Josh Tietelbaum wrote: "I would be very interested in comments to Michael Hoichman's post [about his experiences with the Feathercraft Khatsalano]. [snip] What do people have to say about the wave and rolling problems Michael encountered." I passed many pleasurable hours in a Khats before it's fatal encounter with a not-quite-open garage door, so here goes. Among Michael's complaints were difficulty rolling the boat, and an uncomfortable seat. I can sympathize. I can still remember my first attempt to roll the Khats, which almost ended in failure. In my case the problem was readily apparent, as at the end of the roll my hips were several inches off the centerline of the boat. After wedging my hips in place by attaching (with Velcro) foam hip pads to the seat sling, I found the Khats remarkably easy to roll. I don't know, but it's possible that Michael experienced a similar problem. The Khats seat was uncomfortable for me in the way most kayak seats are uncomfortable. It has to do with a lack of natural padding of my posterior, and the solution which works best for me is a gel-filled seat cushion. (The new, optional, inflatable "hip fit kit" from Feathercraft offers major improvements in hip fit and back support, at least the Kahuna which I acquires last winter. But I still feel the need for padding the seat bottom.) Michael's experience of excessive flexing of the frame in moderate sea conditions leaves me scratching my head. My Khats experience included steep, local wind-driven chop in the 1+ meter range and ocean waves up to 3 meters, with launching and landing through beach surf. As with any skin-on-frame boat, the Khats flexes. It's a feature that I came to appreciate after years of crashing over steep waves in rigid fiberglass and wooden hulls. It is possible that the frame of Michael's boat was improperly assembled, or was damaged. Or perhaps Michael's experience was more like that of one published reviewer whose first encounter with a folding kayak happened to be with a Khats. The reviewer found the flexing of the frame to be a bit disconcerting. If memory serves, he decided against taking the Khats into large waves after speculating about just how much bending the frame could take without sustaining damage. The answer turns out to be: a lot. Not that I would recommend the Khats as a surf playboat, but mine withstood repeated traverses of the surf zone without damage. About that tendency of the rear hatch to leak when breaking waves pound on it: Feathercraft recommends that the hatch be supported by placing an inflated floatation bag under it. I used a foam block for the same purpose. I do agree wholeheatedly with one of Michael's observations: the sea sock, by itself, provides unreliable floatation. Every time I bailed out of the Khats cockpit (of course taking the sprayskirt with me) a gallon or more of water (4+ liters) penetrated through the seal of the sea sock at the cockpit rim, and into the hull. I never found a method of removing that water short of beaching the boat. Obviously, the sea sock must be backed up with floatation bags, and I would urge Khats owners to use Feathercraft's optional mid-bow and mid-stern bags to supplement the standard bow and stern bags. A gallon of water is enough to affect the rolling stability of the Khats a bit, but I found it more of an annoyance than a danger. Michael apparently did not assemble the Khats which he tested. If I may add one critical comment to his, it would be that prospective Khats owners should understand that a Khats takes considerably longer to assemble than do most folding kayaks. Proceeding carefully, lubricating what needed to be lubricated, I never got the assembly time under about 2 hours and 15 minutes. With more practice, I think I could have shaved maybe 30 minute off that time. But I kept my Khats fully assembled, carrying it around on the top of my car with the support of a straight ladder and multiple saddles carved from foam blocks, disassembling the boat only for routine maintenance. Mike VandammGreenbelt, MD USA(with the usual apology if the software deletes my paragraphing) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com *************************************************************************** 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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