Since the engines of inboards and sterndrives are generally similar to those found in automobiles, most skippers will be familiar with basic maintenance tasks. The underwater drive units for sterndrives and outboards require a separate program of lubrication and maintenance. These are best performed while doing other routine tasks. Lubrication, however, must be done when the boat is out of the water. Read the rest of this entry »
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.
Going aground can result from operating in shallow water or from leaving your boat on a beach when the tide is going out. The situation is often nothing more than a minor annoyance and an embarrassment since it is usually easy to push the boat off or float it free when the tide rises. Nevertheless, after a grounding you should inspect both the hull and the engine carefully for even minor damage.
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 »
Free-falling from an aircraft is one of the extreme sports that millions around the world take part in every year. The excitement of plummeting to earth with the time to think and enjoy the view is what attracts so many to jump from what most would consider a perfectly good airplane. Over the years, sky diving has evolved from what was once a necessary skill of self preservation to the source of inspiration for other sports like sky surfing and B.A.S.E. jumping. Read the rest of this entry »
Walking, scrambling on all fours, and crawling on your belly into the moist darkness of a cave is not everyone’s idea of a good time, but it is certainly extreme. The labyrinth-like tunnels that can lead to huge sheer drop offs or expansive chasms are not for the faint of heart. Those prone to nightmares from watching too many reruns of Dracula also may not appreciate the propensity of caves to attract legions of bats.
Appropriately, those who do cave (serious cavers do not refer to their sport as spelunking or potholing) always travel to the inner depths of the earth in groups of two or more. Not surprisingly, cavers are subject to many dangers that one would expect could occur in a cave, such as death by starvation, falling, asphyxiation, drowning, and hypothermia from exposure. 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 »
Sports are about competition, but also about contact. Sports which involve the thrill of speed invariably require specialized equipment to undertake them, but for the sportsman, the nearer to the elements you can get, the greater the sense of accomplishment. So for water skiiers, what could make more sense than dispensing with the skis?
Barefoot Water Skiing began in Winter Haven, Florida in 1947. Water skiing pioneer Chuck Sligh theorized that water skiing without skis might be possible if the ski boat went fast enough. A 17-year-old boy named AG Hancock proved him right, becoming the first water skier to drop a ski and continue barefoot successfully. Hancock left on a family vacation before he could show the trick to Cypress Garden’s Dick Pope Sr.. A few days later, Pope’s son Dick Jr. successfully dropped a ski and got all the glory— photographs, newspaper stories, newsreels, the works. Barefoot skiers soon adapted many of the freestyle moves of traditional waterskiers. Spins, backward maneuvers, body drags, and other tricks made barefooting an exciting new discipline. Due to the speeds required to barefoot, the tricks are especially difficult, and dangerous, since the water becomes very hard in a high-speed impact. Read the rest of this entry »
Cuts are not uncommon out-of-doors and are usually the result of incorrect handling of knives and tools. Sharp tools, incidentally, are less likely to slip and cause injury than blunt ones, so keep your sharp tools sharp, but covered.
Wash a cut well and, if it is very deep, press the edges together, and bind firmly. If a vein or artery is cut it may need to be tamped with the fingers until, as the clotting starts, the bleeding slows. Bad cuts may require stitching and puncture wounds, or cuts from rusty wire or farm implements, may need an anti-tetanus injection. Bad cuts and all puncture wounds should be seen by a doctor. Grazes should be washed to remove any ingrained dirt before covering. A light application of an antiseptic cream like Savlon may be soothing. Read the rest of this entry »
Always know where you are. That is a fundamental rule. Consulting the map every few minutes is irritating, and
will slow you down considerably, so wear your compass around your neck and get into the habit of taking a quick bearing on a couple of features every few hundred yards. Any new landmarks should be identified on the map as they appear, and in difficult country you should have the map in your hand and be ‘thumbing’ the route. This means that the map, in its plastic bag, is held with your thumb firmly at the point of your present position. The area of your thumb on the map covers an area of a square mile or so, but you will have the general location. Read the rest of this entry »
By this stage, half way through the book, the sensible person should have assembled a suitable range of clothing and equipment, learned to find their way about, in good weather, and have a grasp of what to do if something unforeseen happens. It is now time to go out into the wild and consolidate your knowledge by putting it into practice. Common sense plus experience is the basis of good technique and there is no substitute for experience.
Let us look at outdoor living from the moment we form the intention to make a trip, right through to our return home. Read the rest of this entry »
A large number of dishes, sandwiches, pasties, salads, cold meats, sausages and so on can be cooked at home and taken into the field to be eaten either cold or re-heated.
Many foods can be enjoyed equally well cold, accompanied perhaps by a mug of hot soup or a brew.
