One man's rush to jump on the kayaking bandwagon
Get it down from the top of the car without dropping it. Check.
Cary it down to the water. Check. Load up all my stuff. Much
easier since the hatches actually come on and off easily. Get in the
boat. Easier than with my Tsunami.
Attach the spray skirt. It fits perfectly. I guess I'll need a real
neoprene skirt now that I have a real boat. Oops. Almost flipped
over. I miss those two and a half inches. Wide, overloaded boat
means stability. Narrow, lightly loaded boat, and a nervous kayaker
means things are a little tense. That's good. That's what I wanted.
I paddle a mile or so. It feels familiar, but better. It's time to
fiddle with everything that can be adjusted. I find a sandy bit of
shoreline and get out. I adjust the seat, eat lunch, and stretch.
And stretch some more. And then some more. By body is still really
tight from the drive home yesterday. I adjust the backband so it no longer
pinched my ass fat.
I get back in the boat and paddle a few more miles. Lot's of idiots
out today means lot's of wake. Turns out this British Sea Kayak thing
actually handles boat wakes pretty well. This Nigel guy seems to know
his stuff. Even handles the dreaded Coast Guard attack conditions
without even a hint of twitch. I guess it helps to have a pointy end
at both ends.
Those real rubber hatch covers get much hotter than the ones on my
Tsunami. I lifted up the back hatch cover and air rushed out like the
hatch was inflated.
I return to my put in spot after around 12 miles of so. Took about an
hour less than the last time I did 12 miles. I love this boat.
May 20, 2007
There's always software.
I'm always curious to see where I've been, how far I went, and how
fast I was going when I caught that boat wake. It really helps to see
it mapped out. It's hard to tell the difference between the short
sprint and the strong current by just looking at GPS data. The map
makes it clear.
the map
The track is color coded based on the speed. The red X's indicate the
point of maximum speed. The scale lists the speed in knots, mph, and
the percentage of the trip done at that speed. (In the above example,
I was going between 3 and 4 kts for a majority of the trip.)
The software also generates a textual output that breaks down the trip
by distance.
distance avg kts avg mph
00.50 nm 3.38 kts 3.88 mph
01.00 nm 2.80 kts 3.22 mph
01.50 nm 3.28 kts 3.77 mph
02.00 nm 3.47 kts 3.99 mph
02.50 nm 3.09 kts 3.56 mph
03.00 nm 3.65 kts 4.19 mph
03.50 nm 3.31 kts 3.81 mph
04.00 nm 3.17 kts 3.64 mph
04.50 nm 2.94 kts 3.38 mph
05.00 nm 3.41 kts 3.92 mph
05.50 nm 2.63 kts 3.02 mph
06.00 nm 3.49 kts 4.02 mph
06.50 nm 3.26 kts 3.75 mph
07.00 nm 3.43 kts 3.94 mph
07.50 nm 3.17 kts 3.64 mph
08.00 nm 3.47 kts 3.99 mph
08.50 nm 2.94 kts 3.38 mph
09.00 nm 2.95 kts 3.39 mph
09.50 nm 3.00 kts 3.45 mph
10.00 nm 3.00 kts 3.45 mph
10.50 nm 2.87 kts 3.30 mph
------------------------------
overall 3.18 kts 3.66 mph
avg spd 2.49 kts 2.86 mph
distance 10.32 nm 11.87 sm
duration 04:09:05
On this trip, I paddled 10.32nm at an average speed of 2.49kts.
3.18kts was the average speed while actually moving. On this trip, I
stopped for about 20 minutes to visit nature and eat lunch. This
reduced my overall average speed from 3.18kts to 2.48kts.
For comparison, here is a GPSVisualizer map of this trip.
