Kirby Stevens wrote: I would like to comment on the short boat issue. Northwest Kayaks makes a small kayak called the Sportee. It comes in both the plastic and fiberglass varieties, it is very responsive and dynamite for surfing. K.Stevens Yes, the Sportee is a nice boat in the short sea kayak catagory (in fiberglass-forget the plastic one); too bad the cockpit is so large, though. The other short sea kayak of reasonable quality is the Necky Looksha Sport, but the stern is relatively high volume and there is a relatively high rocker for a sea kayak. So the boat tends to weathervane. Now we've talked about all the short sea kayaks I know of. If I listed all the 17 to 18 foot long sea kayaks, you'd spend 3 hours reading this e-mail. I've got nothing against the longer boats (I even own one); but I doubt that most kayakers realize the potential of the shorter boats. Then again, I guess there aren't too many ocean rock garden paddlers out there. John Lull *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Jon Lull wrote: > Yes, the Sportee is a nice boat in the short sea kayak catagory (in > fiberglass-forget the plastic one); too bad the cockpit is so large, > though. The other short sea kayak of reasonable quality is the Necky > Looksha Sport, but the stern is relatively high volume and there is a > relatively high rocker for a sea kayak. So the boat tends to weathervane. > Now we've talked about all the short sea kayaks I know of. If I listed > all the 17 to 18 foot long sea kayaks, you'd spend 3 hours > reading this Well, ok, I'm not trying to suggest the Edisto is some incredible performance boat; but I'd definately say its of "reasonable quality". I spent several hours in the surf with it Saturday, practicing launches and landings; and I have to say it performed just fine. Its not a surfing boat, but we did ok, once I learned how to properly brace into the wave. And once past the surf, I had no difficulty paddling through the wierd waves caused by swells from the East and wind from the North. The Edisto is 14.5', which is short by most folks standards; though it is as long a boat as I can currently store. When you give up length, you give up speed, its as simple as that. No sense trying to wish it weren't so. The Edisto is perfectly comfortable to paddle between 3-4 kts; and as I rarely see anyone in the longer boats actually paddling above 4 kts, I don't think I'm missing out on much. Richard Walker Houston, TX *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
On Mon, 12 Oct 1998, R. Walker wrote: > > Jon Lull wrote: > > Yes, the Sportee is a nice boat in the short sea kayak catagory (in > > fiberglass-forget the plastic one); too bad the cockpit is so large, > > though. The other short sea kayak of reasonable quality is the Necky > > Looksha Sport, but the stern is relatively high volume and there is a > > relatively high rocker for a sea kayak. So the boat tends to weathervane. > > Now we've talked about all the short sea kayaks I know of. If I listed > > all the 17 to 18 foot long sea kayaks, you'd spend 3 hours > > reading this > > Well, ok, I'm not trying to suggest the Edisto is some incredible > performance boat; but I'd definately say its of "reasonable quality". [snip] also depends on who's calling it a "sea kayak"!! i paddle the prijon yukon expedition [14'6"] which is _called_ a sea kayak!! and also the aquaterra spectrum, which is the same length. both are more like a "river touring" boat. they take some work to keep straight, but will turn very well heeled up... mark #------canoeist[at]netbox[dot]com----http://www.diac.com/~zen/mark ---- # mark zen o, o__ o_/| o_. po box 474 </ [\/ [\_| [\_\ ft. lupton, co 80621-0474 (`-/-------/----') (`----|-------\-') #~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~ http://www.diac.com/~zen/paddler [index to club websites i administer] Rocky Mtn Sea Kayak Club, Colorado River Flows, Poudre Paddlers The Colorado Paddlers' Resource, Rocky Mtn Canoe Club Trip Page -- Fortune: "In a world without fences, who needs 'Gates'" -- Scott McNealy "In a world without walls, who needs 'Windows'" -- Dave Livigni *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
On Mon, 12 Oct 1998 11:48:25 -0700 John Lull <wavestalker_at_coastside.net> writes: > >Yes, the Sportee is a nice boat in the short sea kayak catagory (in >fiberglass-forget the plastic one); too bad the cockpit is so large, >though. The other short sea kayak of reasonable quality is the Necky >Looksha Sport, but the stern is relatively high volume and there is a >relatively high rocker for a sea kayak. So the boat tends to >weathervane. Now we've talked about all the short sea kayaks I know >of. If I listed all the 17 to 18 foot long sea kayaks, you'd spend 3 >hours reading this e-mail. I've got nothing against the longer boats >(I even own one); but I doubt that most kayakers realize the potential >of the shorter boats. Then again, I guess there aren't too many ocean >rock garden paddlers out there. > >John Lull I paddle a short sea kayak. I have a Baldwin Downriver K-1 outfitted with deck lines and a rudder. The boat is 13 feet, 2 inches long with a 24 inch beam. It is kevlar without gelcoat and weighs under 25 pounds with floatation bags. The boat has little rocker, tracks well and is very resistant to weather cocking. These days, I only use the rudder when paddling through a concrete culvert from my favorite launch site for access to a tidal creek, as I did this morning. It is a low volume boat and sometimes a very wet ride. I bought this boat while living in Rhode Island and used it exclusively in Narragansett Bay. Under those conditions it was very well behaved except in following seas where it was a constant struggle to surf down the wave front and not broach. Since moving to Virginia two years ago, I paddle tidal creeks and rivers and the length is ideal for some of the twisted creeks that I paddle. I've been lurking on this list for several months and enjoy it. I'm 60 years old and paddle a couple times a week, for exercise and mental relaxation. Richard Wilson ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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