Gear Review: Pakayak Bluefin 142

I recently had the privilege of paddling one more time with my friend Meg on the Potomac River near the Pentagon, monuments, and airport. This was her second outing with her Pakayak Bluefin 142.  Meg wanted a kayak that would transport without a roof rack, paddle well, be easy to store, and durable – I think the Bluefin hit all Meg’s wants.

Meg’s Pakayak rides cool and easy in a Subaru Hatchback. Columbia Island Marina, DC. 19 May 2023

This is a rotomolded HDPE2 sea kayak that, based on how it handled waves big enough to chase Anacostia Riverpup off the foredeck of my kayak (becausing they were washing over the deck) and punched through a stout headwind, is well suited as a touring kayak. It is fairly high volume, which again is great for multiday touring. The bow sliced through waves into the wind and surfed well on the return. It appears to be a solid performer.

Assembling Meg’s Pakayak. Columbia Island Marina, DC. 19 May 2023

Meg put her kayak together and was ready roll about as fast as it takes to unload a normal hardshell kayak. Once it is together it is a beautiful kayak and weighs 60 lbs and after it is assembled it is a one piece kayak. Meg takes care not to get sand and sticks in the gaskets by assembling her Bluefin on towels. I think it disassembled even faster – it was in Meg’s car before my kayak was on the roof.

Assembling Meg’s Pakayak. Columbia Island Marina, DC. 19 May 2023

I took the Bluefin out for a microspin. Because I have been only paddling sit-on-tops for a while the cockpit seemed deep – Meg said that she has the real seat at home and it would raise me up a bit more than the folded towels I was sitting on (which was fine). In addition to sitting higher I would also add foam around the hips to make the boat edge 3ven betterAs it was the boat tracked well, turned easy, rode an edge well, and was fun to paddle. I think Meg and her Pakayak will have many happy adventures together.

Meg’s Pakayak is about to enter the Potomac River proper. Columbia Island Marina, DC. 19 May 2023

Meg spent extra $$ to get portability and closet storage. My roof rack cost almost as much as my kayak and a backyard for storage is also $$ in DC. I do not think I would trade, I really like my kayak. If my situation were different that the Bluefin would be an excellent kayak – especially living as close to Chesapeake Bay as we do. Chesapeake Bay looks like the sort of paddling this boat was designed for.

Who loves you? Aedes albopictus does.

Aedes albopictus. NE DC. 21 May 2023

There are a couple hundred mosquito species in the US. Mosquitoes have a holometabolous life cycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The egg is laid in, on, or where water is expected to be present. The larval stages are aquatic, typically detrivores, but some are predatory (like the beautiful Toxorhynchites rutilis). Because of the detrivore life style of most larvae, many female adult mosquitoes will take blood meals to get protein to make eggs. Different mosquitoes prefer different hosts, Aedes albopictus is just fine with feeding on humans.

Aedes albopictus, the Asian tiger mosquito, is a snappy-looking and dapper mosquito. It is called Asian because that is where it is from. It is called tiger because it a very aggressive biter and of course it has stripes. Aedes albopictus can vector many human diseases. This mosquito is very comfortable in human dominated habitats. Control is difficult because it can use low volumes of standing water to pull off a brood, removal of all standing water is the best method of control as it limits the ability to pull off a new brood – but it is way more difficult than you think.

It looks like Aedes albopictus will be part of the US mosquito fauna for the foreseeable future.

Cast nets: a new category of Anacostia River trash.

Screenshot from: https://www.fao.org/fishery/en/geartype/217/en

I was asked a question by our friend Amy and it required going through our big ol’ spread sheet of river trash (being biologists we do keep data on what we remove). While answering her question, I noticed that since August 2022 we have pulled five plastic cast nets from the Anacostia River – this is compared to one in the 24 months prior.

Yes, using one of these nets is legal. According to the Maryland fishing regulations: “A person may use a monofilament cast net or a monofilament throw net to catch baitfish in any tidal water of the Chesapeake Bay or its tributaries” – which includes the Anacostia River. However, the discarding or leaving a net as litter should not be legal. It would be very simple to require a metal identification tag that must be attached to all nets with untagged/improperly tagged nets subject to fines. Of course, the discovery of your net in a river should bring immediate fines and the revocation of fishing privileges for a period of time.

Nets as litter are problematic because: 1) they can entangle wildlife, 2) there may be lead weights associated with these nets, and 3) these nets are unsightly and often difficult to remove. When I have a net in my kayak I have to be extra careful paddling it out – I would hate to tip and be trying to swim back onto my kayak with a net lurking nearby.

