Float Plan
My buddy Steve and I hit a local stretch of the Patuxent to while away a January afternoon. We like to take the OT Tripper down that woody section and know it well. It's only a seven-mile stretch, so to add duration to the trip, we often pick up trash along the way, mostly offensive floating objects. It stretches the trip and it's fun because we get to exercise boat control and interaction with strainers.
Tip Out
We sashayed into a river-right strainer, bow pointed right, and parked with the current holding us there to collect some bottles, cans, balls, and styrofoam. We backed out. Just downriver were a couple of logs sticking up at angles from the river bottom. I guess we could of pivoted, but just thought we'd float around backwards, split the uprights, then spin 180 and proceed downriver. Easy peezy. About 140 into the 180, we struck something underwater, and it threw us out on the left.
Yikes. The water was chilly, as in ice on the tribs. We rolled the boat up and got it over to the side, but not without struggle. The Tripper had been caught on something underwater and didn't want to roll up. It took a chest-deep wade to get her off of that snag.
I've swum with ice blocks before, and had the same thought this time as always. I knew the water was cold, but I felt okay. Then I have the second thought: well, they say your judgement is the first thing to go.
Enough on that. I ended up loosing several items that were not tied in. Bailer and chair. And Steve lost his sponge. Nothing too critical.
dang loosing that chair. It was way past the end of its expected life span. But I haven't been able to buy chairs like that for years. They were from the early years of metal-frame, fabric chairs. It was armless and when folded measured 4.5" by 28." It cost about $5. But there were $8 chairs that had armrests and cup holders. Only $3 bucks more. So, everybody bought deluxe $8 chairs and the no-arms chair is no longer stocked. It's not a big deal to canoeists, but the chairs with arms are bigger, and they won't fit in my kayak! And, I need a chair that fits inside the hatch. I extended the life of my old chair by scavenging riverside-trashed chairs and harvesting the spare parts. Well, my old chair lies at the bottom of the Patuxent, so now I'm chair shopping, and I seek your help.
Chair criteria
Folded, it should fit in the kayak, so somewhere around 5x28 inches, or less.
To reduce sinking on soft surfaces, the feet of the chair should be 1.5" round or greater.
Four-legged chair preferred.
I like a seat pan that is 15" or higher from the chair feet.
I need a back rest.
Strong enough to hold people that might come along and sit in the chair, say 250 lbs.
What are you sitting on at camp?
My buddy Steve and I hit a local stretch of the Patuxent to while away a January afternoon. We like to take the OT Tripper down that woody section and know it well. It's only a seven-mile stretch, so to add duration to the trip, we often pick up trash along the way, mostly offensive floating objects. It stretches the trip and it's fun because we get to exercise boat control and interaction with strainers.
Tip Out
We sashayed into a river-right strainer, bow pointed right, and parked with the current holding us there to collect some bottles, cans, balls, and styrofoam. We backed out. Just downriver were a couple of logs sticking up at angles from the river bottom. I guess we could of pivoted, but just thought we'd float around backwards, split the uprights, then spin 180 and proceed downriver. Easy peezy. About 140 into the 180, we struck something underwater, and it threw us out on the left.
Yikes. The water was chilly, as in ice on the tribs. We rolled the boat up and got it over to the side, but not without struggle. The Tripper had been caught on something underwater and didn't want to roll up. It took a chest-deep wade to get her off of that snag.
I've swum with ice blocks before, and had the same thought this time as always. I knew the water was cold, but I felt okay. Then I have the second thought: well, they say your judgement is the first thing to go.
Enough on that. I ended up loosing several items that were not tied in. Bailer and chair. And Steve lost his sponge. Nothing too critical.
dang loosing that chair. It was way past the end of its expected life span. But I haven't been able to buy chairs like that for years. They were from the early years of metal-frame, fabric chairs. It was armless and when folded measured 4.5" by 28." It cost about $5. But there were $8 chairs that had armrests and cup holders. Only $3 bucks more. So, everybody bought deluxe $8 chairs and the no-arms chair is no longer stocked. It's not a big deal to canoeists, but the chairs with arms are bigger, and they won't fit in my kayak! And, I need a chair that fits inside the hatch. I extended the life of my old chair by scavenging riverside-trashed chairs and harvesting the spare parts. Well, my old chair lies at the bottom of the Patuxent, so now I'm chair shopping, and I seek your help.
Chair criteria
Folded, it should fit in the kayak, so somewhere around 5x28 inches, or less.
To reduce sinking on soft surfaces, the feet of the chair should be 1.5" round or greater.
Four-legged chair preferred.
I like a seat pan that is 15" or higher from the chair feet.
I need a back rest.
Strong enough to hold people that might come along and sit in the chair, say 250 lbs.
What are you sitting on at camp?
