One commonly cited quote for great speed in a baidarka is: "We supposed the strong tide to run near 8 knots per hour, for on heaving the Log once We found ourselves going thro' the water above 6 knots, yet falling fast astern by the land. At this time the Indians in their Seal skin Canoes kept way with us very easily." this is from James Trevenen a midshipman on Cook's expedition in 1778. Notes from the ships astronomer noted that: "the ebb tide met us from the north--running so strong that we could not stem it tho we had a fine breeze at SSW... ...which makes a very great Race, & Rough Sea..." While it may have surprised someone used to large sailing boats that a small canoe could keep up with them in a high current with rough waves, it should not surprise a kayaker. An out-flowing tide with an on-shore breeze sets up the ideal situation for some excellent surfing. With these conditions, a skilled paddler should have no problems moving up against the tide even if their kayak is not exceptionally fast. These feats of great speed are still obtainable. I've passed a 40' sail boat going wing-on-wing in a 15 to 20 knot wind without working too hard. You just need the right conditions. It is quite possible the other historical accounts of extraordinary baidarka performance have reasonable explanations that have nothing to do with lost secrets of the Aleuts. The Aleuts were extraordinarily strong and skiled. There is no doubt that they were consistently able to make their boats do things that most of us modern paddlers can only dream of. It would be mistake to assume their performance was primarily due to some magic property of their boats. The Aleut paddlers were quite capable of taking advantage of favorable conditions. >Bill wrote; >(SNIP) > >>So why do I bring this up? A year or so ago I was having a conversation >>with Robert Morris of Brewery Creek Small Boats, who teaches the >>construction of skin covered baidarkas, Greenland kayaks, etc. Robert >>claimed that traditional baidarkas paddled faster than many people would >>think. We discussed the fact that the original seal skins might have had >>an effect like adding some oil (or whatever) to the boundary layer and >>working like a visco-elastic fluid. Does anyone have any definite >>knowledge of this? Have there been any efforts to use visco-elastic >fluids >>to increase the performance of human powered vessels? Does anyone know if >>there are coatings that might "ablate" and effect the drag performance of >a >>kayak or canoe? Nick Schade Guillemot Kayaks 10 Ash Swamp Rd Glastonbury, CT 06033 (860) 659-8847 Schade_at_guillemot-kayaks.com http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/ >>>>"It's not just Art, It's a Craft!"<<<< *************************************************************************** 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 Nov 10 1998 - 07:04:19 PST
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