Hiyall! My penny's worth to this discussion: Learning the habits of my new kayak (Nordkapp) started with capsizing with it last May into a sea water of 4 degrees centigrades. Kinda got my motivation to learn to a new level, you know ;-) and to pay attention to wear my dry-suit... (Though I have been a very active sea-kayaker during the last four years). Started expeditions last June after few shorter two-day solo trips, longest taking 2 and half weeks. Found the Nordkapp a real pleasure to paddle, especially when fully packed and even within rougher weather conditions. I am weighing 70 kilos and I am rather small (175 centimetres) - so I do think that this rather narrow kayak is perfect for me. And it did not take year or two to learn. Earnestly: the instructor´s advise given to Ralph Diaz ("... an instructor saying that if I wasn't prepared to spend a year at it paddling at least once a week in winter and several times a week in season, I should avoid this boat...") sounds really exaggerated to me. To me, Nordkapp "handles" well. Again, an old comment: it is the kayaker, not the kayak - find a suitable one for yourself. Anyway: I do strongly agree with John Winters. John is quite correct when commenting that paddling a more challenging boat does improve ones skills (whatever a "challenging" boat is..) - I would never developed my strokes without such a responding kayak, or paid more attention to body moves (waist, hips, muscles in legs and in my back) when meeting waves. [Really, not a natural-born talent :-)] Cheers, Ari Saarto "Home of the Traditional & Famous Scandinavian Skinny-dipping [TM]" Finland - Europe GSM +358 - 50 - 526 5892 fax. +358 - 3 - 828 2815 e-mail: asaarto_at_lpt.fi *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Oct 06 1998 - 03:06:09 PDT
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