"Rafael Mier Maza" <sildriel_at_ciateq.net.mx wrote: [In response to Doug Lloyds remarks:] > >A double is good. But dump a double in rough water and, well, you know ... > >two water-logged cockpits for the price of one. > My short experience with doubles has forced me to think that they can be > very nice reliable boats that can take easier rough conditions that singles > would have difficulties with. [snip] > Other advantages: > One can take pictures. One can prepare lunch. One can rest or pee (it is > always good to take into consideration wind direction for the sake of the > other). One can swim to refresh himself, etc. Rafael did a nice job summarizing the advantages of a double, though I confess I have not done a standing relief maneuver in mine (yet!). I have owned two doubles, one a Folbot Greenland II and the other a Pygmy Osprey Double I built. Both worked well for my SO and me. I am a much stronger paddler, so the double allows us to meld our skills into a stronger unit than we would be in two singles, by judicious choice of paddle blade size and shaft length.. This is an advantage Rafael did not mention, though I am sure he knows of it. Doug's comment, in the context of use of a double by two __weaker__ paddlers, is pertinent, though: two flooded cockpits in one boat amounts to a lot of water to remove as part of self-rescue. My SO and I did self-rescue practice with our doubles, and felt re-entry was a lot easier than in separate singles, because the in-the-water paddler serves as an outrigger for the entering paddler. Then, the paddler inside the boat can use a paddlefloat on his/her paddle to stabilize the boat while the second paddler re-enters. As the rescue proceeds, the paddlers can take turns dealing with the water while the other stabilizes the boat. But, bailing and pumping (our boats are open between cockpits; the Pygmy is bulkheaded fore and aft of the paddlers, but not in the center) was exhausting! The weaker paddlers who stimulated Doug's remarks would be really wiped out if they had to bail their double (it is the one I made). That negates some of the safety advantages of a double, and in an insidious way: weaker paddlers like my buddies are likely take a double into conditions where they would not take separate singles. But, if they swamp or capsize ... then they are in deeper trouble, once inside the boat, than they would be in separate singles. The total volume of water to be removed from two swamped singles (both bulkheaded) is smaller. Tradeoffs ... tradeoffs. I wonder how much rescue practice outfitters (those who use doubles exclusively for clients) do before launching, and what techniques they might have developed which would make rescuing a swamped double easier and simpler. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** 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 Wed Jun 11 2003 - 10:52:08 PDT
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