Sea Kayaking Finland
North Water Rescue Gear
North Water is a company from the
Canadian West Coast, which has been developing for 20 years innovative
Canoeing and Kayaking accessories. We got to know about them as
they sponsored Sam Crowley's circumnavigation of Ireland in 2007 and
also gave some pro-gear (Sea Tec Tow Line, Stirrup and mesh bag) to
Sam's paddling companions, including Jukka. Luckily
Sam got around Ireland without being towed or rescued, but the North
Water rescue gear was impressive by being so well made and designed,
that we decided to start importing it to Finland.
The main North Water products we
carry at the moment are safety and rescue accessories:
- Sea Tec Tow Line
- Sea Tec Stirrup
- Coiled Paddle
Leash
We can naturally also get other
products from North Water as well if needed. See their
website for full product offering. Especially for the Open Canoe
enthusiasts, there is gear that we do not even know how good they can
be, us being mostly a sea kayaking company.
Sea Tec Tow Line:
If you like a waist tow, the Sea Tec
is a very well designed waist tow system. On the other hand, if
you sometimes paddle kayaks with a cam cleat towline attachment on the
deck, the Sea Tec Towline converts in seconds to a deck-mounted tow
system.
As a waist tow the features we like
about the Sea Tec are:
- Long rope,
10 meters, (not webbing) with all heavy duty components stuff
like a Stainless Steel Carabiner, an elastic section and a float
- Rope bag can be
wrapped tight around a neatly coiled rope or left as a relatively large
poach, when there is no time to do a neat job with the towline packing.
When used as a deck tow, you open a
velcro-attached flap and expose the end of the towline to be routed
through a truelead and a cam cleat on your back deck. You retain
the flexibility of being able to taking the towbelt off your back deck
and putting in on someone else as a waist tow, if you need to swap
towboats.
Sea Tec Stirrup
As guides, one of the challenges we
face is putting people back into their kayaks if they happen to
capsize. No big deal in most cases, but occasionally the swimmer
does not have the necessary upper body strength to get back on their
kayak easily. This is where the stirrup comes into play:
everybody has the necessary leg muscles to lift themselves and by
routing a stirrup loop around the cockpit coaming and having the loose
end act as a stirrup, anyone can get themselves back on their boats.
The key features North Water has
built into their stirrup:
- It can be secured
by a carabiner on your deck
- It has a neoprene
'sheath' that makes the whole system float so you don't lose it
-
ADJUSTABILITY: The webbing has a buckle that allows adjusting the
length AFTER your swimmer has their leg in and declares that the
stirrup is either too high up or too far below surface to be
useful. You could make a similar stirrup our of rope, but it
would take a lot more room and the adjustability would be not nearly as
quick.
We hope you will never have to use
this tool, but if you do, it is a lot better option than doing a rescue
by floating the person into a partially submerged cockpit, which would
be another way of dealing with a weak swimmer situation. This way
you will have about 60 liters less water to pump after the rescue and
potentially a much happier client or paddling partner.
Coiled Paddle Leash
Paddle Leashes are controversial
items, some won't paddle without one and others will never touch
one. When paddling solo in demanding conditions, many paddlers
opt to use one as an insurance policy to not get separated from their
paddle. Also when performing rescues, a paddle leash makes the
process quicker and safer for the rescuer as you need not worry about
your own paddle.
However, if you do use a paddle
leash, a North Water Coiled Paddle Leash has some advantages:
- The coiled
structure keeps the paddle leash conveniently short, but still allows
you to pull it longer in case you need more room for maneuvering.
- Easy velcro
attachment to your paddleshaft
- Easy carabiner
attachment to your deck rigging.
<Photo, Coiled Paddle Leash>
www.northwater.com/
price list