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

Hi Doug. I think that it all depends on what you want to do with the kayak.
If you have to punch through several miles of crud to get someplace then
your ideal boat is likely to be heavier and longer and more stable
(certainly laterally). If you just want to get through 100 yards of surf and
then 1/4 mile down to a rock garden then it's likely to be much different.

What would a couple hundred pounds of rocks do to your kayak in terms of
getting it back upright? Did you stuff them in tightly so there would be
little movement. Otherwise the term "free surface effect" springs to mind.

Hang in there!!!

Craig Jungers
Royal City, WA

On 2/2/07, Doug Lloyd <douglloyd_at_shaw.ca> wrote:
>
> 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)
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