Rob, I had originally said: >The latest issue of Canoe and Kayak has a good article by Rob Lyon about SOT's being used along the west coast of Vancouver Island. His web site is: http://lyonexpeditions.com/aboutus.html Don't know about you guys, but SOT's still have a long way to go in terms of R&D. Closed-deck kayaks still present a safety hazard too. Both statements are true. What say you.< You said in reply to the other Rob who has also responded (snip): >I've paddled a variety of open kayaks off the BC coast for months at a stretch, mostly solo, and know of what I speak. The Tiger on this particular journey was experimental, my baby for the month for the most part, and not be a boat I would endorse for long distance ocean paddling, but then this was an expeditional narrative, not a how-to piece.< True enough some suppose. Tied together with your website though, one would get the impression there was a certain zealousness with respect to your love of SOT's that perhaps precludes balanced perspective, or at least laughs in the face of modern sit-in-kayak mystique in a way designed to be purposefully provocative; or perhaps even attempts to overtly counter-balance the scales that weigh so heavily toward traditional hard-shells and germane training schemes propagating throughout the nation(s) these days. Or it may be the way you stated that, if paddlers "were less anal about the boat and more psyched about the paddling" in reference to those sexy-looking Kevlar touring kayaks" Yup, that would get some of us going. :-) I posted the query mostly as I was thinking about some recent kayak fatalities, and moreover, my own desire to do some longer excursions on more dangerous coastlines. I'd really like to see a SOT that paddled almost as fast as a surf-ski, self-bailed, was available in custom composite lay-ups, and had some real intrinsic seaworthiness -- both in terms of rough water capability off headlands and long-term comfort for the daily grind. As I cannot and would not seek outside- or for-hire-support, then gear capacity and everyday accessibility/usability and watertightness of gear would also be a major concern (this being an issue with some SOT's and not others). As for your insurance underwriters, that must be an interesting set of negotiations. Having been to Brooks solo a number of times, and done the outside reefs of Solander in afternoon hydraulics, and having dealt with serious offshore winds off Brooks both solo and in group dynamics with some very fine, safe paddlers despite early departure times after prudent staging, I'm a bit sensitive to any cavalier attitude about choice of craft -- though in benign conditions, I'm sure a Hemlock log would do. Fortunately, you have done the outside of Morsby in your FG SOT, walk your talk, check out as A-plus with my sources, and come across as a man with a more important mission that exploiting SOT's for their economic potential -- namely that of simply spreading the gospel of wilderness sojourning along the ocean corridor and availing this opportunity to the hesitant. For that, you have my respect, anyway. It will be interesting to see how your notions are further received by the public and media. And perhaps there will be some marked improvements in SOT's in the years to come. There are tons of good fishing models, and a Tsunami ranger did our coast in one of their SOT boats a couple of years back, no problem (backchannel me for the copy). I still think there are major reason why _so many_ paddlers choose sit-in kayaks for BC waters and I don't necessarily believe it is market driven. The market develops what paddlers demand and require and prefer. Personally, West Marine has just opened in Victoria, and I'll be heading down to look at electric pump goodies. I love the sea, but not in my cockpit. That's dangerous. My foot pump is difficult to use with cramped legs. See you out there bro. Doug Lloyd Victoria BC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ "Whatever can be said at all can be said clearly and whatever cannot be said clearly should not be said at all." Ludwig Wittgenstein ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 6/4/2003 1:37:01 AM Central Daylight Time, dalloyd_at_telus.net writes: > The latest issue of Canoe and Kayak has a good article by Rob Lyon about > SOT's being used along the west coast of Vancouver Island. > > His web site is: > > http://lyonexpeditions.com/aboutus.html > > Don't know about you guys, but SOT's still have a long way to go in terms of > R&D. Closed-deck kayaks still present a safety hazard too. Both statements > are true. What say you. > I had a problem with the article. It is well written in the creative sense, however, the logic is a bit confused. He writes about being a hundred yards from shore and being slammed by wind as he rounded the northern tip of the Brooks Peninsula. He reported that his inflatable Aire Sea Tiger flipped up on its side, throwing him off balance and flopping him down again. He reports he made no progress until the wind abated somewhat (that's my read of the "space abated" comment he made). He then reports to have dug for all he was worth to make it back to shore. In other words, he got lucky the wind slowed down or he'd been found off Kamchatka next month. If one looks at the photo of him (very wet and potentially hypothermic looking) surfing the Aire Sea Tiger (without a helmet nonetheless) one notices a huge amount of freeboard. No wonder the wind on the Brooks almost made a yard sale of him on the cape. Later on he states that experience is overrated and that a sexy kevlar touring boat will take years of practice and a rabbits foot to master the Outside. Why not get a quality open top boat and ease yourself in that direction, he suggests. Hmmm, let me answer that one. Paddling the sea anywhere, not just the outside is about experience and skill, not the vessel. If one has not the experience to handle ocean conditions or even inland water, I would suggest one find the appropriate coaching or one will find out the hard way what a burial at sea is like. It matters not if one is in the sea in a Boston Whaler, a Zodiac, A Nordkapp or an Aire Sea Tiger. Be it fiberglass, vinyl or hypalon your skill set determines your level of risk in the sea not your vessel choice. I'm stunned C&K allowed this to get by the censors. I mean really, *hey rookies let's all have a good time up on the cape. Skip the helmets, we don't need 'em, we got our Aire inflatable to save the day. Wind? What wind?* No amount of waxing poetry about being a journeyman paddler on a big expedition will save that logic from its appropriate place. Rob G *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
I see both as having their place. Right now I use a sit on top kayak for when i go fishing off of it. Why do you ask? Mainly because it has better access to my gear and easier to bring a fish on board to unhook. I have a Sit in for recreational paddling and to take in the ocean. the sit in is longer and provides better speed and handles the rougher water better than my 11'6" cobra explorer SOT *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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