Double checking, the particular account I was thinking of is in Form and Function... page 3; "We supposed the strong tide to run near 8 knots per hour, for on heaving the Log once We found ourselves going thro' the water above 6 knots, yet falling fast astern by the land. At this time the Indians in their Seal skin Canoes kept way with us very easily" I guess it wasn't a river, but Unalga Pas. But the principle is the same: http://www.topozone.com/map.asp? lat=53.9511&lon=-166.205&datum=nad27&u=4&layer=DRG&size=l&s=500 A fast moving body of water with wind enough to push a sailboat I presume to be a square rigger - i.e. optimized for down-wind sailing. This account is more detailed than the others, providing a speed measured concurrent with the observation in a very specific location. Most of the others don't really give much to chew on. Nick On Mar 12, 2007, at 11:30 AM, Harvey Golden wrote: > --- Nick Schade <nick_at_guillemot-kayaks.com> wrote: >> One of the best documented accounts >> talk about kayaks >> paddling against a strong current while the observer >> was sailing up a >> river. What this account says to me is this sounds >> like the ideal >> conditions for surfing. A ship sailing up a river >> probably has a tail >> wind as wind tend to go up and down rivers. The >> current was fairly >> obviously going down the river. > > Dear Nick, > I don't know of this account. . . where can it be > found? I agree with your assessment of the > situation, i.e., likely surfing conditions. Most of > the accounts I've read are in open-water conditions > (presented by Dyson in "Form and Function of the > Baidarka: The framework of design" in Contributions to > Kayak Studies, 1991). Surfing could of course account > for some of these as well. > > In any case, so much is made of the kayak when in > reality it is the paddler's skill and strength that > makes all the difference. Nick Schade Guillemot Kayaks 824 Thompson St Glastonbury, CT 06033 USA Ph/Fx: (860) 659-8847 http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/ *************************************************************************** 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 Tue Mar 13 2007 - 06:20:11 PDT
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