Kajaksport hatches - an upgrade for any Valley kayak.

Hence I was sick and tired of water seeping into my supposed-to-be-dry compartments, I have chosen to replace the OEM hatches from Valley, with the ones from Kajaksport - and guess what, they stock some that fits nice and snug. Cheers Kajaksport!

Circumnavigation of Fur

I participated in a tour around Fur, a small island in Limfjorden. The tour was arranged by Marion Boisen.

Been there before. A really nice scenic little island - so off course I wanted to go again. On our way we passed - and visited for lunch - Fur Bryghus, an absolutely brilliant restaurant, created around a micro-brewery, of the same name.

Fur Bryghus

What Fur is really known for is its moler and cliffs.

Your's truly, doing what he does best. :-)

Rødstenen.

We spent the night at the shelters just east of Rødstenen. 300 m to portage. Equal distance to toilets.

 The landscape in it self, is also very scenic.

Sail # 3 - 2nd. test

When I saw the weather forecast said some 8-9 m/sec from SW, I thought "This is good. More wind, more waves. Time for another test."

The start of the trip was too much into the wind, so the first two kilometres was with no sail - or at least I did not get anything from it. Having paddled a bit off-shore, to reach a better angle for using the sail, I raised the sail, and headed off.

I did a few crossings into the wind. As you can see, here the speed gained a km/h or so. I was paddling very light during these three 'legs'. Finally, when I turned at Assens harbour (going north), the speed picked up. I did not paddle at all since then.

 

0-2 km is where I get some distance from shore, going south.

2-4 km are the three legs.

4-7+ km. When in position from where i wanted to return, I turned the boat, an headed back. For these last three kilometres, I did not paddle at all..!! In spite of this, the speed was between 7 and almost 9 km/h on this last leg. Maybe I got better in holding the mast vertical. Maybe I got a better trim. Wind change, change of course - I do not know.

Detailed log info: http://connect.garmin.com/jsPlayer/544916580

Videos as evidence :-)

Sail # 2 - 1st. test

After I had tested how to roll with the sail, I was ready for a gentle test. I took place in 6 m/sec westerly wind. A fine direction for testing on flat water, in the harbour of Assens.

The test went quite well. I was able to cut about 45 degrees into the wind. Most efficient was probably from 90 to 135 degrees.

We soon ended outside the pier, getting the feel for a bit of waves - this was not a problem either.

Sail # 1 - mounting.

Putting a sail on our kayaks, has been in our minds for quite a while. After thorough investigating (!!), we chose Flat Earth Code Zero sails.

This photo from seakayakphoto.com He has been a great source of inspiration, to this project.

  

The mounting took place at Jan Senecas place, all four boats more or less concurrent. 

 

Toggles

We all know Valley's toggle system with bungee and a hook. On a few occasions I have seen the hook catch the other boats lines, during a rescue. Obviously this is not very good - at all.! The hook has also slipped off, while I was pulling the boat on land, resulting in serious pain from the finger that got hit. Strangely it tends to hit the exact same spot more than once....

That there is quite a few issues regarding toggles and safety, it does matter how you alter/make these things. Gnarlydog has a couple of good points on this subject.

This is not at all my own idea - once more, stolen from Gnarlydog :-)

Is it possible to improve Yakima..??

As usual, there is room for improvement. ;)

In the wintertime, wearing my Chotas, the right position for my feet, is somewhere between the last notch and the natural stop made by the front mounting-bolt.

Last possible OEM position

Last position, on the bolt

Voila - a new position !