Although collisions between small powerboats tend to result in minor damage, be prepared to handle the results of more serious crashes. Besides the aspect of personal injury, the major concern is serious damage to the hull, either above or below the waterline, since a hole near there can sink a boat. This kind of damage should he repaired as quickly as possible and excess water removed from the bilge.
Camp-style clothing should be hardwearing and in a colour that disguises dirt. Fabrics that are easy to wash, quick drying and don’t need ironing are the way to go. They need to be quite colour-fast, though, especially if you plan to use a laundrette where the sorting is done by others.
Shirts with long sleeves (they can be rolled up if it gets too hot) will protect your arms from the sun while you’re driving. Buy them in a light, summery fabric such as polyester/cotton. Big collars can be folded up to protect your neck in the angled late-afternoon sun. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s ironic that in eras gone by, when comparatively little was known about the harmful effects of the sun, hats were everyday wear. Today, however, it’s still unusual to see people wearing sunhats unless they’re on the beach.
The best hats for the harsh African sun have a full crown and a wide brim to keep the sun off your face and neck. An adjustable under- chin cord will keep your hat on in the wind and a fabric sweatband will absorb perspiration. Read the rest of this entry »
The living area of the motorhome tends to be built around the front end of the vehicle — the engine needs to be accessible from various angles for servicing, and one of these may be from inside the cab. Access to the cab is made easier by the fact that there is already a side entrance, and in these cases access to the driver’s seat will be via the living area. Some cabs do not depart much from their industrial origins and access here is gained via an ordinary door on each side. Depending on the country of origin, many imported motorhomes have the steering wheel and door on the ‘wrong’ side for South African roads. While this is not illegal, it does mean that the driver will have to make allowances for restricted vision. If you don’t like the idea, rather buy a locally made vehicle. Read the rest of this entry »
The luxury motorhome must surely represent the ultimate touring vehicle. As a combination of large vehicle and caravan it offers the benefits of both, and allows the traveller the sort of freedoms one would usually find only on a yacht! Passengers, for example, are able to sleep comfortably stretched out while the kilometres speed by.
Modern motorhomes are made for comfort, lightness and aerodynamic efficiency — they’re certainly more evolved than their older relatives. The interior layouts are more sophisticated and well thought out and the specification levels are higher. Although a common complaint is that the smaller versions are underpowered, fuel consumption is an important aspect of touring; while bigger engines have more power and are more exciting to drive, they are very much thirstier. Read the rest of this entry »
The torch inside the sleeping compartment also serves for a last-minute check, when everyone is bedded down, to ensure that no insects have found their way inside the inner tent lining. Midges can sometimes be troublesome to city-dwellers with tender skins, especially on campsites near rivers and lakes, but once inside the zipped-up sleeping compartment they are usually safe from them thanks to the fine mesh from which ventilation panels are made. It is only a matter of remembering to dispose of any that have already intruded. Read the rest of this entry »
Unless you are the sort of person who thrives on assault courses and marathon runs, carrying a loaded rucksack all day long or cycling uphill with heavy panniers is quite strenuous exercise. It therefore makes sense to get yourself reasonably fit before you set out on holiday and to experiment with carrying different loads over a period of several hours. Aching muscles are to be expected in the first few days of a walking or cycling tour however little you carry: you will not yet be fully in trim. But at the end of the holiday you want to be in the happy situation of not even noticing the weight on your back — not worn out and returning home in need of another fortnight’s rest. Read the rest of this entry »
Camping is one of childhood’s greatest adventures, and the times you spend with your children having fun in a tent or caravan will remain in their memories forever and unite your family in later years.
The sheer novelty of it all and the fact that the whole world comes so much closer may have something to do with this. Whatever the reason, don’t hesitate when it comes to packing them into the car and going away.
Children take to camping like the proverbial duck to water, and apart from when fatigue overtakes them, the simplest pleasures still have the ability to carry them further, and in a more wholesome fashion, than the most expensive toys. Read the rest of this entry »
Many people go camping to get away from it all, and expect to find the peace and tranquillity they are paying for. If you are visiting a nature or game reserve you can safely assume that everyone who goes there does so to experience the natural environment. You may come across ardent birdwatchers, reptile or plant enthusiasts, amateur astronomers and wannabe entomologists. In-between are people who simply love to wallow in the delightful chaos provided by Our Creator. Read the rest of this entry »
Thick, strong sticking plaster with powerful adhesive qualities should accompany you everywhere, but make sure you have some form of gauze to stop it sticking to the wound itself. Always carry a pair of sharp scissors or knife to cut it with, as it is almost impossible to tear. The stickiest plaster does not usually allow much air to penetrate, so you may also wish to carry a different variety that does. Read the rest of this entry »
The variety of outdoor equipment on offer can be bewildering. You may find yourself amazed by how little you can get away with, but you may be equally amazed to find how little you are prepared to do without. Your levels of enjoyment will be determined largely by your tolerances, and this doesn’t apply only to campers, who live ‘closer to the edge’ in their tents. Read the rest of this entry »
The most popular tent shape is the dome. It is the result of extensive research, and dome tent designers make the best of many modern materials such as carbon fibre and Ventex to produce ranges in all sizes. These materials make use of advanced technology to provide shelters of unparalleled resilience — in many cases they have a strengthto-weight ratio that can only be described as phenomenal. The dome shape is intentionally aerodynamic, and the stiffeners provide a good degree of flex; such tents can survive strong winds, even if these are accompanied by snow, hail and sleet. Many come with a built-in wind-deflector as part of the fly sheet, which, if correctly positioned, provides additional shelter and helps keep gusts away from the main opening. Read the rest of this entry »
Like most things in life, what you get out of an activity is indirect proportion to what you put into it from the start. Vacation time is a precious commodity and it’s worth going that extra mile so that everyone gets the most out of the time spent away from home.
