Re: [Paddlewise] wide folding kayaks, design restriction?

I see mainly folding kayaks in the startup day of PaddleWise.  I hope we
can switch to other subjects.  Folding kayaks bore me :-) 

Jackie Fenton wrote:
 
> Ralph, do you remember what the beam width of the Khatsalano without sponsons
> was?  I don't think they sell it any longer and now have two different
> thicknesses of sponsons.

The original, which came out without sponsons, was around 22 inch in
beam.  Prototypes were real tough to paddle and, even the production one
that came out, scared the bejeez out of all but the most skilled of
greenland-accustomed paddlers.  I know when I first tested the first
prototype, I could hardly let go of the dock and quickly switched to a
hardshell!!!  As I learned later, the boat wanted to rest on somewhat on
its side.  Given winter paddling conditions and even wearing a dry suit,
I didn't want to learn how far to the side it wished to rest!!!

The reason that they no longer offer a strictly non-sponsoned one was
the delicate nature of the boat's stability.  The replacement with
smallish sponsons is convertible, i.e. you can blow up the sponsons or
not depending on conditions and your own comfort factor.

> me if it has :-) but Dan might want to spend some time in both (a lot of
> time) to see which one he'd rather spend three weeks touring in.   As far
> as size issue, don't backpackers head off into the woods for weeks at a
> time?  I would think the KhatsalanoS would have at least the equivalent of
> two large packpacks worth of room ? 

Well certainly in that direction.  Anytime you think of a backpack for
hiking and the stuff that goes into, you pretty much have somewhat
similar space in just about any kayak.

 The Khatsalano S was one of the boats
> we used on a multi-day trip to Horn Island off the Mississippi coast (story
> and pictures at http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/hornIs.html )  Bob had some
> difficulty in paddling the Khat in some windy conditions, if I remember
> correctly (or it could have been currents but the problem was lessened when
> he repacked the boat and redistributed the weight).  Would folding kayaks
> be more sensitive to weight distribution than a similarly designed hardshell?
> In other words, would the folding kayak paddler have to be much more careful
> about weight distribution for paddling efficiency?

The Khats in any of its forms is susceptible to weathercocking under
some wind conditions.  It was the trial test of the prototype on a
camping trip that convinced the designers to add a rudder as an option
(and now standard) even though it was not a purist solution.

I don't believe that folding kayaks are any different in how you load
them for certain sea and wind conditions.  What matters more is
commonality of design.  A folding kayak that resembles a certain model
hardshell will be equally sensitive to how gear weight is distributed.

ralph

-- 
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Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter
PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024
Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com
"Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag."
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