Peter Rattenbury: ... You mention that the Klepper has a 'river boat' heritage. I guess that's right, but I am sure you will also agree that a good 'ol boat in capable hands is still a safe prospect at sea. And I have found that at the end of the day, ie, six hours into a head wind and sea, I am still there with the glass and plastic boats. Not the fastest, not the most fashionable, but still there. And I really appreciate the design's seaworthiness, almost an intangible, but over long hours at sea, the ability to sail, the ability to not expend energy on maintaining stability/tracking in high wind/seas compared with some boats, and the relative chances of a successful re-entry on capsize, all combine to make it a plus for survivability. ... Ralph Hoehn: Peter, your paragraph above makes a good approach in the context of harsh reality on what is usually the "myth of seaworthiness": You make the point that a "good ol' boat in capable hands is still a safe prospect at sea". (Sounds as if you've been reading Joshua Slocum! :-) I not only whole heartedly agree, but cannot mention it often enough: It is the combination of the boat AND the paddler, that makes for seaworthiness. Shackleton and his men survived because of their skills, as well as being in a small but excellent (life) boat. Pawlata ranted on (even worse than I do :-) about the fact that the advantages of being sealed into a decked boat could only be fully exploited through appropriate paddling skills (in his case that included rolling because of the type of craft and paddling environment which he favoured). My own experience at sea, especially in surf landings, tells the same story. It almost appears that you feel that you need to defend the Klepper as a result of my comments. Not so, I had no intention of provoking such a reaction! Traditional singles by Folbot, Nautiraid and Pouch fall into the same category of "river touring boats" and are all paddled successfully and safely (with a portion of luck, never forget that at sea!!) on salt water in capable hands and I love them for it. Enough said! Ralph Hoehn *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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