Hey, all. Sorry to interrupt all the fun we're having with the legislation, safety and PFD debates, for a silly question about paddling a specific boat :-) Anyone have any knowledge of or experience with both building and paddling the Panache by Laughing Loon? The link to the web page is http://www.laughingloon.com/panache.html According to the manufacturer, it will take a new boat builder about 300 hours at a materials cost of between $500-$700. Does that sound accurate? How does it paddle in terms of speed, efficiency, tracking, edging, rolling, handling rough water/wind, etc? It might help to know the following. I'm 5'9" and 170 pounds (if I take my PFD off). I've had the beginner, intermediate, and rescue skills classes (including rolling) but am not extremely proficient at them....still need lots of practice, especially the rolling. I'll primarily be paddling in the Chesapeake Bay, up to about 30 knot winds and/or 3 foot waves, and also in and through very, very shallow salt marshes and creeks which will be extremely protected. I'll also do some traveling with it, primarily up and down the east coast (I hope!). With the traveling goes camping, so it needs to have ample room for a week's worth of gear. I also intend to do some modifying - add a day hatch, additional deck rigging, a compass mount and a skeg (or rudder if skegs can not be added for some reason). A torpedo tube would be great, but...... Any and all help is much appreciated. Some unexpected but necessary expenses have forced me to reconsider the expenditure for a nice new fiberglass boat to replace my Carolina. So, I'm back to thinking about building one. The big turn off is the time required to build it and the difficulty in finding one locally to test paddle. SNG is a lot faster to build, and CLC is within 4-5 hours drive, but frankly, I'm not attracted to the looks of the SNGs. All commnets - pro or con - are appreciated. Rick - it sucks to be poor - Sylvia *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Apr 23 2002 - 12:42:46 PDT
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