NOPEC
Well-known member
Don't Do it.........
Just a couple of photos for a diversion from the usual EXP stuff. Last summer, my "co-paddler" and I had to abandon our kayaks and gear while nearing the end of a trip circumnavigating Great Slave Lake in the NWT. This was some 70 kms across the lake from Yellowknife. We just did not want to take a chance on a medical issue so we were airlifted to the hospital in Yellowknife. The suspected "stroke" turned out to be non-life threatening nerve damage which happily has resolved it's self. Because of the gnarly, shallow, rocky, windy location we left our stuff at, we couldn't find any aircraft or boats at the time that would risk a rescue approach to the beach.
Fast forward to last week when some friends did make the trek across the frozen lake by snowmobile and recovered all of our stuff. The boats had been buried for 5 months in -30 degree temps prior to being found. Our friends dug out the boats and gear, placed them on a skimmer and brought them back to Yellowknife. Sadly, both boats suffered catastrophic hull fractures during the trip, despite being carefully loaded on the skimmer with padding. As we have found out and actually did know, Hi tech plastic just does not like extreme cold temperatures and any type of ballastic force when super cold.
Locating the boats (thank goodness for good GPS coordinates...)
Look out past the Yellow helmet sitting on the cushion and that is the direction to Yellowknife
You can see hull fractures at both of the bows, despite being lashed down to a pillow!
My blue boat suffered a complete bisection of the hull at the bulk head just behind the cockpit - Yikees!
In fairness, both boats had provided over 9000 kms of perfection and high performance tripping over the last 10 years. Probably all of those miles, lots of boney rock infested prairie rivers and plenty of sun, had taken a toll at some level. Also, the reality is that these boats are just not designed to take this type of very unusal abuse. These boats provide a tough, lightweight alternative to fiberglass or kevlar and despite this "event", we will definitely go back to this technolodgy but in the future, we will avoid any non-summer use in the arctic!!
Just a couple of photos for a diversion from the usual EXP stuff. Last summer, my "co-paddler" and I had to abandon our kayaks and gear while nearing the end of a trip circumnavigating Great Slave Lake in the NWT. This was some 70 kms across the lake from Yellowknife. We just did not want to take a chance on a medical issue so we were airlifted to the hospital in Yellowknife. The suspected "stroke" turned out to be non-life threatening nerve damage which happily has resolved it's self. Because of the gnarly, shallow, rocky, windy location we left our stuff at, we couldn't find any aircraft or boats at the time that would risk a rescue approach to the beach.
Fast forward to last week when some friends did make the trek across the frozen lake by snowmobile and recovered all of our stuff. The boats had been buried for 5 months in -30 degree temps prior to being found. Our friends dug out the boats and gear, placed them on a skimmer and brought them back to Yellowknife. Sadly, both boats suffered catastrophic hull fractures during the trip, despite being carefully loaded on the skimmer with padding. As we have found out and actually did know, Hi tech plastic just does not like extreme cold temperatures and any type of ballastic force when super cold.
Locating the boats (thank goodness for good GPS coordinates...)
Look out past the Yellow helmet sitting on the cushion and that is the direction to Yellowknife
You can see hull fractures at both of the bows, despite being lashed down to a pillow!
My blue boat suffered a complete bisection of the hull at the bulk head just behind the cockpit - Yikees!
In fairness, both boats had provided over 9000 kms of perfection and high performance tripping over the last 10 years. Probably all of those miles, lots of boney rock infested prairie rivers and plenty of sun, had taken a toll at some level. Also, the reality is that these boats are just not designed to take this type of very unusal abuse. These boats provide a tough, lightweight alternative to fiberglass or kevlar and despite this "event", we will definitely go back to this technolodgy but in the future, we will avoid any non-summer use in the arctic!!
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