tony ford

The only safe bet is to send them back to the makers - lives may depend on them

Your best bet is to get throwlines from a reputable canoeists' supplier - perhaps Palm or Susie - throwlines should be in a bag but float, with a line that floats, land highly visible, and not have a loop at the end held by the thrower

I am about to use a discarded aluminium ladder and put some of that Finnish waterproof board on it so it acts as a gang plank on one side and ladder on the other using cable ties to secure the two together. I cost me nothing, except to buy some ties - building firms usually discard old ladders - that's where mine came from - and can get more discarded ladders if anyone would like one - just the problem of transporting from Germany where I live at the moment