RE: [Paddlewise] Khatsalano kayak: personal experience

Dear Josh!
 
I'd like to add another comment that Omer and Saggi tried Khatsalano-S and
disliked it very much for the same reasons. (Omer and Saggi are 5 stars BCU
instructors, with LOTS of experience and brilliant technique.) Omer said he
would definitely prefer the plastics. My wife Inna succeeded to roll it
after about about 5 attempts (and she rolls great). At some point when she
was out of the kayak for a long time, I came with NDK and we switched (both
deciding to make reenter and roll). She did reenter and roll in NDK at her
first attempt (although the foot braces didn't match her legs at all). It
took me 3 attempts to make reenter and roll in Khatsalano partially because
I messed with the sea sock but also because of the bad legs position, the
shape of the kayak and who knows why more.
 
For me there's no such thing like "a kayak for calm conditions". It can be
calm only in a lake or a bay and only if you're very close to the shore.
Anything else can be dangerous. To treat the danger you need a good kayak
and good technique. You can never rely on the forecasts in the trip. I've
experienced force 8 winds twice in the trips, and once it was followed by 6
meters high swells (and most frustrating: about 10 kilometers from the
shore). I never planned to paddle in such conditions, but the weather and
the sea can change surprisingly fast. The cockpit of the NDK explorer was
flooded with water after 10 minutes (through the spray deck). Using the pump
looked like a bad joke (you felt almost capsizing by the wind, not talking
about the waves). But the kayak stayed quite predictable and didn't sink.
Think for a moment you sit in Khatsalano...
 
Michael Hoichman
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Joshua Teitelbaum [mailto:teitelba_at_post.tau.ac.il]
Sent: Sunday, October 14, 2001 1:19 PM
To: Michael Hoichman; paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net
Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Khatsalano kayak: personal experience


Dear Friends:

I would be very interested in the comments to Michael Hoichman's post,
particularly from Matt, Ralph D., and any longtime Khats users who paddle
the open sea and do surf landings.  The reason I say this is that I know
Michael (finally, another Israeli on the list!!), he is a great paddler,
rolls fantastically, and he has my respect (sorry Michael if this makes you
blush...).  Two summers ago on Lake Union Matt let me demo a Khats.  At the
time, I liked it a lot, but was not very skilled, and certainly could not
roll.

What do people have to say about the wave and rolling problems Michael
encountered?  The Khats has been my most coveted boat since I got my NDK
Explorer, but Michael's assessment has got me to thinking...

Josh

At 12:52 14/10/01, Michael Hoichman wrote:




1. Slow (comparing to the greenlander-style boats).
2. Rolling: I needed to use quite aggressive high-brace at the end of the
roll. Comparing to NDK kayaks that can be rolled by slow sweep stroke,
sculling or even hands, it was disappointing. During the first roll the sea
sock accidentally pulled out of the kayak, the kayak was flooded (I didn't
take the air bags) and started sinking. Fortunately I was near the shore.
3. The sitting inside is very uncomfortable, the sea sock is probably the
only solution for the folding kayaks, but it is very inconvenient.
4. The surfing was bad: the kayak dangerously bended after taking a moderate
breaking wave (~1.5 meter): the bow was directed to the wave, I paddled back
until the wave braked on me. Yet, taking breaking waves aside was much
better. Anyway, I wouldn't risk to take more than 2 meters breaking wave in
this kayak.
5. The rudder accidentally opened and bended during surfing.
6. The stern hatch accidentally opened during surfing, and the water started
entering the kayak.
7. Any change in kayak load (even small amount of water) changed its
behavior. It could be difficult to predict its behavior in trips (where the
weight can be changed).
8. I was told that the kayak should be lifted by lifting both rear and front
sides simultaneously. I can hardly imagine how should I land with the kayak
during the trip (fully loaded). Should I ask 2 more people help me carrying
it to the beach?
9. Rescue: how exactly can you risqué a Khatsalano with help of another
kayak? You can't lift it, right? You have two choices: get the sea sock out
of the kayak and empty it, or use a pump. Remember that you really need a
risqué only in rough conditions where you can't exactly use the pump. Also
pulling a sea sock doesn't seem to be a good idea: the kayak will be flooded
with the first wave.

Bottom line: it could be not bad for calm traveling (lakes, calm seas).
Especially because it is transportable. It is beautiful. I wouldn't wish to
myself to get stuck in it in rough, cold sea 5 kilometers from the beach. In
general I would definitely prefer paddling a simple ugly plastic Seayak (you
can rent it almost anywhere in the world), rather than a sophisticated
Khatsalano.

============================================================================
==
Dr. Joshua Teitelbaum, Research Fellow               Tel: [972] 3-640-6448
Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and        Fax: [972] 3-641-5802
  African Studies                                                       
Tel Aviv University
Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 69978  Israel
E-mail:teitelba_at_post.tau.ac.il
www <http://www.dayan.org/> .dayan. org <http://www.dayan.org/> 
============================================================================
== 



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