Here again, as is so often the case out-of-doors, the value of pre-trip information is apparent. Since the amount you can carry is limited on a long trip, it is usually necessary to find somewhere to stock up every three or four days and these stops are usually at country stores where special outdoor foods, in light, dehydrated form, are rarely available. You must check that the shops will be open, or even that they actually still exist, for quite a number of villages survive with only a church and a pub. Read the rest of this entry »
These arc not ailments in the true sense, in that they are a result of accident or illness. They are an inherent risk caused by the weather and as a result exhaustion is a hazard. It is all too easy to over-estimate your physical strength and once you have over-taxed your capabilities, further effort will result in exhaustion and possible collapse. Heat exhaustion and heat stroke are summer hazards, far more prevalent than cold exhaustion, perhaps because they are more unexpected, and fewer measures are taken to prevent them.
Heat exhaustion can be caused by a humid atmosphere, excessive perspiration, loss of body fluids, and simple tiredness. It can lead to collapse and even death in very severe cases. Read the rest of this entry »
When you get really cold, the body transfers warmth from the skin surfaces to the body centre in order to maintain core heat. This causes shivering as the skin tries to generate heat and can lead to frostbite. Frostbite is a term which means an actual freezing of the flesh, until ice actually forms in the tissues. A less serious, but still painful form is frostnip, where the skin becomes burnt and blistered by the effects of exposure to winds and low temperatures, but swift action in covering the affected parts and re-warming the flesh can quickly prevent this, or reduce the effects.
Slight frostbite is usually indicated by a whiteness of the skin and a loss of sensation. The ears, toes, fingers, nose, cheeks and chin, are particularly vulnerable. If such signs are noticed and the areas concerned covered and re-warmed at once, then no further damage need result. Read the rest of this entry »
Because of the effect of chill on the body and the need to work hard in order to stay warm, dehydration becomes a possibility at below-zero temperatures. It is important to drink lots of liquids in winter and up to a litre a day may be needed just to keep the body fluids in balance. Tea and hot chocolate may be found to be more refreshing than coffee, but neither tea nor coffee by itself, without the addition of milk and/or sugar, offers any calorific support at all.
Both are possible in the winter and must therefore be guarded against.
A full set of ’shell’ clothing, giving protection against wind and water, is essential in winter. People maintain that with the waterproof protection of shell clothing, you can wear down garments and thus keep them dry, and in theory to a certain extent you can. However, I have tried this out in prolonged bad weather, and in practice you still get wet, if not from rain, then from condensation. Condensation is the real enemy of the winter camper.
Porous materials like GORE-TEX may well provide part of the answer to the condensation problem, for they permit body heat to evaporate and yet prevent rain droplets from beating through. Read the rest of this entry »
The best way to deal with trouble is stay out of trouble in the first place. This is not quite as obvious as it may appear. A pure accident is quite rare, and in nearly every survival situation, those involved have made a considerable contribution to their own predicament.
Survival techniques depend very much on the actions you take before the situation becomes critical. Once you are in trouble you are largely at the mercy of circumstances, despite your ability to cope. How much choice you have among solutions will depend very largely on your equipment, your experience, and what basic precautions you have taken before you set out.
Can you, the leader, honestly answer ‘yes’ to the following questions? Is the party equipped and experienced enough for what is proposes to do? Is everybody fit and well? Does there exist among the party members all the necessary skills? Have you noted down the location of mountain huts, rescue services and doctors? Has a route card been prepared and checked and a copy left with a responsible person? Have you obtained a weather report, and up-to-date maps? Are you all quite happy? Read the rest of this entry »
Because the spinners fall to the water’s surface and become trapped there with wings outstretched, trout have ample time in which to ingest them,feeding in a leisurely fashion while cruising in long rise paths. The mostprolonged sequence of rises to thesespinners that I have seen was a series offifteen at Hopewell, a large lake in EastGriqualand. Other anglers I have spokento have had similar experiences duringhatches of these mayflies. It is easy to understand why American anglers call these fish `gulpers’, since they often gulp down several spinners in one mouthful. Trout do not inspect each insect during these gluttonous feeding sprees, since their window of vision is extremely small at such shallow depths. However, any dry fly that does not resemble the adult in size and shape will usually be rejected outright, particularly if the pattern is a high-floating one. Read the rest of this entry »
The Umkomaas River, a challenging stretch of water situated near thesmall village of Bulwer in the foothills of the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg, provided good trout fishing to anglers for many years before the Natal yellowfish established itself in those waters. In particular, one fast-water section of this beautiful river used to captivate me with its dancing riffles and swift pocket water.
Here a large midstream boulder broke the current into two well-defined tongues; one of these was diverted, almost at right angles, towards the bank where it welled up as it struck the side, forming a deep undercut I knew held good fish. On two previous visits to this stretch of water, I had drifted a small rubber-legged Bitch Creek Nymph into the undercut and on both occasions the pattern had produced several yellowfish, some of respectable size. Read the rest of this entry »