May 19, 2007
I got my first electric guitar when I was in 10th grade. Like most
kids forced to take piano lessons, I hardly ever touched the piano but
played my guitar every second I could. After a couple of years, I got
pretty good. But, I still couldn't play like Steve Vai (and for some
reason, playing just like Steve Vai seemed like a sensible thing to do
at the time.) I blamed my guitar. Steve had the genius Japanese
scientists crafting custom guitars. I had a $150 Yamaha
somethingoanother that I'd painted blue and green. Obviously, you
can't play like Steve Vai on one of those.
Thanks to a going out of business sale, I managed to buy a
glow-in-the-dark, yellow and pink,
Steve
Vai Ibanez Jem 777. It had the classic hand grip, a fully locking
and floating tremolo, and it came with a case lined with pink fabric.
(In my defense, it was still the 80's.) No more excuses. If I
couldn't play like Steve Vai on Steve Vai's guitar, it was my fault,
not the guitar's. I practiced and practiced and was eventually able
to play most Steve Vai songs note for note.
I guess you could say that today I bought Steve Via's kayak.
I wanted a kayak I could take anywhere. I wanted a kayak that has
been everywhere and done everything. I wanted something I couldn't
blame for my mistakes. I wanted to know that if I failed, I failed,
and not the kayak.
The technical criteria were as follows:
- fiberglass - no more plastic and I can't afford kevlar
- must not be slow - It doesn't have the be fast, but it can't be slow
- no more than 22" wide - unlike my wife, I do not want a floating recliner
- I have be able to get my fat ass into it
The short list included the NDK Explorer, Valley Aquanaut, and the
Nigel Foster Legend. Yes, they are all big, British, skeg-boats. No,
I don't like rudders.
I found an Explorer on a trip up to Virginia and was quite surprised
that I had no trouble getting in and out. The problem was that the
thigh braces were too low.
I called around to try to find an Aquanaut and the only one I could
find as an RM version in GA. No thanks.
I found a Legend in a rental fleet at a place in Carolina Beach, NC.
I didn't rent it, but I didn't need to. I just didn't like it. I
can't tell you why specifically. I just didn't like it.
I then began the quest for a NDK Explorer HV. A place in Swansboro
had one in their demo fleet. Before I could make arrangements to demo
it, I saw that Appomattox River Company a 2004 demo model for sale in
Yorktown, VA.
The day I picked up the kayak was colder than usual with some light
rain. It was only fitting. British kayaking weather for a British
kayak.
My NDK Explorer HV
May 19, 2007
I can be very competitive. Sometimes. When I feel like it. I don't
hate to loose. I'm not one of those types. I just hate looking like
I don't know what I'm doing. The nervousness of not knowing where I
need to be or what I need to do is just a distraction. When I was
swimming, I always felt more focused at a pool I'd been to a few
times.
I had never been to a kayak race before. I had no idea how they
worked, how they started, or anything else about them. I also had no
idea if I was even ready to compete. So this time, I just watched.
The start of the race
It turns out, I'm not ready. I guess it makes sense that PFD's are
required. I'll need to get one that actually fits. It also appears
that there is a wide variety of competitors. Someone actually paddled
my wife's Dirigo. The surfskis obviously won, but the sea kayaks
we're too far behind. I have no idea how my Tsunami compares.
I think I can do this. There is another race in November. I'm going
to enter.
May 12, 2007
Heath and I paddled a little under 12 miles today. We brought lunch
and made steady progress. We didn't intend to go that far, but just
as we were about to turn around, we decided to head up an inlet we had
never visited before. If we had a map and could see how big it was,
we wouldn't have bothered. As with most trips of any length, coming
back was directly into the strongest wind of the day.
April 28, 2007
Heath's uncle needed help with his website and Heath suggested we
drive down to Charleston for a long weekend. The weekend we were
available just happened to coincide with the East Coast Canoe &
Kayak Festival. When we mentioned there would be kayaking of sorts,
Jean decided to meet us in Charleston.
I didn't really know much about the festival before we arrived
Saturday morning. None of the sessions appealed to me. I wasn't
really interested in a new boat. I was mainly just interested in a
seeing new gear.
