Re: [Paddlewise] A Rudder Experience

From: Roger Korn <rkorn_at_europa.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1998 06:56:13 -0800
John Winters wrote:

> <snip>... In my much stupider youth I once tried to ride
> the wake of a barge tow. Great fun but great stupidity. We were sucked
> along so fast we actually made headway directly into the wind with the
> sails luffing. All went well until we realised we were being drawn ever
> closer to the stern of the barge. Talk about panic. Just barely escaped. I
> was still shaking when we finished the race.

<snip>
This works very well here on the Columbia River with log boom tows. The surface
water moves fairly rapidly forward until you are about 10 feet behind the log
boom, then slows to zero speed with respect to the logs. The kayak gently
nudges the logs and sits there while you eat lunch, have a beer, whatever. The
deeper circulation behind a laden barge, however, produces a violent sheer in
the vertical plane just behind the barge. I don't want to try that out, because
I don't know where I'd be swept in the event of a capsize.

Roger

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Received on Tue Nov 17 1998 - 06:59:28 PST

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