The first decision is obviously where to go. The most important factor here is geography — and how it has been exploited for your advantage. Coastal destinations are fine if you live inland, but people who live close to the sea may hanker after something different. In South Africa we have a wonderful variety of recreational places, and although many offer similar-sounding activities, the experiences can be very different for each one. Read the rest of this entry »
As an alternative to staying in a ready-erected tent, it is possible to hire the tent and other equipment before setting off from home. This has the advantage that you are not tied to staying at a particular campsite and it also disciplines first-time campers into cutting down on the amount of baggage that they take with them.
Considering the huge packing problems that the beginner faces, he might wonder exactly where the advantage of the latter lies, but it is an odd fact that above a certain basic level the family’s comfort and happiness on holiday do not increase in proportion to the weight of paraphernalia that has been dragged along. Read the rest of this entry »
Land Sailing began hundreds of years ago in China when it was discovered that the power of the wind could be harnessed to make tasks like plowing and moving objects easier. Many historians believe the Chinese were the first to attempt to harness the wind for purposes of transportation, though there is reportedly evidence that the ancient Egyptians may have beaten them to it.
Modern land yachts are capable of attaining speeds approaching 100mph (160 kph)—the world record is 95.5 mph. Many modern land yachts are designed to swap out their wheels in the winter for ice blades. Ice yachts, with less friction to inhibit their speed, are now exceeding 150 mph (240 kph). Land and ice sailing designs are generally limited to modern three-wheel machines. There are some other approaches to land and ice sailing, such as skateboard-like systems employing either wheels or blades mounted to windsurfer rigs. These systems do not reach the velocities of their larger counterparts, but are none-the-less exciting and challenging to sail. Read the rest of this entry »
Mountainboarding is a newcomer to the world of extreme sports, although I can track its lineage to a few other more “established” extreme sports like snowboarding and mountain biking.
Essentially, the mountain board creators developed a hybrid skateboard/snowboard that allows aspects of each sport to be used on terrain where neither can be practiced. Which isn’t to say that skateboarders have not tried using fat tires on their skateboards so that they can ride on loose sand and gravel—they have. Read the rest of this entry »
Charging down a hill at warp speed on a bike is a rush that most of us have enjoyed at some time. As bikes developed they headed down the path of tradition, and for a while, all a bike buyer could find was a road-racing-style bike or a cruiser. Road bikes were fine for speed and offered a broad range of gears. But road bikes offered little comfort and didn’t take very well to rough surfaces. Cruisers were very comfortable, but heavy and not geared very well. All that changed in the early Eighties when a Japanese bike company by the name of Specialized purchased a unique bike made in Marin County, California, and took it home for a closer look.
The mountain bike can trace its roots back to when a small and unknown group of riders in Marin County, California first began riding stripped down and beefed up Schwinns on mountain roads just prior to WWII. One can only assume that the natural propensity of extreme oriented riders continued to pursue downhill riding until a few notable pioneers of the modern mountain bike began simultaneously experimenting and redefining the equipment they were riding. According to one of those pioneers, Gary Fischer, the early Schwinn “Ballooner” Cruiser bikes everyone was riding were so heavy that they were pushed, not ridden, uphill. Fischer is reported to have been the first to equip a Ballooner with multiple gears, an act that made it easier to pedal uphill, but also added 25 lbs (11.35 kg) to their weight. Read the rest of this entry »
Skiing in its own right is a pretty extreme sport, and has been for years. One skiing discipline that is as amazing as it is extreme is speed skiing. Imagine screaming down a mountain at 150 mph (240 kph) on skis. That is exactly what current world Record holder and 1992 Olympic Bronze medalist Jeff Hamilton of Truckee, California did in 1995 at Vars, France, becoming the first skier to break the 150 mph barrier, and the fastest non-motorized human on the planet.
Consider the forces at play when traveling at 150 mph. The skier is literally skiing faster a sky diver in freefall. The skis are no r even touching the ground at that. Instead they are riding on a cushion of Even the slightest error in judgment or at that speed can be deadly. Read the rest of this entry »
The hydrofoil, a wing that creates lift in water, is not new, and hydrofoils are commonly used on powerboats today. They are even used on sailboats to minimize resistance and set speed records, which is itself an extreme endeavor. However, it wasn’t until 1989 that a hydrofoil attached to a chair became commercially available for athletes seeking a new tow-behind water challenge.
The air chair, as it has become known, was designed by a couple of friends on the Colorado River, one of whom was the co- creator of the kneeboard (a waterski that the rider kneels on) and a hot dog waterski pioneer, Mike Murphy. Murphy’s friend Bob Wooley became fascinated with the concept of riding a performance hydrofoil, and after several months of experimentation attached the foil to a “sit ski,” a seated version of a waterski. Read the rest of this entry »
Swimming into the deepest reaches of the ocean is a feat that many divers have experienced to a degree. Some may go below 200 feet (60m), others deeper. All would be lost without the air they bring with them. There is a special breed of diver who can go deeper than most, without air tanks. These freedivers have pushed the limits of unassisted breathing dives to below 400 feet.
Tofreedive to depths of even 50 feet (15m) is an unsettling prospect for all but the strongest swimmers. To dive much deeper requires holding a breath for minutes. In fact, the world’s best freedivers hold their breath for periods that rival many marine mammals. Read the rest of this entry »
