Tom

We've had our big differences, and as usual my skills in diplomacy and beating about the bush have degraded even faster then aluminum in salt water (sorry, I just had say it!) but really now, you really do have to publish that book! The E-book idea is a fine and noble undertaking, and many kudos to you for it however, the suggestion to publish a book is a worthy one for many reasons:
1. you make some money for your time, labor and experience
2. you get some further recognition outside of this arena and into the general public browsing the bookstore shelves
3. some people like books to read and have on the shelves, do better with printed stuff then reading from a computer
4. most of all, this is the ideal time to write the analog to Nick's Bible on strippers.

Consider it seriously and avoid being nagged. I'm putting one together right now (on something completely outside of kayaking) and it's challenging but not impossible...close to impossible, but possible. The downside is the zillion details and meetings. Still, the rewards are with having a book out there. Think about it.

Hey, I did a little experiment just for you on this recent trip using three sections of aluminum tent poles (6021) on the deck of the yak and should share the results with you. Not anywhere a reliable test at any stretch of the imagination, but all I had room for, and could scrounge together, was the 6021. The test was assembling the poles in the morning, tie on the deck, disassemble the poles at night, rinse with fresh water, though at times I used two of them for a supplemental rainfly flap stiffener. I did this for the entire 9 weeks of the paddles. I'll do a much better job on the sail trip. What alloy do you use? What alloys should I test?