Comfort and safety

I see that Chuck at Duckworks magazine has posted a piece I wrote about a couple of items I took along on my cruise in the fall of '08.  My trip was made both safer and more comfortable with the Spot satellite beacon and the Outdoors Research Alpine Bivy on board.

That's the bivy on the left, set up for a good night's sleep.  It is designed to be "staked" in four or five places to support the arch.  I can't do that on Spartina.  But I do tie it to some purchase points at the feet and shoulders and also clip the arch to a bungee cord that runs across the cockpit.  The bug screen keeps the mosquitoes away and I can relax and look up at the stars.   What a great way to sleep!

That is the Spot beacon (above), clipped to the dry bag that holds my hypothermia kit plus strobe and radio.  The photo was from a stormy night and I thought it was a good idea to have them all hooked together.  I brought the Spot beacon along for safety, but found it gave me the freedom to explore a bit more and peace of mind from knowing that my friends and family could keep track of me.

Chuck tells me he is considering setting up a page at Duckworks with links to trips being tracked by Spots, sort of database on ongoing journeys.  That would be pretty cool.  He has a trip on the Rio Grande coming up that he will post on his page.  We'll do the same with the Skeeter Beater in May.

-Steve