serene – 1, part 29

Next is the paddle float used to assist kayak reentry. Often we’ve seen experienced kayakers performing some kinds of rolling, but for most people, that could only be done with an empty boat. When it’s fully loaded for long journey, it’s almost impossible to roll that heavy hull. The most practical way is, of course, just climb in via the aft deck. My paddle float is just a supermarket plastic bag, I hate needle and thread things, but some little tailoring work would be needed to turn a bag into the float.

It’s just a quick job stuffing the bag with Polyurethane foam. The float is made such that it could be quickly attached (and detached) to one end of the paddle to assist boarding the kayak from water. One of the most important equipments for a cruising kayak is… a radar reflector. Here I should emphasize its importance a hundreds times, as with experiences gained in my previous paddling trips, your kayak is just so small compared to those huge freighters, looks like just a peanut shell in the sea.

And without a radar reflector, I’m sure that you would probably not be seen from above those high ship bridges. And as a big ship is approaching you, the situation is really critical: to be seen or to be sunk. Having a reflector would boost your boat’s radar signature, and it works best in combination with a marine handheld radio. My radar reflector would have a tubular form, erected on the aft deck, and it functions also as a signal light mast, with a red – blinking light attached to the top.

Serene – 1 p1
Serene – 1 p2
Serene – 1 p3
Serene – 1 p4

The elements of the radar reflector are made from thin steel plates, welded together to create some prism shapes. 8 pieces like that would be put inside a PVC tube (the signal light mast), which create an object with a radar – cross – section of about 1.4 m2 (estimated).

The ugly part about a home – made radar reflector is that you have no way to tell if this equipment works well, how big your boat would appear on those big freighters’ radar screens. But it’s better to have something, hoping that it should work, rather than having nothing at all.

serene – 1, part 28

Iam in the progress of preparing for my next trips… so some more add – ons for my Serene – 1 kayak is a must. First is a deck mount compass. I’ve been long wanting a good compass with built – in LED lighting, for paddling at night, but that would require some kind of 12 or 24 Volt DC electric input, which my kayak doesn’t have at the moment. So I came up with a simpler compass available within my local market, and would just use a small flashlight to illuminate the compass instead.

Next is building a “cup” to hold the compass, which would then be mounted, recessively, onto the front deck of my kayak. I use a thin strip of oak veneer to build the cup, turn it two rounds around the compass (with Titebond – 2 glue in between), then add the plywood top and bottom parts. The whole thing would be reinforced with some fillet at the jointing edges, then a layer of glass. It requires some handiness to build the “compass cup”, as its size is quite small and my hands are big and clumsy!

I hate having to punch a hole into my kayak, but it need to be done to fit the compass holder in place. That’s quite straightforward the job, cutting a round hole some distance in front of the cockpit, just before the bungee lines, gluing the compass holder with some epoxy, then some little painting outside. Et voila, here it is, the compass in its working position, it looks so great! And as they usually say: May your anchor be tight, your cork be loose, your rum be spiced, and your compass be true!

Serene – 1 p1
Serene – 1 p2
Serene – 1 p3
Serene – 1 p4

It’s not immediately obvious for me to see why this compass dial (the compass rose) is reversed, looking from above, it’s flipped so that the North becomes South, East becomes West. It took me some minutes to understand the rationale behind that “weird” fact.

Cause in most cases, the boat handler would be sitting, looking forward, so the indicated direction facing him is actually the heading (bearing) of the boat’ stern (not the boat’s bow). Flipping the compass rose would give a correct and convenient reading for the sailor.

compasses

Bên trái là cái la bàn cầm tay (handheld compass), chỉ đúng hướng Bắc. Bên phải là cái la bàn gắn trên thuyền (deck mount compass). Cái bên phải chỉ ngược Bắc thành Nam, Nam thành Bắc! Và cả hai chiếc, theo ý mình, đều đúng! Tại sao!?

rohloff

Mơ ước nhỏ nhoi của em… xe đạp sử dụng hộp số Rohloff cùng với truyền động trục (shaft – drive – transmission). Hệ truyền động kín, không lộ bất kỳ phần chuyển động nào ra ngoài, Rohloff speech hub (hộp số 14 cấp Rohloff cho xe đạp), xài bánh răng, cơ chế tương đương, nhưng hoàn toàn khác derailleur (bộ đề). Shaft – drive – transmission: truyền động bằng trục như ôtô, xe tải chứ ko xài chain (xích)

rowing machine – 3

Having some more time this week to finish this very small piece of work: a pulley system for lifting the weights up and down. Then ensemble everything together: the sliding seat, the rotating foot rest (note the pair of sandals tied on it). Initial testing gave satisfactory results, though some adjustments are still needed here and there!

Rowing the machine is quite like riding a bicycle on long distance, it seems light and easy at first, but it gets more and more demanding the longer you row. That’s a perfect machine for exercising many of your body’s muscles. I made a quick video capture with my phone to show how the machine works below (sorry for the poor lighting condition).