As we walked around the lake, Jean was yet again struck with the
obvious fact that she needs a new kayak. She was impressed by one of
the new Riot designs. I was 12 feet long, had a skeg, a rod holder,
large cockpit opening and both front and rear bulkheads. She thought
the
Nigel
Foster Legend would be a good boat for me. I have to agree. It
looks very nice.
I was more impressed with seeing a glass Tsunami 140. It just feels
like a completely different boat than mine. It feels much more
solid. It was also considerably lighter.
One boat I wanted to see was the NDK Greenlander Pro. After seeing
it, I wasn't all that impressed. It looked crude. The seat looked
like some kind of torture device. I didn't even bother trying to see
how it fit. I could tell by looking, I couldn't fit my ass in that
thing.
I couldn't help but get a sense of just how small a world kayaking
is. I kept seeing people that I recognized from kayak magazines and
websites. Everyone also seemed to know everyone else.
I witnessed an interesting example of kayaking culture clash. A
relatively un-athletic looking woman was demoing some kind of Hobie SOT
kayak when she flipped over. Another kayaker saw her fall out and
turned and paddled over, his Greenland paddle moving furiously and his
gray ponytail flopping back and forth. He stowed his paddle under the
deckline, grabbed her boat in such a ways as to steady it. He them
began encouraging her to re-enter the boat. She wanted nothing to do
with it, stood up and walked the 15 feet to shore. As she was
climbing up the bank, he finally let go of her boat and paddled off.
The whole incident just seemed totally absurd.
Jean picked up a few small things and an NRS paddle bag. I should
have demoed at least a couple of boats, but I didn't want to have my
first experience in a real kayak to be in front of a bunch of pro's.
Yes, I know. Who cares.
April 22, 2007
It wasn't fair to the sport of kayaking. I shouldn't have introduced
someone to kayaking on a colder than normal day that started with
struggling to get the boats on the roof of the car and ended with
racing an approaching thunderstorm.
I've know Pat for years. He's hardly an outdoors type, but he's
always willing to have me drag him along on some random hike or other
outdoor activity. (He no doubt thinks that if I can do it,
then it can't be too bad.)
The day started out as most kayaking days do -- Why did I get an
Element? Why is this car so damn tall? Why do I always have to load
it from the downhill end? He was a good sport and ignored all the
four letter words and general frustration from getting the kayaks on
the car. When we got to the lake, he was still upbeat and ready to
go. He was in Heath's Dirigo and I was in my Tsunami. He didn't have
any problems getting in the boat, but wasn't all that excited when I
told him he'd have to talk off his tennis shoes and wade in so he
wouldn't ground the boat on the rocks. The water was still pretty
cold.
As we headed away from the boat ramp and under the bridge, we caught
the full force of the approaching thunderstorm head on. I debated
turning around, but we had already come this far and it wasn't that
bad yet. Pat seemed fairly comfortable in his kayak. He just
couldn't seem to get the hang of paddling. It was obvious that he was
putting out a lot of unnecessary effort. He asked, "Should I be
getting this wet?" We should have turned around then, but I decided
to just keep going as we were getting close to a section of the lake
that would be shielded from the wind.
When we got there, he admitted that something just wasn't working. I
gave him my paddle (I'm not sure how Heath uses hers) and made few
suggestions. He said that it felt a lot more comfortable.
The temperature started to drop, the wind picked up, we started
hearing thunder. We decided to head back to the boat ramp. We
paddled with a strong wind at our backs and made fairly good time.
Back at the house, Pat admitted that he didn't share my new love of
kayaking. I don't blame him. Today sucked.
April 07, 2007
Heath and I saw some kind of critter swimming around in the lake
today. Not sure if it was a beaver, an otter, or some turned around
raccoon, but it was about 3 feet long and could swim faster than we
could paddle.
January 27, 2007
