Charlie wrote:

Already got, although I'm looking at buying a long sleeve wesuit top for
cold days and a set of short trousers for hot days!

My first wetsuit was for sailing and had a separate long sleeve top and
trousers. Trying out paddling I dug it out of the attic and gave it a
try... and it was soon evident that although the trousers would be fine,
the top was far more trouble than it was worth. Far too much resistance
to arm movement.

Is it just me that has noticed that the more pockets you get the more money
you pay? It's such a negligable amount of fabric used!

But non-negligible amounts of extra stitching. Whatever, that's the way
it goes :-(

I've been using a 60 deg feather, which I'm not greatly happy with but it'll
do till I work out what I really really like.

That's pretty low compared to typical WW use, which tends to be 80+.
Not that that means you should use 80+, but I'd be surprised if there
isn't a higher feather paddle you could borrow for an hour or so and
decide what you prefer. Punching out into a wind blowing on to shore (a
very typical surfing environment) can be a bit more of a hack with low
feathers.

What is the shaft length relative to? I mean, is it something logical like
the taller you are the longer your paddle shaft length? Or it it just what
you prefer? I guess the guys at the shop can help me with that.

They should be able to. Height gives a start, but beyond that it's a
lot of preference based on your personal paddling style.

Good idea. I've seen some nice rucksack ones which is good because I cycle
everywhere.

That suggests you use rucksacks for cycling, which is usually a
/horrible/ idea. Get a rack on the bike and either bungee a drybag to
it, or see if something like an Ortlieb rolltop waterproof pannier will
fit in the boat. I doubt the 20l rear rollers would fit, but the
universals might well manage to tuck in behind the seat.
Why carry weight on your back when you've a perfectly good weight
bearing bike frame to do it for you? If the boat is based where you're
paddling think about a trailer for the bike, which will easily take all
your paddling kit.

Would you reccomend this even for a newbie? I know how to use it (I work as
a lifeguard) but I'd be worried about carrying it for some strange reason!
Do you think that all adult kayakers should have one? Where abouts do you
carry yours BTW?

It slips behind the seat okay and isn't really any bother having. For
naughty sections of river and on the beach for surf it's a Cunning Plan
to have folk out of their boats on sentry duty with throwbags. You can
improvise a towline out of them if you need to.

Where the hell do you carry all this stuff? I'd be able to fit it behind my
seat, but how do I keep it there?

At the moment it's probably full of buoyancy bags back the let some
air out and you've got some space. What you push in will be in a dry
bag so will add to your basic buoyancy in any case, so you don't need to
worry about the boat sinking if you have to bail out.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/