One man's rush to jump on the kayaking bandwagon

The TideRace kayaks are the best made kayaks I have ever seen. The finish is nearly perfect and the design is just smart. You can clearly see the localized reinforcements along the keel and the top deck. I've read online that these boats have foot plates, but both boats I paddled had SmartTrack foot pegs.

This boat felt like a slightly faster version of my Explorer. Like my Explorer, it felt a little unstable while sitting still. The seat in the particular boat was loose. I've read about the complicated seat adjustments available on TideRace boats on other sites, but I don't remember seeing them on this boat. The 4th hatch just forward of the cockpit is very nice. While not as big as the one on the Cetus, is should be big enough to store a GPS, camera, radio, or snacks.

I want this boat. If I actually did what I wanted to do, this would be the perfect boat for me. Considering what I actually do, I just couldn't justify spending the money. This is still an amazing boat. The fit was tight, but perfect. The initial stability was rock solid and the secondary was more than enough to immediately feel comfortable on edge. It seemed to accelerate fairly quickly, but I felt like I was easily hitting a wall. Without a GPS or an actual timed run, I'm not sure if this was just an illusion caused by the significant bow wake or if the boat really is slow. The tracking was nearly as good as the Explorer. The skeg flopped around quite a bit when down. I'm not sure if this is intentional or not. Even with the small hatch in front of the cockpit, I would miss the day hatch. I would have to somehow add restraints inside the bow and stern hatches as I find it very annoying when gear slides around in the hatches. This boat is going to make a lot of people very happy.

After paddling the TideRace boats, I wanted to compare them to the Cetus LV. I'm still very impressed with the LV. It feels much faster than the Xcite S, but as I said, its really hard to tell. I also don't know how either would handle in less than ideal conditions.

If I were really in the market for a new boat, it would be a tough choice between the Cetus LV and the Xcite. Since the Cetus LV isn't available, I'd go with the Xcite S.

Heath, Susan and I went paddling in Charleston harbor this afternoon. We put in at the north western tip of Sullivan Island. We followed the shoreline shoreline of Mt. Pleasant north up to Hog Island and back. The weather was perfect. Just enough waves to make things fun, but not too much for Heath. According to Susan, it was a marathon paddle. Little does she know, I usually go twice as far as we did today.

I'm excited about coming back.

The good news is that TideRace is here. The bad news is that TideRace is here.

Today was to be a shopping day, but I just didn't see anything I just had to have.

I didn't do any paddling today, but I'll be back tomorrow to try out those TideRaces.

Heath, Kate, and I headed down to Charleston again this year for the East Coast Canoe and Kayak Festival. As usual, it's all about trying gear and adding to my dream list.

Last year's focus was on paddles. This year was all about boats. I like my Explorer, but I've grown a lot (skillz, not weight) and would love to transition to a more responsive boat. I'm also on the lookout for a new boat for Heath.

According to the Wilderness Systems rep I spoke with, the Zephyr is an old Mariner design that was "cleaned up using CAD". I remembered liking the RM version of this boat last year, but it really turned me off this time. The cockpit is too tall and I just could not connect with the boat. The initial stability was high, but it has the same flopping from one chine to another that my Tsunami has. I asked the rep is they would consider creating a lower volume version and he said that they had received many similar requests.

I really liked this kayak last year. I thought the fit was perfect. What a difference a year makes. It just didn't do anything for me this year. It felt stiff and unresponsive.

The fit was fine, but the back deck was very high. This boat felt neither fast nor maneuverable. I already have an Explorer. Why would I want another one?

The flat lake was probably not the best place to demo this boat. It did nothing for me.

The Quest LV was unmemorable.

Once you get rid of the silly glitter, the Cetus is a nice kayak. It tracks well yet responds to even the slightest edging. P&H seems to have found just the right mix of tracking and maneuverability. I wish I had a better sense of how the handling changes as the chop starts to pick up. The only negative is the skeg control. It took considerable pinching effort to unlock the control so that the skeg could be moved. I just don't see how this is an improvement over the older design. While there was nothing that was obviously wrong, the cockpit fit is lacking. The location of the skeg line seems to reduce the amount of space available for my thighs. Even with the skeg control and cockpit fit, this is currently the one kayak I'd most like to own. Unless...

The Cetus LV was just a little too LV for me. The P&H rep I spoke with said that this was still a prototype version and the production version would likely be a little closer to the normal Cetus. If that's the case, then the Cetus LV is the kayak I'd most like to own.

I paddled a Capella RM on a windy day on a large lake last spring and did not like it. The cockpit was too big, it didn't track well, and skeg didn't seem to help. I was expecting this to be the same way. I was mostly wrong. The tracking was much improved, but still not what I want. It was very maneuverable.

Overall, it was a great day at the show. Heading back to David's place for some home smoked ribs was the perfect ending.

I agree completely. Kayaking gives me that perspective, even if I'm just paddling in my usual mundane locations.

Heath and I made the most of the early spring weather by heading down to the beach for the weekend. Heath's father watched Kate while we both went out for a nice paddle on Saturday morning. This was only Heath's second time out since Kate was born and she was very much looking forward to it. We padded west through the marsh to the ICW, then turned south toward Masonborro Island. We came back up through the inlet to Banks Channel. After a nice lunch at Sweet & Savory, I headed back out to go through my usual boat control routine.

I headed out again early Sunday morning. I was a little sore from the previous day, but still managed to get in about 8 miles.

I just picked up a copy of This is the Sea 4. I really liked the previous 3 volumes, but this one is a mixed bag. Disc two contains footage of the Queen Charlotte Islands and the New Zealand circumnavigations. While these are the best segments on either disc, they seem to suffer from rather abrupt editing. Disc one is largely a wasteland. The only exception is the Norway segment. After seeing those kids in action, Nigel Foster isn't nearly as impressive. Overall, Volume 4 is the weakest in the series.

Don't get me wrong. It's still great for those days when you can't make it out on the water.