Thanks Robert for photos of this interesting-looking boat. How does it paddle in various conditions? How does it handle wind with the high front and back decks? Peter Treby. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
> Thanks Robert for photos of this interesting-looking boat. How does it > paddle in various conditions? How does it handle wind with the high front > and back decks? I am making modifications on the boat at least in my mind. I may make an "improved" version. Most of the changes that I want to make have to do with the detailing on the deck (hatches cockpit rims etc) The boat feels a little more tender than I would like in calm water. I will probably make the next version one or two centimeters wider. Short boats have to be wider for equivalent stability and I pushed this a little more than I would have wanted for my purposes. While I am paddling, I am perfectly comfortable but I have problems with photography and other hands off the paddle activities. In calm water I would consider it on a par with my Mariner (original model) in terms of its feeling of tenderness. I have taken the boat out in quite rough water/high winds on Puget Sound and inland Canadian waters. It performs well. Many people look at it and assume that it will have trouble with wind. I have not found this to be the case. Indeed, I am happier in this boat under these conditions than I am in my other boats. With the high bow and the short boat, you essentially do not have to worry about burying the bow which I perceive to be one of the most dangerous events of paddling in rough water (when going downwind -- when going upwind you just get wet). A short boat is easier to surf on the sort of chop that forms in inland waters such as Puget Sound in strong winds than is a longer kayak. The wave crests are often not far enough apart to be optimal for a conventional length kayak. There are VERY few days that I would be reluctant to paddle in Puget Sound with this boat. For me, the limiting factor is that if the wind is too strong I just cannot make that much progress against it and have to go parallel to the wind or downwind. On heavy wind days, I prefer one way trips :) When you paddle directly into the wind, most of the wind resistance comes from you. The rear hump is completely sheltered by your body. You could even make an argument that "like a race car" it causes less "turbulence" to have the hump behind you. That is, if you enjoy these abstract arguments that are easier to assert than prove. When you paddle at angles to the wind the boat seems reasonably balanced. You have to remember that this boat is very short so there is not nearly the lever arm that you would have in a conventional kayak. The decks ARE high at the bow and stern but there is not nearly as "much" bow and stern as there is in a conventional boat. It is lower in the middle than many boats. It is easy for me to change directions etc under the conditions that I have paddled. I do not "feel" the wind gripping the boat or tipping it or whatever. What about williwaws such as those in the Straits of Magellan? Well, I haven't tried the boat there. What about willy-willy's in Australia. Well, I haven't tried the boat there either. I need more experience :) On extensive trips in conventional kayaks I have, at times, carried gear on the rear deck. Sometimes quite a bit. I see pictures of others doing the same. I find it sort of surprising that I have not really been bothered by this stuff back there. I tend to forget about it. In my early days of designing boats this fact made me pretty relaxed about putting in rear humps. It is a lot more streamlined underneath the hump than piled on the deck. When I designed the Ursa 350, I was interested in really pushing a variety of things to extremes. Now that I have paddled it, I do not perceive that I "went too far". I have only paddled the Ursa 350 once in the ocean surf. I did one small paddle off the Oregon coast, and it did well. But I need more experience here. My problem is that I am getting too old to get tremendous enjoyment being thrashed around in the surf in any boat and more to the point I have gotten too fat for my dry suit. I have more experience with a predecessor of this boat (Ursa 400) which is not as extreme but shares many characteristics and which is a very capable boat in the surf. I may wander down to the LaPush pummel to see if anyone would be willing to try the boat out so I can get feedback. Frankly I personally am no longer in good enough shape to feel comfortable in the ocean surf at LaPush in the winter unless it is calmer than average. I need to find some lunatic (like Doug Lloyd ;) ) who would be interested in trying a novel design in more extreme conditions than I am willing to entertain. The boats that I have built are not extreme "rock" basher types. I would need a couple more layers of Kevlar for that :) It is fun to talk about boats and theorize but the proof is on the water. People perceive the same boat differently. I would welcome paddling with anyone from Paddlewise interested in rough water in Puget Sound. I live in Federal Way, WA on the water. When I am not working, which is alas often, I am happy to paddle. If you want to try paddling an unusual sea kayak in rough water I have some extra boats and am often game to go off on a 1-2 hour paddle. I am interested in feedback and do not mind, in the least, critical comments. Informed feedback comes from experience and is more interesting than armchair criticism, although I enjoy that as well. ------ End of Forwarded Message *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Robert, I will be at the LaPush Pummel and would be willing to give it a test if conditions aren't too hairy. If it's really big I'll stay in my surfboat. You should take your boat up to some of the sheltered spots on the Strait this winter. The waves tend to be clean and come in very definite set often 5 to 10 minutes apart. It would be a good place for checking out the boat on a big long period wave as long as you found a spot clear of other conventional surfers. Conditions yesterday would have been ideal. Waist high sets with a shoulder to head high set coming in every 10 minutes, glassy calm and only me and one other surfer. Bliss... Best, Thomas At 12:10 AM 12/29/2001 -0800, you wrote: > snip< I may wander down to the LaPush pummel to see if anyone would be willing to try the boat out so I can get feedback. Frankly I personally am no longer in good enough shape to feel comfortable in the ocean surf at LaPush in the winter unless it is calmer than average. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:25 PDT