Gerald Foodman wrote: > Doug wrote: > > > >As far as the Caribou needing a skeg, does any boat that behaves reasonably > >well really need a skeg? > > Doug, > Do you know why Chris Duff chose not to have a skeg on his Romany Explorer > for his most recent circumnavigation? (Do you know why he changed from > Nordkapp to Romany?) ( I am going to rent a Romany in San Francisco on June > 2) > Jerry Jerry, You are bound and determined to get me into trouble :-) Matt says I'm an "influential" poster ( I always wanted to be a poster boy) so I apparently need to be careful what I say. I tend to think of myself as simply a dumb ass braying into the wind. Many in Victoria might agree (Okay, not just Victoria). Fortunately, I have spoken to Chris Duff a few times (he lives just across from Victoria) both in person and on the phone. He paddles the Juan de Fuca Strait when she's a blowing, so I like him even if he did jump ship from a Nordkapp. He told me that his sciatica was bothersome of late, and that he could no longer paddle a Nordkapp comfortably, though he would of liked to continue with it for reasons that I can't put into his exact words ( I don't want to get into any more trouble!). He did say the Nordkapp HM was a stiff tracking expeditionary boat of merit, but that the downside was in a following sea, once the Nordkapp begins its inevitable broach despite early corrective strokes, it is then very difficult to get back in line again. This concurs with what a number of paddlers have reported, including Matt. I'm not too sure how well versed Chris is with edging and leaning, but I imagine his skills are good to excellent in that area. He stated he went to the Romany due to its comfortable fit, stability (he didn't say if he meant initial or secondary) for picture taking, and its ability to course correct with quick paddle action. I mentioned the skeg imperative, but he felt that would detract from storage capacity and loading options. I took note of what he was saying, as like you, one is always "all ears" when a person of some-to-alot of experience switches kayaks. Still worried about his NZ trip, I queried him again about the problems associated dealing with high winds from any point on the compass relative to his intended line of travel. He said that some fairly rough conditions had been presented out on the Strait since he acquired the Romany and had begun training with it that year, and that he had not encountered any bothersom difficulty handling the un-skegged Romany. That is the point in my life where I actually started to believe some of Matt's propaganda about proactive paddling combined with an appropriate kayak making for a "less is better" philosophy. I am completely intrigued now. Someone else on the list may know Chris and could hazard a post reply to you, but probably they are too smart to put their pre ambulatory device in their gastrointestinal receiving orifice. :-) BC'in Ya Doug Lloyd *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed May 17 2000 - 09:35:28 PDT
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