Re: [Paddlewise] New Member

At 08:54 PM 9/18/02 +0000, Wes Boyd wrote:
>At 01:44 PM 9/18/02 -0400, Roger Lumb wrote:
> >Hi-
> >I just joined this group and after reading some of the discussions I'm not
>sure this is the right forum for my questions,
>
>
>Would you expect a dealer to do anything different? (he said, cynically.) A
>Seayak might be a good boat for you, but there are plenty of others. You're
>looking for a fairly stable touring beginning boat, probably in plastic,
>probably around 16 feet long by 24 inches wide,

The Seayak is 16'6" long, 24" wide, plastic and fairly stable.

However, I disagree with the suggestion that a "beginner" needs a fairly 
stable boat.  From what I have seen most beginners can become comfortable 
with the initial stability in just any any plastic touring boat on the 
market in a matter of hours if not a couple of days.  Making "stability" a 
high priority doesn't make sense to me given that it will mostly likely 
become a non-issue after just a couple of outings.

A "fairly stable" boat is more of an issue in the context of the type of 
paddling one tends to do.  If you're primarily going to use a boat for 
photography, fishing, or some other activity which requires a stable 
platform than "fairly stable" would become a higher criteria, but, IMHO, 
not as much for someone that eventually intends on paddling rougher open 
water and developing stronger skills.

In fact, since "initial stability" by definition is the amount of 
resistance the hull has which takes it from a "flat on the water" state to 
and edged state, a boat with a lot of initial stability can become a 
liability when it comes to learning how to edge the boat, and learn how to 
brace.

>I'd guess. I'm the big guy
>boat person around here and not well versed on boats in that size, but
>there are many out there. Dagger Magellen, Eddyline Merlin, Perception
>Vizcaya are among some that come to mind.

The Perception Shadow or even possibly a Perception Corona compares more 
closely to a Seayak.


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