Re: [Paddlewise] Andomeda

Steve Scherrer wrote:

> Doug and all,
>
> My testing of the Andromeda ranges from a 5-day, 100 mile trip down
the
> Willamette river to a 15NM upriver, downwind trip near Astoria.

<big snip>

Steve,
Thank you for the report (snipped). It was much more objective than
prior
comments, and I really appreciate you taking the time from your busy day
to jot
down your observations. My backchanneling friend will appreciate the
information
too, I'm sure. Your observations largely confirm what I know about the
P&H
version, though I have no intimate knowledge if the Andromeda and the
Sirius are
related - they just look very similar in terms of hull geometry. One
needs to be
a narrow kayak enthusiast to apprehend the desirability of a kayak like
the
Andomeda. There were days in the past when NA kayak shops _wouldn't_
carry such
a narrow boat - and now they are being fully marketed. Interesting, eh?

I know Tom gave up his Sirius for precisely the same reasons you
mention, namely
weathercocking. So, you think you got a rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! I've heard
Tom
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! for 10 days on the west coast (a
particularly
nasty trip we did in constant gale force winds, and he is a top notch
paddler
BTW). Anyway, if the Andromeda is a worthy boat, the market place will
bear this
out in time. As a company, I like Current Designs, but if a spade is a
spade,
the dust will settle where it may with this boat. I've always preferred
a
rounder hull myself than the "V" chine like the Andromeda, but do suffer
trying
to catch smaller wind waves in my Nordkapp. A "V" chine boat also make
beach
launches a little more difficult as the kayak tends to flop from one
side to the
other, whereas a flatter bottom hull amidsection does not. In terms of
running
off course and trying to correct back, a deep draft rudder was my
eventual
solution with the now dated Nordkapp, though I use it as little as
possible.

Thanks John for the corrected spelling on "Cirrus" - damn spell check!

Doug Lloyd (hoping his friends at CD don't get too upset with me, after
all, the
truth shall set the paddler free - or something like that).



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