Hey, was that subject line long enough? Maybe I should have written the entire message in the subject... :) I wandered over to KC Paddlers boat demo this weekend. Every year this demo gets larger and more heavily attended. I also thought this would be a good chance to try and sell my plastic Looksha IV. Strap it to the roof, park prominently with a sign and see if I get any takers. I figured the store running the demo wouldn't mind too much since they don't carry Necky boats. So after locking the boat to the roof (that lasso works well) I walked over the hill to the demo. Let's see there's the Current Designs/Wenonah tent, the Dagger tent, the Teva tent, and... gulp... the Necky tent? When did he start carrying Neckys? Oh well... Boats tried: CD Solstice GT: This makes the third year I've tried this boat and it still feels a bit large, not bad but not my cup of tea. CD Slipstream: Very tippy and a little squirelly. Didn't realize till later that I exceed the recommended max paddler weight for this boat by 20 pounds. Might be why I only marginally liked it... CD Caribou S: Nice all around. Good leans, very little effect from the wind (and we had a decent breeze) or waves. Liked it. Skipped the CD Extreme since I paddled it last year and already know I like it. Didn't see the GTS HV till I was leaving and didn't have time to try it. Necky Looksha IV fiberglass: Ahhh, this boat is even better in FG. Love that secondary stability. Admittedly the waves and wind weren't as severe as what I had a week ago on Perry Lake but the FG doesn't seem to have the plastics tendency to broach when running with the waves. Now can I get this with a skeg and not a rudder? Necky Arluk III: Nice, I'm really liking the Necky boats. Liked the Looksha IV more but the Arluk was nice. Skipped the Dagger Meridian. I tried it the last two years and don't like it much. No definite reason, it just ain't what I'm after. The rolling trick: Two guys rolled a double kayak. The first time they made it look easy but commented once they were up that they didn't think they would make it since they were so loose in the boat (it was a big boat, as most doubles are). They tried a second time and the guy in the front fell out. The rear paddler still made the roll but he cheated. he didn't realize it but all of us on shore pointed out that he stuck the paddle to the bottom of the lake (he was only in three feet of water) and used that to roll. Their first roll was a "legal" roll. Learning to roll is high on my list this year. :) The real reason I went to the demo wasn't to paddle kayaks (I already have my Romany Explorer on order, 1.5 weeks till I get it). This spring I talked my dad into a tandem canoeing class and he is really enjoying canoeing. :) The boat I have is a Minnesota II. While a great tripping boat it isn't exactly highly maneouverable. I wanted to prove to him that there are canoes that can turn quicker than mine. Plus I wouldn't mind getting a smaller, heavier skinned (my MN II is ultra-light kevlar) canoe for the Kansas river and the streams in the Ozarks (local water for me). So we tried: Wenonah Adirondack: This ended up being our favorite. Tracks well, but it can really turn when you need it to. Had great glide and could really move in a straight line when you needed it to. Stable without being overly stable. Just felt comfortable. We paddled it three times during the comparison. Wenonah Spirit II: Basically the Adirondack with one more foot of length. We liked the quicker turning of the Adirondack over the Spirit II, but a nice boat. Dagger Reflection 16: Very similar to the Adirondack. We paddled it twice back to back with the Adirondack. The only thing that made it come in second was that when running with the waves it felt like we were dragging something. Strange but noticeable. Besides that it was a great boat. Bell Northstar and Morningstar. Didn't like either one of these. My wife and I paddled a Bell expedition boat last year when we picked the MN II and didn't like it either. To date I haven't found a single Bell that I like. They seemed unstable, hard to control, and very little tracking. Plus I don't like the way they do their trim on the gunwales. The sharp metal edge is uncomfotable. Anyways, a fun day playing on the water in many boats. And my dad may buy the Adirondack in Royalex. It would be fun to paddle. :) Oh, and not a single person even asked about my boat. Hmmm, it's in good condition, no problems. Maybe everyone was there just to play and not buy. <shrug> Mel --- There are three types of people, those who can count and those who can't. --== Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ ==-- Before you buy. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