There is still a fish consumption advisory advisory for the Anacostia River for sunfish (all species), bass (large & smallmouth), catfish (channel, blue, & brown bullhead), carp, American eel,  northern snakehead, & blue crab. Maryland has a nice interactive map to discover fish consumption advisories, it is quite disgusting to view. Basically, the State of Maryland is telling us not to eat wild caught fish from most of the waters within the state because they are contaminated because they water they live in is contaminated by PCBs, mercury, etc. Just like I choose to paddle and clean up the Anacostia River, some people choose to fish in the Anacostia River. This points out the great need river-based recreation in the DC Metro Area. Just for a reality check: even though the river is getting cleaner, it is still illegal to swim in the Anacostia River.

Another factor in why these nets are increasing in abundance as river trash is that they (like many plastic items) are inexpensive. You can buy a cast net for under $40 (the lowest was $22). People seem to love chucking cheap, plastic crap into rivers.

Ultimately, it comes down to respectful use of a tool and a resource. If you prefer this can be couched in a rights and responsibilities language. Everyone wants their ‘rights’ (e.g. fishing with nets) without taking responsibility for their actions (e.g. not abandoning their net in river). I guess that because the river is getting cleaner, people can now actually throw a cast net into the Anacostia River and catch more fish than plastic. Now they just need to join Team Anacostia River and not leave more trash (and more dangerous trash) than they remove.

Kayak Repair: Gator Patch

The three ‘R’s of recycling are: reduce, reuse,  recycle, and repair. Months ago I identified the my kayak was going to require a bit of repair where the snout of the boat meets rocks, beaches, mudflats, etc. Over time and many 100’s of landings and launching this part of my kayak is showing wear and will eventually wear through. Of course because my kayak is subjected to heavy loads I have exacerbated the process. Kayaks molded from HDPE are difficult to repair because the plastic is slick and not many adhesives adhere to it. I could try to make a plastic welder and find HDPE to weld a patch on my boat. However, I found a product on the internet that is supposed to patch kayaks and after I talked with Christian at H2GO! (my favorite paddle shop) I decided that the very spendy Gator Patch would be how I would patch my boat. The reason for this is because I can see another use for this product in my ‘get out of kayak jail free’ kit for field repairing kayaks. To be able to field patch kayaks during a paddle trip is better (and faster) than patching with adhesive tape. The Gator Patch is an epoxy/fiberglass resin impregnated polyester cloth that will quickly cure when exposed to UV light. The Gator Patch is stinky, even if you have UV lights indoors, this is an outside task.

The issue: the front of my kayak is getting way too thin from shore abrasion. NE DC. 22 May 2023.

The process starts with sanding down the area to provide a good grip for the patch. Then the area must be cleaned with alcohol as a prep. The patch is easy to cut with scissors. The patch has a white patch bottom backing that once removed means the adhesive is exposed. Carefully place this on the area to be patched, because once it is on the kayak I do not think you will get a second chance to place it. After the patch is placed, smooth it onto the kayak using your hands. Once the patch is sufficiently smoothed and stuck on the kayak pull the clear plastic covering from the top of the patch and let it sit out in the sun to UV cure.

The tools to accomplish the repair. NE DC. 22 May 2023.

The entire process of patching my kayak (pictured) and putting prophylactic wear patches on the bow and stern of Kelly’s kayak took 15 minutes and used $60 worth of Gator Patch. I started out by looking for gloves and a respirator because I know how nasty epoxy resins can be, when I noticed the package shows the product being used without protective gear (PPE) – so I tried the product with no PPE. I found that I was able to apply three patches without exposing myself to epoxy resin. I did not even notice the smell when applying the patches – so I feel this will be a nice backcountry kayak patch solution. It is expensive, but if it extends the life of my kayak the way I anticipate it will be money well spent.

Patch applied and curing in the sun. NE DC. 22 May 2023.

Not that long ago canoes and kayaks were built out of materials found in the watersheds they were used in and easily repaired a with local materials. If a kayak was to be transported, it was paddled or portaged. A birch bark canoe would probably not haul tires well (I have never paddled a birch bark canoe and I am aware of what the Voyageurs did with birch bark canoes). If the Anacostia River watershed had trees big enough to make a dugout canoe, the Federal permits required would make it difficult to obtain. My plastic kayak is a durable space-age solution to my kayak desires. Now I have a durable, space-age patching solution to keep my kayak on the water.

