Tom said (snip): Will you offer me your insights? I am not sure what I may have done...< Did you lift your shore-side knee up? Have you experimented with the different effect of boat lean and body lean? Doug Lloyd Victoria BC *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
OK, I do not have the BCU's new edition of their "Canoe and Kayak Handbook," so I cannot comment on that. But allow me to attempt to explain, via this media, just how one deals with a broaching kayak in the waves. First of all, forget about all of this crap about the center of gravity and whatnot. You can go back to that and analyze just what your doing once you figure out how to do it. While there my be some more cerebral types out there who are able to accurately visualize this stuff from their living room, I think most of us need to experience it before we can get it. Attempting to over analyze it will only make it more difficult for you to learn. So let's look at a much simplified version of how to brace into a wave, shall we? I like to teach this more as a matter of edge control then bracing. When your boat is parallel to a breaking or broken wave it will have the tendency to slide down hill. It's a simple matter of gravity. As the boat slides downhill (towards the shore) water will want to pile up on its leading edge. If you present an edge to that piling water (lean down wave towards the shore expo sing your chine) the water will try to push that edge under, and most likely succeed, and you will capsize. So what we need to do is expose a more rounded surface to the oncoming water --- one that the water will not be so inclined to pile up on. We do this by leaning into the wave in order to expose our rounded hull to the water we are sliding down into. Now leaning the boat in this way while on the face of a wave can be a bit tippy. So what you will want to do is attempt to lean the boat without leaning your center of gravity any more then is necessary. That is, you tilt your hips rather then throw your body weight into the wave. And to help us support this position we can extend our paddle STRAIGHT into the face of the wave (a low brace on a small wave, a high brace on a larger wave) to take advantage of the water moving UP the face of the wave. That water, the water moving up the face of the wave, will provide support to our paddle and help us retain our balance while we TILT the boat into the wave with our hips. Now once your boat has passed over the top of the wave you must back off on the bracing since there is nothing to support you on the back of the wave. If you capsize down wave (towards the shore) then you did not commit enough to the wave. If you capsize into the wave (towards the open ocean) then you either threw your weight into a too small of wave, or most likely, you over committed on the back of the wave. I hope this make it a bit more clear. Scott So.Cal. *************************************************************************** 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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