Recommendation/Suggestion/Advice Kindly Required

I hate to be a nay sayer and I don't intend for this to be mean or judgemental -- I hope you can take this as constructive, yet firm advice.  Your last two trips showed that you are not experienced enough to do the R2AK trip.  You were literally scared for your life in moderately severe conditions within immediate rescue range.  The R2AK is the opposite of that.  You had very near disaster moments due to poor judgement and lack of seamanship that could result in your death on the R2AK. 

Remember that you may be 1-2 days away from rescue when you press your PLB button, if you can get your frozen hands to work.  When you are malnourished and severely dehydrated, you won't have the sense to push the button because your brain will be starved.  When you're not dressed properly and your crack reappears, your survivability in those waters will be measured in hours, not the days it will take to find you and rescue you.

As evidenced in this thread so far, though, you will not heed this advice and you will do this trip anyway.  So, before all else, make sure your family is whole and update your life insurance policy for current needs and costs so that your poor decisions don't financially burden them. 

Just my 2 cents.

Mr X, I find your journeys amazing and inspirational, but this is just insane. And foolish. I would really take Tedski's advice. More people on here need to be discouraging you from this journey. You're a total badass and I love following your adventures but I would really hate to see something bad happen to you. Please please listen to what Tedski is saying

Just curious, what is your estimation on time to complete the course once you start? 

Shit I’m 69 years old and I’d love to do this one foolish or not. There should prize money for anyone who makes it to the end

Mr X one piece of gear that’s underrated here imo is a safety line for when you find yourself in dicey conditions. I’ve used one for 50 years and it has saved my ass a few times

For an AI I would make it up differently than I do for my smaller yaks but I’ll give that some thought and see if I can come up with a good recipe

I’ll call my cousin and see what he has to say, he lives and sails up there

Hi All,

Thank your guys care and concern and advice. All are very good, I will take what I think its useful for me. Maybe I list some points as below:

1) I think about this R2AK for more than one year, prepared slowly from then, and bought something even sometime I think I am stupid, like I bought 2 dry suite, one semi and one full dry suite
2) I watched lots of R2AK video and articles which recorded/written by the participants. I imaged what should I do if I am at their situation
3) Everyone the life-path which from toddle to now 50th/60th is very much different, that will form the different behaviors/Mindset, Someone maybe think something is unusual, but for other-one, they maybe think its very common and usual. 
4) I am actually the people who most care of my life, before the decision make,  I think about it a lot, image the worst situation, but once I am ready and the decision made, nothing can affect or change me.
5) Actually the purpose for I post this help-seeking message in NCKA here just for the information/suggestion which can help me to make my journey easier, safer and more convenient, not for the to-go or not-to-go decision making discussing, that step I already walk through, no need to talk anymore. But I do appreciated people worry me and care of me.
6) Yes, for the hardware, I also think a lot actually, two theory I need to follow, one theory is to make things simple, don't bring too much parts which will cause my journey tough, other theory is to bring useful part the more the better. so I balance them. For example, I wont bring extra marige drive because its too heavy, and even it out of work, I still can use hand-paddle to make my Kayak move. But I will bring extra AKA, that part is not reliable, if that one broken, will give me a big trouble.........
7) Once again, I really appreciated NCKA buddies advice, I welcome all kind of suggestion, I do listen on them
Once I reach Port Townsend start line, I will say hi here to NCKA buddies, and once I reach the Ketchikan stop line, I will say hi here to NCKA buddies as well 
9) I will bring all your good wish on the way 


BR
Mr. X

Mr X, I find your journeys amazing and inspirational, but this is just insane. And foolish. I would really take Tedski's advice. More people on here need to be discouraging you from this journey. You're a total badass and I love following your adventures but I would really hate to see something bad happen to you. Please please listen to what Tedski is saying

Mr X you picked a good one and we shouldnt all sound so negative! If I didn’t have a wife and 17 year old son I’d polish up the stealth and

Wow !
Some of the vessels are smaller than what i would have thought? Even safety gear ?

you're better prepared.  If you choose to ignore all this good advice and still decide to go, we wish you luck.       

I've got a spare mirage drive that Mr. X can borrow. Sadly, no Tandem Island available, however...

I believe there are a few items that you must have for your adventure.
Tedski is a veteran of the Coast Guard, and spent many years performing rescues so please take his advice seriously.

I'm sorry my words come across as sharp.  I intend for them to be blunt. 

Peace n safety b unto u Mr X

Just curious, what is your estimation on time to complete the course once you start?

3 weeks I think, depend on weather

Shit I’m 69 years old and I’d love to do this one foolish or not. There should prize money for anyone who makes it to the end

Mr X one piece of gear that’s underrated here imo is a safety line for when you find yourself in dicey conditions. I’ve used one for 50 years and it has saved my ass a few times

For an AI I would make it up differently than I do for my smaller yaks but I’ll give that some thought and see if I can come up with a good recipe

I’ll call my cousin and see what he has to say, he lives and sails up there

thank you!
69 is still young, in my concept, life start from 65 after retire, before retire, we live for family, live for parents, live for wife, live for kids, after retire, our life 100% for ourselves, I haven't start my life, but I am waiting, and happy its approaching......

Its great, thank you!
Looks I don't have hot air blower, but i bought the welder from amazon, i will start to repair at this weekend.
Hope it good quality:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K1CAdLAYQ7c&pp=ygUcaG93IHRvIHJlcGFpciBhIGtheWFrIGNyYWNrIA%3D%3D

Thank you to recommended the gator too, i will prepare some just in case

Thx





That’s a hot air gun used in Video.  The solder iron type of welding kit does ok but the hot air gun welding works best.  Actual welding as the other is more like soldering.
X

Good luck

That video made me realize there are bigger kooks out there willing to risk their lives, like the dude on a paddle board sitting on a foam block. That dude needs better friends!   