Plasticosis – it is all fun and games until someone’s proventriculus gets all scarred up…

We have all been taught that plastic is inert, but then research points out that bipenols and other components of plastic manufacture can leach from plastics into water and can harm. We know that microplastics are in air, water, soil, foods, and even ourselves – but what is the harm in an ‘inert’ product being present?

On 15 May 2023 in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, Haley S. Charlton-Howard and team provide an answer by examining 30 freshly deceased flesh-footed shearwater fledglings. They choose to examine the proventriculus (stomach) of the birds because they felt it to likely be the first and maybe most heavily impacted organ by ingested plastics. In their examinations they found scarring of the proventriculus to be significantly explained by plastic mass and number of plastic pieces present.

Graphical abstract from Charlton-Howard, H.S, A.L. Bond, J. Rivers-Auty, and J.L. Lavers. 2023. ‘Plasticosis’: Characterising macro- and microplastic-associated fibrosis in seabird tissues. Journal of Hazardous Materials vol 450

I have plenty of scars and get along just fine, but this scarring may be a bit more intense as the scarring can inhibit secretion of mucous, HCL, and digestive enzymes which can have numerous cascading impacts on overall health of the birds. However, there are other potential impacts of this scarring of the stomach – it is unlikely that this is as benign as the scar on your hand.

This is the beginning of learning the consequences of our reckless plastic use and disposal practices. In this instance the canary in the coal mine is a seabird – the question is do we heed the warning or just keep digging coal??

Reference

Charlton-Howard, H.S, A.L. Bond, J. Rivers-Auty, and J.L. Lavers. 2023. ‘Plasticosis’: Characterising macro- and microplastic-associated fibrosis in seabird tissues. Journal of Hazardous Materials volume 450

Herbicide damage to the curry tree – again.

New growth on our curry tree (sapling – the older tree was killed last year) is curling which indicates exposure to an auxin mimic herbicide. NE DC. 18 May 2023.

We live in DC and we have a large garden were we grow food. Which we choose to grow food without pesticides, however; we do not get choose alone. In our neighborhood we have several households that do use pesticides or hire a lawn service to apply lawn pesticides for them. I think many people (including professional applicators) do not inderstand that pesticides are poisons and these poisons have cascading environmental effects. Pesticides can be misapplied and this can cause movement from the application site via drift, volatilization, run off, etc. In my case it appears that drift or volatilization are the issue.

A larger curry tree was killed outright by 2-4 d last year and last year we had damage on our native beds too. DC has many problems: given the amount of litter, disregard of traffic laws, gun violence, car theft, etc. it appears that law enforcement is not a priority in DC. I doubt the city of DC will send a task force out to investigate a trespass of lawn pesticides. This is the classic: “the right to waive your fist should end at another person’s face”. My neighbor’s need (right?) for lawn chemicals should not supersede my desire to raise an organic garden. While it sucks to have my food plots drifted upon, I really worry about the native plant beds that we raise for pollinators – there is no benefit to inviting pollinators to a garden just to poison them. I have Echinacea and curry saplings that are currently showing auxin mimic herbicide damage. 

One day we, as a society, will embrace a new lawn paradigm. Until then I guess pesticide drift will be an issue for all of us.

Veterans Day poppy

Papaver rhoeas. Anacostia River, MD. 10 May 2023.

Papaver rhoeas is a wide spread old world, northern hemisphere native that has naturalized here in the US. It likes disturbance – I have never seen it in intact plant communities. Most famously the disturbances associated with trench warfare during WWI created large populations of Papaver rhoeas. I can’t imagine seeing the horrific battlefield between the trenches filled with beautiful red flowers. The striking dissonance of these flowers capitalizing on the disturbances war is why these flowers were used to remember WWI veterans and the flowers came to be called Veteran’s Day poppies and celebrated in poems and songs.

– Lt. Colonel John McRae

“I cry but I can’t buy
Your Veteran’s Day poppy
It don’t get me high
It can only make me cry
It can never grow another
Son like the one who warmed me my days
After rain and warmed my breath
My life’s blood.                                      Screamin’ empty she crys
It don’t get me high
It can only make me cry
Your Veteran’s Day poppy.”                                         – Don Van Vliet

This poppy can be used as food and medicine. Everytime I see it I think about veterans, horror, and beauty. I think that this plant carries such a heavy cultural importance and wonder if this is just my generation or if this cultural meaning is also present within today’s youth – I hope so. Even though this is not a native plant, it is a pretty plant with an important message.

Front porch woodchuck!

