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| My spouse and paddling partner - every so often she'd disappear! |
Yesterday was a sweet day to be on the water. The weather was changing and there was a brisk wind from the south-east. We don't get the swell of the more open ocean here. Our local launch spot, at Maple Bay, is in an area that is protected by both Vancouver Island and Saltspring Island. So yeah, "rolling" waves can be a bit of a treat.
Paddling into the action, the decks of the kayaks experienced lots of water washing over them which provided an excellent opportunity to test a new piece of "kit" we recently acquired - a couple of SealLine eCases.
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| Nice and flush on the deck, clipped and bungeed. |
Being able to communicate with others can be very important when you're on the water in a sea kayak. We always have with us a VHF marine radio and also our cell phones. It's ideal if both pieces of equipment are waterproof, and that we are able to USE them with some degree of ease - especially if everything else is going "south". The radio is not problem. Cell phones, on the other hand, are usually vulnerable and built for dry-land use. Sure, it's easy to keep them safe in a dry bag or waterproof Pelican box - but they are difficult to keep dry and
use, at the same time. Especially in conditions when you might be needing to call for assistance.
The SealLine eCase is bright (ours are orange), and sits flush on the deck. The phone is clearly visible through the urethane window and it is fully submersible. The best (and most useful) part, however, is that the iPhone is fully
operable, including all the "touch and swipe" features. The next best bonus is that the phone, enclosed in the eCase,
floats! (Not that either one of us has ever accidentally dropped anything over the side - and witnessed it tumble, in slow motion, into the depths. Well,
maybe a couple of times.)
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| A nice piece of kit! |
We tested out the SealLine cases in the kitchen sink first - no problem. In the real world of wet sea kayaking - once again, no problem. We found ours at Mountain Equipment Coop in Vancouver but they are widely available. At about $20 bucks - a darn good buy!
And no, I didn't check email, "surf" the web, or get temped to crank up any of the fun "apps" out there. :)
Duncan.
The small version is great on the trails as well - fits in the pocket, keeps the phone safe 'n dry. Looked like a super nice day on the water! JP.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea, JP, and yes, it was a really good day - as you will know, summer finally made it here after all! D.
ReplyDeleteBoys and their toys! (At least Joan got one too!) Glad you found a safe way to keep connected to the world while out on the water!
ReplyDeleteL
"Toys" - well, I'll be, L! And here I thought I was writing a serious piece about safety on the water, heck, even survival! Now if I'd said we just got a couple of high-performance, mud-slingling Kawasaki Brute Force 750 ATVs to pull behind our Dodge Ram 3500 ST with Cummins 6.7 litre, High Output Turbo Diesel - now that would be "toys"!
ReplyDeleteSorry if I offended any truck or ATV owners here. ;)
Hej: you just go for it and get every toy to keep you safe out there on the water. I don't mind your offending any truck or ATV owners. You are both gold to us and don't want to lose you. What the heck, I'll pay for the equipment. LOL.
ReplyDeleteJ.
Gosh, I never thought posting on a $20 piece of kayak kit would be SO much fun! And now our friend, J, has REALLY kicked it up a notch!
ReplyDeleteOK, so I talked to Joan. What would keep us really safe? Hmmm.. Well, if I had a brand new Nordkapp LV composite kayak, then edging would be much more effective. That would, of course, enhance safety. Alternatively, we'd be really safe if we just stayed off the water altogether! So yeah, maybe a couple of ATVs and a Dodge Ram Turbo would keep us out of trouble.
Your choice, J. :))
Good idea, the waterproof case. I'm hard of hearing, enough that it's hard to use a cell phone or a radio when on the water. So I carry a SPOT. It's handy for sending OK signals to my friends, "come get me" signals, or emergency signals to 911. You can read about how I use it at my paddle group's blog (most recently in the post Ganges! http://kayakyak.blogspot.com/2011/07/ganges.html) or by going to the manufacturer's website findmespot.com --
ReplyDeleteHey Paula, great to hear from you We follow and really enjoy your postings on Kayak Yak. Yes, we carry a SPOT as well. Great piece of kit for tracking and, if necessary, for getting assistance. We had ours with us when we were hiking in Scotland earlier this summer. It was just nice to know it was there - especially when we reached the summit of a "Munro"...about the same time as a surprise thunderstorm!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. Duncan.
So, of course, Dennis went shopping to get us a couple for our fishing kayaks. Wholesale Sports sells them in Calgary, though their colour selection is small. Real small. In fact, the only colour they had was black. ;o) I love that you can use the phone while it's in the case. I use it to take photos while we're on the water.
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear from you, Jackie and glad this piece of kit works for you too. We've tried a few different solutions for phones etc over the years and this is the best, for sure! Safe paddling and good fishing! Duncan.
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