Re: [Paddlewise] Semi-submersible Drill Rigs - and Reserve Buoyancy

> Craig posted (snip):
> >So the idea behind a semi-submersible is to have two hulls provide the 
> >major buoyancy and put them well below the action of waves. Then build a 
> >platform over those that sits high enough out of the water to do the actual 
> >work.<
> 
> Craig, on the issue of actual reserve buoyancy: I wonder how important it is 
> to sea kayaking and one's sea kayak specifically. Certainly, it would seem a 
> beefier paddler in a kayak rated for a lighter person (when loaded), seems 
> to be at a disadvantage from what I've read in various references to this 
> issue in unrelated literature over the years. Loss of boat control, 
> submerging, wet rides, loss of freeboard catching waves with negative 
> consequences, etc.
> 
> In my own experience, my heavier kayak is less prone to indiscriminant 
> sideways movement when traversing close to shoreline along gnarly sections. 
> Certainly, the roughest hurricane-force paddling I did in the 80"s was fully 
> aided and abetted by placing 200 to 400 pounds of rocks distributed in the 
> storage compartments, using small rock. It was the only way to provide 
> momentum through the raging seas, submarining through many a steep waveface, 
> keeping the kayak relatively horizontal in both planes.
> 
> Doug Lloyd (who's horizontal in bed for the next two - if I can last that 
> long - weeks awaiting valve, bypass, and possible aortic repair)


My own (limited) experience is also that a kayak with a heavier load 
in it is more stable in waves than one with a lighter load. Harder to 
get going from a stop, harder to turn, but more stable.

OT: Good luck with heart repairs, Doug!! My own problems are 
minuscule in comparison, having had angioplasty several years back 
with two stents inserted.

-- 
  Darryl
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