One man's rush to jump on the kayaking bandwagon

If one were to assume that we can't paddle and post on paddling.net at the same time, then it seems that we paddle the most on weekends and least on Wednesday.

Percentage of posts on paddling.net by day of the week:

Does this also mean that most of us read pnet from the office?

I updated the Paddling.net search engine to include the forums at UK Sea Kayak Guidebook and West Coast Paddler. Enjoy!

When I tell someone that I had an Explorer HV and I replaced it with a normal Explorer, I usually get asked, "Were you bigger then?" I guess they think the HV refers to the paddler. In truth, it's about the bumps.

Instead of HV, NDK should use LL -- Long Legs. Those bumps are for your knees. If you have short legs, then this won't really work for you. If you have long legs, then HV is for you! To get those long legs in the boat, Nigel has also made the front of the coaming an inch and a half higher than on the standard model. You may be asking, what difference do those bumps and that extra 1.5" make?

It's all about edging. When I was in a relaxed position, I had to lift my knee up about 3 inches before making contact with the boat. That's 3" less "edge" I can apply to the boat. With the standard Explorer, the deck is only about 3/8" from my leg and it hits my thighs, bringing the leverage point closer to the center of the boat. The net result is that I never felt comfortable edging or rolling my HV, but I can throw my standard Explorer around like it's attached to me.

To all the kayakers out there that are a little overweight, give the standard Explorer a try. All you skinny guys with long legs out there, give the HV a try. To all the guys that think those bumps are where where the fat goes, go eat a doughnut.

I knew Great Outdoor Provision Company was having a demo days event yesterday, but it until I left all my gear at home that I found out the CD rep would be there with something other than the usual rec and whitewater boats. I must have looked like an idiot standing there barefoot in my work outfit wearing some ill-fitting PDF and carrying a whitewater paddle. I jumped in a Gulfstream and headed out into the lake. I'm not a fan of the Gulfstream. Its pointy ends and bathtub cockpit just don't do it for me.

As I was pulling the Gulfstream back up the beach, a GOPC employee asked me what I thought. I replied, "I didn't like it, but I bet I'd love that Cypress on the truck over there. Is it going in the water today?" He replied that it wasn't a demo boat. I then exchanged my whitewater paddle for a nice low-angle Werner and headed out in an Solstice. It didn't work for me either, but then I hate ruddered boats.

I guess I must have done something to demonstrate that, despite my appearances, I was serious because the GOPC employee was waiting for me when I came back in. He said that as long as we wet launched the Cypress, I could demo it.

The Cypress is CD's latest "British" style kayak. It has all the required elements you'd expect on a modern kayak. Tracking was better than I expected, as was it's maneuverability. Skeg operation was very smooth and I didn't get a sense that the skeg is needed very often. Primary stability was lighter than my Explorer and secondary seemed light as well. The kayak seemed to accelerate fairly quickly, but it didn't feel fast. When moving quickly, the stern design resulted in the sound of something being drug through the water. I've never before heard a wake this loud. The construction was superb the seat seemed like it would be comfortable for extended periods of time.

Overall, I liked the kayak, but I think I'll stick with my Explorer.

Out with the old. In with the new, yet only slightly different.

I got a great deal on my ExplorerHV. So good that I could overlook at few things that were wrong with it. The seat was a little off, the skeg fluttered every once and a while, and it was an HV. Coming from the world of super-sized rec boats, the cockpit on a normal Explorer seemed fairly cramped. At the time, I still wasn't sure why you'd want your knees to actually touch the boat. What a difference a year makes.

After playing phone tag all week with Lamar, I drove down to Barrier Island Kayaks early Saturday morning. I wasn't sure which kayak I wanted until I got there. Lamar had a slightly used 2007 that was just like my HV, British Racing Green with yellow trim, a dark blue with white trim, and the slate blue with black trim. The British Racing Green color resulted in a lot of positive comments, but it shows every little scratch and it just sucks in the heat and it's fairly hard to see. I wanted something that was easier to see and lighter. The slate blue kayak was perfect.

