[Paddlewise] FW: [Paddlewise ?]

>>
To liven up the list I have a question that I really want answered and   not
be thrown off the list for,( No I am not Tim Sp*ns*n ) Has any one really
had any experience with sponsons? In real life. I would not buy them
because of tim but can see that they could be good for some circumstance
but not for others. Most of the post on that other list were about tim or
scientific but I have learned that real use will tell the truth.(
Scientific - Bumble bees can't fly) I do not know any one that has used
them or owns them that will admit to it, so all I have is a negative   feeling.

thanks I hope
Dana

PS sorry Jackie for using this list in vain with this post.
>>

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I have never tried them myself, but I know four kayakers who
have. One is Andy Knapp, who is now a subscriber to Wave~
Length. He carried them on his Lake Superior crossing to use
with a sea anchor if  the weather turned nasty or he became ill.
Since he chose his time well, he never used them. If I remember
correctly, he never tried them in waves higher than about a foot,
and I think he also mentioned that they were awkward to deploy.

Don Dimond also carried sponsons on his Great Lakes crossings
to use with a sea anchor in case of a storm or while relieving
himself in waves, but also never deployed them. He, also, has not
tried them in big waves. However, he told me they were a big
psychological comfort, and that he wrote Tim to say as much.

I have seen sponson clips on a kayak belonging to local sea
kayaking instructor Robert Wolf, but I have no idea why he
installed them, unless it was because he at one time planned
to make a crossing with Don.

The fourth kayaker, Clayton, I met in the Apostle Islands last
Memorial Day weekend. When I asked about the sponson
clips on his Nordkapp, he said he mostly paddled by himself,
and they were there to help him back into his kayak in case
he missed his roll. I later heard that Clayton then had no
experience with group rescues or paddle-float rescues (I don't
know about a reentry and roll -- he certainly had the skills if
not the practice).

So far, anyway, I have have never met a kayaker who could
not roll who was equipped with sponsons. It is my experience
that it is often the kayakers with the least skills and are the
least prepared who are the most sure of themselves -- and
that is the market Tim is aiming at.

Chuck Holst


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