Re: [Paddlewise] Ocean play boats

Tim,

The coaster is the standard by which all other rock garden boats are
measured. A new kayak which you may want to investigate however is the
Sun Kayaks' Velocity. This boat was designed by Corran Addison, who is one
of the leaders in whitewater kayak design. It is 13' long, and is claimed
to be good in the surf. I otherwise know nothing about it, except that it
costs ~$700, and that Riot makes good surfing whitewater kayaks. You can
learn more about it on www.riotkayaks.com

Other short plastic boats are the Necky Looksha IV sport, and the
Northwest Kayaks Sportee (a Coaster knockoff, with all of its bad looks
and none of its good handling... or so I've heard).

Incidently, Pygmy has a new 14' Arctic Tern which they are about to
release on the public. It was designed for use in rock gardens and surf.

Cheers,
kevin

	 ___________________                                                            
	/   Kevin Whilden   \
       |Dept. of Geosciences ___
       |University of Washington \
       |kwhilden_at_u.washington.edu| 
        ________________________/                       

On Tue, 25 May 1999, Mattson, Timothy G wrote:

> 
> I need help with my next boat purchase and thought I'd draw on the
> collective wisdom of the paddlewise group.  
> 
> Let me set the stage a bit.
> 
> This weekend, I was exploring some cool rock gardens around Yaquina head in
> Oregon. I love this type of paddling.  I use my Plastic Sea Lion when I play
> in the rocks since its more maneuverable than my Glider and it doesn't make
> me cringe when I slam into a rock (cheap plastic boats are great for that).
> 
> Unfortunately, the sea lion totally sucks in the surf.  It loves to pearl.
> And with its high weight, cranking it around to get positioned in the waves
> is really hard.  I put up with it, though, since I really don't have a
> better boat to use in this situation.
> 
> Well, this weekend, I realized that my use of the Sea Lion in breaking waves
> isn't just hard -- its dangerous.  A big wave (probably 8 feet, though it
> looked like 20 --- if you know what I mean) grabbed me and started to hurl
> me to shore.  To my horror, the Sea Lion immediately started to pearl
> setting me up for a very ugly face plant (and possible serious injury in the
> shallow water).  I violently wrenched the boat into a broach and layed down
> into the breaking wave to side surf  through the  chaos.  The maneuver
> worked, but the violent gyrations and intense bracing injured the muscles in
> my upper arm.  
> 
> My arm will heal, but I'm too old to batter my body like this.  It can't be
> the conditions (afterall, I can't imagine staying away from the sruf zone),
> so it must be my boat.  I need a sea kayak that cruises well, is highly
> manuverable, and doesn't pearl so easilly.  I need a "sea kayak playboat"! A
> boat that cruises OK but is maneuverable for surf, rock gardens and sea
> caves.
> 
> I've been "talking" to Matt Broze about the coaster and have almost decided
> to head up to Seattle and buy one.  But, I want to get other opinions first.
> Do any of you out there use Coasters?  What do you think?  I'm short stubby
> and fat (5'8" and 225 pounds) but I think I will fit.
> 
> Anyone in the Portland Oregon or Corvallis areas have one I can look at?
> I'd love to sit in one and make sure I fit before taking the road trip up
> north to try one out.  Better yet. Does anyone in the Northwest have a used
> one they'd like to sell?
> 
> Any other "sea kayak play boats" you'd recommend?  I've heard the pintail is
> nice for this type of paddling.  Any other strong, ocean play boats you'd
> recommend?  
> 
> thank you,
> 
> --Tim
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