I won't lie though, that video is well made and does get the heart pumping and almost makes you want to do it.   

Sounds like a cool adventure. Are you already accepted/entered?

I bet there is a forum for that race somewhere on the internet. I suggest finding that forum, and maybe engage with some other folks on similar vessels, who would be willing to travel with you. That way, you could assist each other in case of trouble.

I agree, a spare drive would be bulky and probably redundant, but would 100% bring a spare rudder, cables, and handle. Losing steering would be a real pain on that long of a journey. EPIRB is mandatory per the website.  Register your EPIRB, and include both you and a loved one's contact info in the registration. Maybe invest in a satellite device for comms - Iridium or InMarSat are what commercial ships use, but I think Spot and Garmin make some more affordable options. Just being able to send a text message would be a huge advantage in both assuring your loved ones you are safe, and in the event of catastrophe, relaying your specific situation to the rescue coordination team.

I would carry two VHF radios, and an extra PFD. Do you have a solution for charging stuff like lights and radios? Some sort of solar solution would be a good idea there. Or, get lights and radios that work on AA batteries, and carry a whole bunch of batteries.

I would also carry about double the food and water you think you need in between port visits/supply stops. Better to have more than you need, than need what you don't have.

Be safe out there - this won't be an easy voyage, but at least it seems like plenty of others will be doing it, which would definitely help me feel better if I was going.

Hi Speedy,

Thanks for your reminding
Yes, there is a R2AK forum in Facebook, lots of useful information there. I am still asking for information/experience sharing here because people from different area will there be different expertise.

Maybe your guys want to ready this article which was wrote by a San Francisco Kayak guy, he attend this R2AK 2015 and made it. He use a small purely man-power kayak.

As what he said, Everyone in his Kayak Unite can make it if they like
I would say: Everyone in our NCKA can make it if your guys like. Create a target, prepare for it, then just do it!


Below link is an article:
http://www.mikeskayakjournal.net/php/journal.php?id=150604&fbclid=IwAR2TjeIHU9NmZikPyP4qki_KjNoQatPwWU-wjOBVZeHdApfNZPw5Dh5TDt0_aem_AXnLPrlaY7-vU6M0fR173E5E8qCJqWJzwv68DjQNyiHXiAraNyGnLWaf0Vp25VKMUCE 

Sounds like a cool adventure. Are you already accepted/entered?

For example, I wont bring extra marige drive because its too heavy, and even it out of work, I still can use hand-paddle to make my Kayak move. But I will bring extra AKA, that part is not reliable, if that one broken, will give me a big trouble.........

From what I've seen (and what I've read on the Hobie forum and here), a mirage drive failure is far more likely than an aka bar problem. The only cases that I can recall of aka damage were due to failed beach landing attempts, where the boat goes sideways. On open water, aka bars have been known to detach from the kayak, but it's easy to rig a safety/keeper line so that it won't move much, let alone drop off and disappear into the depths. On the other hand, mirage drives fail often and in many different ways--from broken crank arms and chains to cracked plastic drums, and everything in between.

You can sorta paddle a TI, but I believe you'll have a paddleboard "bench" and cooler on one side and maybe tramps too, which would make that "sorta" more like "nearly impossible". Since you are on a TI, why not just put a spare mirage drive in the other slot for the 2nd pedaler, and bungee it into the "up" position? The extra weight would be insignificant, and in an emergency, you could get access to the spare drive in a few seconds. That could matter if your mirage drive fails at a critical point in time.

You might also want to think about how would steer the boat if one of the spectra lines breaks, as that is not uncommon. And I assume you are carrying at least a couple of extra rudder and aka pins.

For example, I wont bring extra marige drive because its too heavy, and even it out of work, I still can use hand-paddle to make my Kayak move. But I will bring extra AKA, that part is not reliable, if that one broken, will give me a big trouble.........

From what I've seen (and what I've read on the Hobie forum and here), a mirage drive failure is far more likely than an aka bar problem. The only cases that I can recall of aka damage were due to failed beach landing attempts, where the boat goes sideways. On open water, aka bars have been known to detach from the kayak, but it's easy to rig a safety/keeper line so that it won't move much, let alone drop off and disappear into the depths. On the other hand, mirage drives fail often and in many different ways--from broken crank arms and chains to cracked plastic drums, and everything in between.

You can sorta paddle a TI, but I believe you'll have a paddleboard "bench" and cooler on one side and maybe tramps too, which would make that "sorta" more like "nearly impossible". Since you are on a TI, why not just put a spare mirage drive in the other slot for the 2nd pedaler, and bungee it into the "up" position? The extra weight would be insignificant, and in an emergency, you could get access to the spare drive in a few seconds. That could matter if your mirage drive fails at a critical point in time.

You might also want to think about how would steer the boat if one of the spectra lines breaks, as that is not uncommon. And I assume you are carrying at least a couple of extra rudder and aka pins.

I would contribute some funds towards a spare.

For speed maybe look into this or maybe you already have

Not sure if they’re all designed alike but seems like extra pins is a good idea

I talked with my cousin in Port Townsend about it yesterday and first thing he talked about was bears. He knows people who do the race Lot of places along the way where you haul out are wild and full of nasty bears

Reminded me of a place in cal I crude-camped with a friend we had blankets fishing poles and a rifle which I was hugging all night long

Every morning we woke up with bear prints all around us some right next to our heads

Canadian bears are a different story