John Lull wrote: > Dan pointed out that even whitewater kayaks can be paddled at 3 to 4 > knots. And of course they are very maneuverable; however they require > considerably more effort to paddle on the open sea than a boat like > the Coaster. Anyone who doubts this should get out on a stormy day in > their rodeo boat (or even a Dancer) and try paddling a few miles! In > a Coaster you would be having fun (assuming you have the skills to > paddle storm seas); in the whitewater river kayak, you'd be cursing. I suspect that this is true, and was not seriously suggesting that whitewater boats make good sea kayaks. But I do think that it would be fun to play around a bit with this approach--to explore its limits. This might also shed some light on the questions that Kevin has raised. You certainly present some very persuasive arguments on behalf of the Coaster. Some (but not all) of the benefits to which you refer can also be achieved in a longer boat with substantial rocker, which is the approach that I have taken. I have often thought of adding a Coaster to my "fleet", and may still do so. But I must heartily disagree with you about the looks. It is about as ugly as a boat can be. :-) Still, I suppose that one comes to appreciate the looks over time, or at least learns to look beyond the surface ugliness to see the inner beauty. Happy paddling! Dan Hagen *************************************************************************** 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 13 1998 - 10:59:57 PDT
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