RE: [Paddlewise] Instability of folding kayaks (was Re: Rolling a K-lite)

At 09:00 AM 9/12/00 -0700, Rob Cookson wrote:
>Hi Kevin,
>
>Can you name one instance where two paddlers of like skill were out in rough
>water, one in a stable boat and one in a narrow boat, where the narrow boat
>remained upright and the stable boat capsized?

Hi Rob,
You know something... I cannot name a situation like you describe. I also 
cannot name the converse either. It's weird, but I have never been on a sea 
kayak trip where someone has capsized unintentionally outside of the surf 
zone. It seems like I either paddle with people who are very skilled 
whitewater boaters, or in conditions that are very benign. I have capsized 
personally on solo trips, but that doesn't help either. But it sounds like 
you have an opinion on whether high initial stability can become a 
liability, so let's hear it!
Kevin





> >
> > Ralph, I think there is line between when folding kayaks are more
> > stable or
> > less stable than narrow hardshell boats, which I would like to define a
> > little better and eliminate confusion.
> >
> > I am skeptical that folding kayaks are so stable in waters that
> > some people
> > on this list would call "absolutely insane". This is definitely a
> > relative
> > term, is it not? Never having paddled a folding kayak in rough seas, I
> > cannot say for sure, but I have always thought that too much primary
> > stability increases the chance of capsize in big steep waves or really
> > nasty (by my metric) tide rips.  For example, has anyone paddled a wide
> > folding kayak in the tide rip behind the surf wave at Skookumchuck? Now
> > that is what I call "insane waters"  -- I have never seen a more confused
> > mixture of  2-3 foot high boils with an occasional deep violent
> > whirlpool.
> > Even the hardcore whitewater crazies avoid that place, and choose
> > to float
> > down a 1/4 mile (in rodeo boats) before trying to cross that eddy fence.
> > But if one were to find themselves in an eddy fence of that magnitude, I
> > would rather be in a narrow "tippy" boat with great secondary stability
> > than in wide "stable" boat with high primary stability. Then I would be
> > more able to react with an insta-brace.
> >
> > In a less extreme example, such as steep wind waves, high primary
> > stability
> > tends to make the boat lie flat relative to the local water's
> > surface. But
> > if that surface is nearly vertical (as in a steep wave), then a
> > capsize is
> > imminent unless the paddler attempts an ill-advised down-wave brace (a
> > danger for shoulder dislocations). A low primary, high secondary
> > stability
> > boat can just edge into the steep wave ever so slightly, ride
> > over it, and
> > have no fear of capsize. Again, since I have never paddled a
> > folding kayak
> > in rough water, at what point does the high initial stability become a
> > drawback in terms of remaining upright?
> >


Kevin Whilden
Your Planet Earth
http://www.yourplanetearth.org
(206) 788-0281 (ph)
(206) 788-0284 (f)

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