I took it out for a quick paddle just to make sure everything was as it should and let's just say it's an NDK. I found a small hole in the gellcoat that holds in the bulkhead between the back of the cockpit and the day hatch. The back hatch also has a very small leak somewhere, but I was unable to track it down. There's also quite a bit of excess gellcoat. It's an NDK. It has character.

I can't say enough positive things about Lamar, David and the other guys at Barrier Island Kayaks. They really know their stuff and the location is great.

Not every paddling outing gets a writeup. Some just don't warrant it and some officially never happened. The first time I took my Explorer surfing was one of those trips. I was fine, the kayak was fine, so it was a success. As with aircraft landings, any surfing attempt you can walk away from is a good surfing attempt. Today was my second attempt at surfing. This time, I was not alone. I was with Matt Carrier. He has quite a bit of experience surfing and despite his claims, he seems to know what he's doing. I still don't.

Matt and I paddled out Masonborro inlet and turned south in front of Masonborro island. Matt noticed the smooth waves and suggested we surf. I figured, why not? I have most of my earthly possessions on my front deck, my boat is for sale, I'm way in over my head, what can go wrong?

My first run in went fairly well. On my way back out, I lost everything on my deck. Matt and I managed to grab everything and I stuffed it in my day hatch. On my next run in, I decided to find a small wave. I found one and somehow managed to not see the big on right behind it. I tried to roll back up, but I was still in the surf and it was a waste of energy. I went for a swim and then rode the surf up the beach.

I decided that it was time for Matt to try out my HV in the surf. He loved it. I enjoyed watching someone who knew what they were doing.

At this point, you'd think I'd do something smart, like say, stop while everything was still intact. But, sadly, no. I had to give it one more shot.

I believe it's called wiping out. Not only was it ugly, I lost my nice sunglasses.

Matt and I headed back in the inlet and over to the mass of boats that had collected behind Masonborro to celebrate Memorial Day. We greatly enjoyed the scenery. We narrowly avoided getting run over by drunk boaters and peed on by drunk losers. We were mocked for our funny outfits by drunk bikinis, and made to look old and slow by some young punk on a surfski. It was a great day.

One of the gripes I have with my Explorer HV is that it feels slow. Whether or not it is actually slow has to do with the engine (aka me). Speed isn't the issue, efficiency is. Is the Explorer an efficient kayak? Compared to what? The most common measure of efficiency is Winters/KAPER (more info). Using that data as published in Sea Kayaker Magazine, I was able to generate the following graph. The lines represent the percentage difference in efficiency as compared to the explorer.

Based on this data, the Explorer doesn't do too badly below 4.5 knots. Between 4.5 and 5.0, the Explorer seems to hit a wall. At 5 knots, the Valley Aquanaut is over 7% more efficient, the Impex Force 5 is 4% more efficient and the CD Gulfstream is 1.6% more efficient. At 6 knots, the Explorer looks downright pokey. The Aquanaut is 16% more efficient, the Force 5 is 10% more efficient, and the Gulfstream is 8% more efficient. There are clearly more efficient kayaks than the Explorer at higher speeds. What about lower ones?

At 3 knots, the Valley Nordkapp LV is 5.88% more efficient, the CD Cypress is 3.3% more efficient, and the CD Gulfstream is 3% more efficient. At 4 knots, the Nordkapp LV is 3% more efficient, the Cypress is 2.2% more efficient and the Gulfstream is .5% more efficient.

None of these numbers seem to contradict conventional wisdom. It is generally believed that the Aquanaut is "fast" and the Explorer is "slow". It's obvious that the Aquanaut is more efficient at higher speeds. The Nordkapp LV is a bit of an oddball. It is said to be a fast kayak, but the data does not support that. It is more efficient than the Explorer below 4.5 knots and less efficient above. That explains the kayak's quick acceleration, but not the perception of top end speed.

What does all of this mean in the real world? Do a few percentage points of efficiency really matter? I don't think so. If I'm going to go a long way really fast, then I'd prefer to do it in an Aquanaut. However, most of my paddling is done right in the range in which the Explorer is fairly efficient. It may feel slow, but the data seems to indicate that it's a problem with me, not the kayak.