we were going to leave, my kid (who keeps teenage hours) wakes me at 3 am to tell me the drier stopped working. When we got back her computer monitor was dead and the dishwasher won't fill. While clearing the prairie that formed in 2 weeks the discharge chute on the mower fell off and went under the mower for a clean slice into 2 parts.

The belt and idler pulley for the drier are on order, we got a free monitor from the recycling center that someone presumably replaced with an LCD. The dishwasher will get attention today or tomorrow.

Vacation was 2 weeks at the Appalachian Mountain Club's island camp on Lake Winnipesaukee. It rained 13 out of the 15 days but I still got out in/on the lake every day with plenty of hang time (upside down in the kayak). I even managed to do a layback roll in a Keowee. The hardest part of that is not falling out as the cockpit is so big.

There were some studies done, like "Does raising your center of gravity change a boat's handling?" (yes)


And do kayaks produce more paddling force than canoes? Not in this case.
(video on youtube)





Tentative upcoming event: Turner & Cherie rolling and strokes class September 28!