The front porch woodchuck – hiding from Anacostia Riverpup and her pals: Hawk and Prudence. NE DC. 22 May 2023.

Anacostia Riverpup noticed that a young woodchuck, Marmota monax, was trying to take up residence under our backyard shed this weekend. Being as Ani is able to fit under the shed, she is taking the time when she goes outside to discuss with the woodchuck why under our shed is a bad place to live. This morning Ani and her pals Hawk and Prudence furthered this discussion by cornering the little guy on our front porch. We intervened to keep the dogs from destroying the plants on our porch, but the woodchuck was on the porch with the intent of destroying our plants. Gardens and woodchucks are not compatible and I am certain this most recent event will help it move on. It is cool to see woodchuck, because they are such improbable urban animals. However, I am unwilling to share my garden, so it will have to move.

Gear review: REI Generation e1.1

Kelly’s bike: REI Generation e1.1

Recently I had an opportunity to put a few miles on Kelly’s ebike. I am not anti ebike. I am not pro ebike. I am all for people getting out and having fun, and an ebike can be part of that.

The first thing you notice with Kellys ebike is that it is heavy – twice the weight of my steel frame mountain bike. This is especially noticeable when you are getting on and off the bike and when you are at stop lights. When you are riding, the bike handles decently – but it doesn’t inspire confidence when taking corners at speed. There is a front shock, but I didn’t notice any reduction in road bumps. I have had two bikes as an adult with 20″ tires and think it is a decent wheel size for urban riding. The seat, pedals, and hand grips are comfortable and the bike rides with an upright posture suitable for urban riding.

However, this is an ebike, so the motor, battery, and controller are perhaps the most important components of the bike. This bike has 5 levels of pedal assist (no throttle). REI says the battery will power you through 40 or 50 miles of riding and I believe that to be true. The motor produces enough torque to leave stop lights and climb hills without effort. The controller is easy to use and displays basic data: speed, setting, and charge. The bike also has a nice light system wired in.

I think the biggest thing I noticed was I covered 8 km super fast and while my heart rate was slightly elevated, it wasn’t anything like my state with the bike I normally commute on. I took a longer route home and had the same experience: all the joy of bicycling with less effort. The bike is due for a warranty change to the drive train and expect this to solve the yo-yoing (speed variation) the bike does at 16-19 mph even though I am maintaining a constant 90 rpm pedal cadence.

I understand the appeal of an electric bicycle. It was a different feeling to arrive at my destination without any sweat. I could definitely see this a game changer for riding to an office and I also think the potential for dressing more appropriately for cold weather is greater with an ebike. There is something special about a standard bicycle, but the standard bike is a relatively new-fangled device itself. For the time being I will enjoy my standard bike, but I am glad Kelly has an ebike as it allows us to ride together and have fun – and that is what it is all about.

An invasive stonecrop

Sedum sarmentosum. parking area, NE DC. 17 May 2023.

There are some areas in my neighborhood that have a stonecrop (genus Sedum) growing on rock walls, etc. I always enjoy Sedum when see’um because as a young biologist in plant physiology class I had to learn about CAM (Crassulean acid metabolism) as a method for photosynthesis – there are always trade offs, but CAM allows these plants to excel in hot, dry, rocky areas where many plants would wither and die.

While I may enjoy the plants in someone’s landscape, it is often difficult to identify them as they could be from any where on the planet or even domestic selectively bred human created plants. So I will enjoy garden plants, but not engage them. When I find plants ‘in the wild’ I feel a need to engage them because I feel more compelled to know and understand plants that are able to reproduce and disperse on their own.

When I found the neighborhood sedum 300 meters from any plant source in a parking lot, I knew I had to learn more about it. Sedum sarmentosum is an Asian plant not native to North America and considered invasive in West Virginia. The plant is considered a choice vegetable and I think if served a salad made from Sedum sarmentosum leaves in a restaurant I would be intrigued. The plant growing in the asphalt parking lot had a pleasant, near pickle taste, but I do not recommend eating plants from questionable habitats, and I just took a nibble.

The plant is easy to propagate by cuttings – most sources say just put a leaf or stem in contact with soil and it will root. However, this ease of propagation is tempered by the fact that a plant running a normal photosynthetic metabolism will out-compete a CAM plant in a normal setting – weeds can be a deal breaker. CAM plants require hot and dry conditions to flourish and individual plants can persist for decades in suitably harsh environs – like an asphalt parking lot.

So yet another non-native plant is present in DC – not that parking lots are prime habitats for native plants. I will keep my eyes open for this plant as I travel around the city, who knows what I will find?