IR is in Confluence. The next time…
…you call them, tell them that, “Rick Roberts
says that his dog Birks is cuter than Frankie.”
I’m going to need four hands
I could not keep it on in back and pull hard enough to get it close in front, but I’m sort of a clutz. It seemed to be an issue with the shape of the keyhole and the skirt in back. I guess I was also imagining trying to launch from a beach and thinking there is no way I’m going to get this thing on before my boat is flooded by the suprise sets. I can do a heck of a lot of weight on the seated row at the gym so I imagine if I really try hard and its the right size eventually it should go on. I was worried about destroying it in the process of getting it on.
After you get it on in back
make sure you work the sides on all the way up to your hips before you try to get the front on.
The further you can get the sides on starting from the back, the easier it will be.
I have a mountain surf sprayskirt…
I used it for about two years until I got a new boat and new skirt. When I first got it I could not get it on by myself. It was tight just like you are saying. I think I eventually could but I have not paddled with it in about two years so I dunno… But my mountain surf deck is very tight to so its not just yours - Thus not a defect or something.
-DanC-
I have Mt. Surf and Snap Dragon
skirts. The Snap Dragon is a snug fit (it has a bungee cord around the edge). The Mt. Surf has a very tough rubber rand (like tire rubber) that does not stretch well and is VERY difficult to get on. I can push the rand barely far enough forward, then I must hook my thumbs on the rand and my fingers on the front of the coaming and use the ‘gripping power’ of my hands to pull the rand all the way on. The Mt. Surf is for my whitewater boat and IS bombproof.
0 experience with above skirt…
Wondering , would just hitting it with a little ( biodegradable;) dishwashing soap lube it up a bit to get it on then sort of wash out so it would then be as normal once launched?
As a last resort SeaDart you could always file down your combing O.D. a little if you have some extra meat available on it.
Beware super heating it as it will allow some glues to slip and ruin the whole thing.
Always clean wetsuits with cool water.
Thanks Pat
I’m going to try and get it out on the water today. My dog has just gotten very sick and is in care at the vet, not sure I’ll get to try it out yet.
Metza, Metza…
Strong offshore winds just blew it all down. The bouys were registering 6-8’ in ME. We only got like 4’ according to the MA Bay bouy. First beach I hit, it was very clean… But knee high. You have got to be kidding me. 
Went up to Rockport and found some waist and occaisonal chest surf. Clean but closing out fast. Me and 4 boardies hugging the point waiting for the “big” ones. Oh well… I am happy to get some waves under my butt. Definitely getting a bit nippy out there on the water. BRRRR…
Hopefully, the day after christmas, the projected waves will show again. 
sing
Surf no show here.
The forecasted swell is not hitting here at all, we’re in the shadow of the channel Islands or the coastline up by LA.
Trying some of the advice here I experimented a bit with the skirt and got so I could get it on five times pretty quickly in a row and pop it pretty fast, it is a lot harder to pop than my whitewater boat’s skirt. It’s a pretty good work out. I also practiced ripping it off with my fingers not using the handle … so I should be set. Unfortunately I managed to burn some fingers today in an accident , but I’m rigging up a water proof glove. My dog is doing much better so maybe some real surfing tomorrow after all.
Yes!!! no leverage from outside boat!
that’s it merry christmas.
jEEZE…
Things are a mess there. Hope it picks up for you tomorrow.
sing
THINK HARD about skirts you must fight
to get on. There are situations, some just convenience-oriented, some SAFETY oriented, where ease of rimming the skirt is important.
Example 1: you have just had to land your kayak on a mid-river rock jumble to rescue another boater. Getting out and scrambling onto the rocks was no problem, but after helping the other guy, now you have to get into your boat and get your skirt on. There isn’t enough rock in midstream to beach your boat and slide in, so you have to try and board in moving water, and THEN get that damn “bulletproof” tight skirt onto the rim.
Example 2: You are creeking, have just worked back down from a portage to water level, but because of the rhodedendron thicket you are in, and the underwater conditions at the water’s edge, you are again in poor conditions for boarding on land and sliding in. But if you put the boat in the water and board, you will have just seconds to get that damn tight skirt on befor you are sucked into the approach for the next drop.
Example 3. You are paddling a hard river on a hot day, and you need to get at your water supply inside the boat. Your party is moving downriver quickly with the current. You are in an active eddy. Can you risk pulling the skirt to get your canteen? Can you risk it if your skirt requires massive effort and careful coordination to get back on the rim?
Example 4. You never thought you would miss three roll attempts in your sea kayak, good as you are, but you did. And now, in frigid waters, you have managed to do the paddle float re-entry, but you can hardly feel your hands. Can you get that custom Mountain Surf Linderbeck sprayskirt back on, after pumping out the boat??
Example 5. You flip in heavy water or heavy surf. You fumble for the grab loop, find it, pull, fail, fumble some more, and then when you run short of air, you try to pull the skirt off by the fabric, but the fabric doesn’t tear, being so high quality and all, and the tacky rand will not come loose from the rim. You try to kick out, and the skirt won’t let you. Some old skirts would let you escape through the tunnel, but the double tunnel grip of your drysuit will not let you escape. Maybe you finally find that grab loop. Maybe you strike your head on something and drown.
Having a skirt which does not leak at all is kind of nice. Having a skirt which does not “blow” when you are surfing Greyhound Bus on the New Rive Gorge is nice too. But are there situations where a skirt can be too hard to get off, and too hard to get on?
Compromises…
– Last Updated: Dec-25-04 5:48 AM EST –
I got my Mountainsurf specifically for surf after being blow out of my boat several times. Swimming in cold water and getting pounded by the waves is the danger for me. I have tested the mountain surf for wet exiting. It's much, much easier to get it off than to get it on.
Right now, I use a Snapdragon skirt because I can't work the Mountainsurf on with gloves. I use the SnapDragon in conjunction with a seat belt. The latter is definitely NOT recommended at all for anyone with an iffy roll. The combination has kept me in the boat in situations which, with just the SnapDragon skirt, I had been blown out of the boat in the past. Can I get out of the skirt and seat belt arrangement in the surf? Unfortunately, I have to answer, yes. I got my paddle stripped in big surf, blew a hand roll, and had to come out of the boat. It did take some prescence of mind to think, "Okay, pull the skirt. Good. Now pull the seat belt. Good. Now, for that crappy swim... Bad." Because of the paddle stripping incident, I also have started to use a short paddle leash attached to my wrist. This in some quarters is considered a risk too.
It is as you alluded to, with the skirt or any other piece of equipment, it can be a help or a hindrance. The individual paddler has to evaluate critically the venue that he is in and how that piece of equipment will perform.
For me (and I think SeaDart), a tight skirt is a good thing in dumping surf situations. That's what I got it for. The skirt I got for my Chronic and ww is also a Snapdragon. One of the reinforced ww models where the getting on and off is somewhere between the Mountain Surf and the regular (baseline) Snapdragon.
sing
Yes, just got a bargain Snapdragon
for my '82 Noah kayak. ($50 out of the NOC bargain box.) Tried it on the boat at NOC and while it takes a hard push to get it over the home-made composite rim, the front end will STAY on while I push the sides over the rim. And I, also, had an unfortunate opportunity to test skirt removal under battle conditions…