At 06:41 AM 5/8/00 -0700, Mel Grindol wrote: >Hey, was that subject line long enough? Maybe I should have written the >entire message in the subject... :) > >The rolling trick: Two guys rolled a double kayak. The first time they >made it look easy but commented once they were up that they didn't think >they would make it since they were so loose in the boat (it was a big boat, >as most doubles are). They tried a second time and the guy in the front >fell out. The rear paddler still made the roll but he cheated. he didn't >realize it but all of us on shore pointed out that he stuck the paddle to >the bottom of the lake (he was only in three feet of water) and used that to >roll. Their first roll was a "legal" roll. A couple of friends of mine did their first sucessful tandem roll last weekend too. One them, along with another person took out a Seaward Naia for it's maiden voyage as the new tandem for my friends rental fleet. Josh is primarily a whitewater kayaker (as was his paddling partner) so he was getting a kick out of how stable the Naia was and how much he had to lean to get it on edge. I was at the dock when they came back in and Josh's partner was up front paddling while he was standing up between the cockpits. They pulled up to the dock and another friend (Mike) got in so that he and Josh could try rolling it. They knew it wasnt' going to be easy since the boat has a fairly flat hull and is 30" wide. Their first attempt failed, as did their second so they wet exited and emptied the boat. Then Josh got in, and tried rolling it by himself. He rolled it twice, giving everyone an opportunity to jokingly point out "where the problem was" when they had tried to roll it together. Mike got back in and they decided Josh would tap on the hull three times, then they'd both try to roll. It worked perfectly and they came up easily. Next, the woman that was paddling with Josh got in and they tried rolling it together. Another successful roll ensued. Josh wanted to try rolling it with the woman (never did get her name) just leaned forward and grabbed the cockpit. After the first attempt failed, the woman exited and Josh waited and try to roll it after she was out. Unfortunately, she came up just about where he was set up for his roll, and the paddle pushed her back under. He came out of the boat and she came back up and they decided that was enough. > >Learning to roll is high on my list this year. :) > >The real reason I went to the demo wasn't to paddle kayaks (I already have >my Romany Explorer on order, 1.5 weeks till I get it). The Romany will be a good boat to learn in too. I'd love to have one myself. >So we tried: > >Wenonah Adirondack: This ended up being our favorite. Tracks well, but it >can really turn when you need it to. Had great glide and could really move >in a straight line when you needed it to. Stable without being overly >stable. Just felt comfortable. We paddled it three times during the >comparison. My wife and I bought an Adirondack a couple of summers ago. We really like it too. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
I had no idea there were any Paddlewise folks in the KC area! I was the "guy in the front" of the tandem that Mel wrote about. We were "test driving" a Dagger Trinidad. Our first attempt at a roll worked out OK, although we had never given it a shot before. Unfortunately, the Trinidad we were paddling didn't have any thigh braces and has a huge "roomy" cockpit (as the 2000 Dagger catalog describes it). On our second attempt, we capsized and I just kept going down! I was out of the cockpit before I knew it. I wasn't happy at all with the Trinidad. Very difficult to turn- it paddled like a big barge. Hope you have some luck selling your boat, Mel! I think you are right in that the folks at the demo were just there to play around. I know I was- I have absolutely no cash for boats these days, not even a used one... tm >The rolling trick: Two guys rolled a double kayak. The first time they >made it look easy but commented once they were up that they didn't think >they would make it since they were so loose in the boat (it was a big boat, >as most doubles are). They tried a second time and the guy in the front >fell out. The rear paddler still made the roll but he cheated. he didn't >realize it but all of us on shore pointed out that he stuck the paddle to >the bottom of the lake (he was only in three feet of water) and used that to >roll. Their first roll was a "legal" roll. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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