Re: [Paddlewise] A Serious Question

At 08:36 AM 4/15/01 -0700, Grant Emison wrote:

>Right now I am in a similar position.  I am a novice
>paddler with two years experience in a prijon seayak,
>a 16’ plastic boat with a 24” beam.  I have had no
>formal instruction, although I go out with more
>experienced kayakers and am able to do assisted and
>self-rescues.



>I thought it would be nice to get a better boat… one
>that was lighter and easier to transport, that would
>not take so much effort to paddle a dozen miles, a
>boat I could grow into.  I live in a row house in
>Cambridge so I liked the idea of getting a foldable.
>I was also intrigued with them because of their
>portability.  I read “a boat in our baggage” by Maria
>Coffey.  The khatsalano promised to provide the
>benefits of a foldable and give me the higher
>performance boat I wanted.  I just bought one used.  I
>have been out in it three times.  It certainly is a
>boat to grow into.
>
>The thing has very little primary stability.  It
>sucked away all of the confidence I built with my
>Prijon.  I feel somewhere between uncomfortable and
>unsafe just paddling on the Charles River with it.  I
>plan to get some instruction and climb down the
>learning curve so that I will be able to enjoy the
>boat and eventually venture back into the harbor and
>the bay out of the protected waters of the Charles.
>It will be interesting to see how much time it takes
>me to feel as confident in a hard chined 22” beam boat
>as I did in the 24” round one.

First of all, don't sell that Prijon Seayak short.  It's
still got a lot of growing into available.  I've paddled one
quite a few times as a friend of mine sells them.  I've been
out in some pretty rough conditions in a Seayak and it handles
them quite well.

I think that instruction in this case will help a lot, especially
the development of strong bracing skills.  While that Khat has lower
initial stability the secondary stability is quite good.  Without a
good brace you're likely going to try and keep that boat on a level
plane all the time.  That's where it's going to feel "twitchy".  With
good bracing skills you'll feel more confident putting the boat on edge
and taking advantage of the strong secondary stability.

You're also probably finding the because the Khat has lower initial
stability that you're more tense out of fear capsizing.  The more
you loosen up your hips, the more stable that boat will feel.


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