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Jim Luton need not be so modest in his claims for the outrigger. James Wharram in the current issue of 'Watercraft' writes that even as late as the 1950s sailors of Micronesia in the NW Pacific would sail 500 miles in outrigger craft for a few packets of cigarettes. The article is well worth reading. So how about it, Commodore - a quick dash across the North Sea for a packet of Dutch shag?? Now that would provide a really interesting article for Gossip!
Sea And Seals (SueB)
It wasn't quite a spur-of-the-moment thing. I'd seen the new (1999) Imray 'Yachtsman's Pilot to the Isle of Mull and Adjacent Coasts' in a B&B on the west coast of Scotland. It's a superb publication with photos to drool over, and when I returned home I acquired a copy myself. Well - there are things one just has to try! So one novice sea kayaker and one (nearly) novice open canoeist set off for three days' exploration.
We had to stick together, which meant that I had to paddle when we travelled up wind, which was at least half of day one. We explored bays and inlets and islands, accompanied much of the time by seals, who seemed to find us as fascinating as we found them. We spent a wonderful hour one day hiding amid festoons of wild flowers, watching seals at play in the sunshine in a pool below us. Then, having decided to investigate one of the narrows reputed to have a 3.5-knot tide race, we found that we did indeed drift slowly upwind! (Well I suppose it was neaps).
Our second day ended in a superb evening, but our plans for day three disappeared in a wild storm, which turned the loch into a mass of white and thrashed the tents. So, out of time, we headed south again. Two days driving and four tanks of petrol for two days canoeing. Was it worth it? Yes, most definitely! We learned a lot about travelling together, we two ladies. No matter how hard I paddle there is no way I can keep with even an idling sea kayaker. When the wind was brisk and I could sail, the kayak couldn't keep up with me. Crossing a stretch of open water in waves in an open boat is most comfortable at a 40-degree angle to the waves, but this is about the worst possible angle of attack for a sea kayak. But... we waited for one another. My kayaking friend was happy to potter, and I got better at heaving to and spilling wind.
I still ache from the unaccustomed hard work, but we are already planning to return and explore further, hopefully for a longer trip next time!
Secondhand Books (DennisD)
As I write this, coming up to August Bank Holiday weekend, it is warm and sunny but a top-end-of-F5 easterly is serving as a reminder that the equinoctial gales are not far off and another summer is almost over. It is time to begin thinking about the winter reading. It has been just on twelve months since we last issued a sales list of second-hand canoeing books. We do not usually have such a long gap between lists but fresh stock has been hard to find at sensible prices and, anyway, I've been flying. [Which is more than I have 'cos he still hasn't stumped up for his own microlight and the flying club insurance doesn't cover passengers! - Carol.] So, as it is too windy to fly, or to sail in the estuary here, I am being nagged to make up the next book list.
Most of the titles are the preserve of kayakers (including, somewhat unusually, several on sea kayaking) or open canoe paddlers, but there are one or two to suit OCSG purists. J D Hayward always commands interest. I am still trying to find his 'Camping Out With the British Canoe Association' for my own collection, but 'Canoeing With Sail and Paddle' is a bit less of a rarity. Published in 1893, it is well illustrated, including b&w photographs, but almost as interesting as the text are the 20 pages of advertisements; not least for the costs of the items for sale. A full page ad for John Piggott Tailoring Department (Cheapside and Milk St., London) offers trousers at thirteen shillings and Gladstone bags from 14s 6d according to size. Among the publisher's ads is one for Dixon Kemp's 'Manual of Yacht and Boat Sailing'. This is for the 7th edition at twenty-five shillings. Considering that a decent copy of this now fetches around £200, the 1988 reprint of the slightly later edition we have on the list is a snip!
Coming down in price and forward in time, there are several possibilities for canoe-campers. Although mostly written for the North American market and open canoes, much of the advice and suggestions are equally valid for U.K. readers, though I don't suppose you need take the bear precautions too seriously on Loch Lomondside. Should aboriginal canoes be your interest, how about Horridge's 'Outrigger Canoes of Bali & Madura, Indonesia'? We have a mint copy of this 178-page treatise, which was published in 1987. If you just fancy a good read that does not leave you feeling that you MUST get out there on the water, Carol recommends Fridtjof Nansen's 'Farthest North'. Unfortunately, we have only volume one, which barely mentions the kayaks used later in the saga, but it is a paperback reprint and therefore affordable and it does have b&w photos - including the kayak frames. In the interim, between my sending this and actually printing the book list for the October issue, there will, we hope, be a few more choice goodies arriving to swell the existing 80 or so items already on the shelves. We shall not be sending out unsolicited copies of the list this time so please ask if you would like one.
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