| Emergency Hatch Cover Replacements/ West Coast of Vancouver Island: |
| This page has been created to visually document the emergency hatch cover replacements I made after losing both my main hatch covers shortly after rounding Cape Scott on Vancouver Island during an aborted speed record attempt. The second attempt is being put together as I creat this page and will launch on July 23rd, 2007 in pursuit of a circumnavigation of the 1200 Kkilometer trip around the Island is 21 days or less. |
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| Found an old blue tarp which I used for cuttting out inner hatch covers. |
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| Lining the "Tarp Covers" with duct tape on both sides. |
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| The first of the two inner covers. Blue tarp and duct tape. |
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| A pair of 5 gallon barrels found along the beach...perfect for creating outside hard covers for the hatches! |
| Also found this old saw...perfect for making the cuts! |
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| The new lid cut out of the first barrel. |
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| The second lid, this time in an attactive aqua blue! |
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| Misc. bungies and cord from my repair kit...certainly came in handy this time around! |
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| Making holes for threading through bungy cords for attaching the new lids to the kayak deck. |
| These new makeshift "Hatch Covers", though far from ideal, certainly got the job done in getting me out of a jam south of Cape Scott. Certainly not something I'd trust enough for pursueing the rest of the expedition down the exposed west coast of Vancouver Island but they did get me back to civilization along the northern portion of the island and back to Johnstone Strait where I was picked up by Juohn Kimantas, author of "The Wild Coast" series of BC sea kayaking guidebooks and maraine atlases. As I put this page together, I am one day away from relaunching and making a second attempt at the Vancouver Island solo speed record by sea kayak. Cheers...Joe |