On Thu, 03 May 2007 20:45:30 -0700, "Doug Lloyd" <douglloyd_at_shaw.ca> said: > Yes, I realize the Zen isn't a sit-on-top surf ski. But not everyone > lives in California, Hawaii, or South Africa. :-) I'm in Massachusetts. Water temp is up to 47 fahrenheit, 8 celsius. I've been on the water for about 6 weeks. Some of the other surf ski paddlers only skipped February. 2 weeks ago we spent a couple hours in nauset inlet(cape cod) surfing the 3 foot waves where the outgoing inlet current made nice steep waves (wave faces were above the top paddle blade and head of my paddling companion). With the surf ski you are more likely to dress for immersion since there's frequently water in the cockpit area, the venturi bailers work great so the cockpit drains quickly. > I take it surf skis are fast due to waterline length and narrow width. That's pretty much it. Boat weights are also low. The "winner" of the paddling division for this years watertribe everglades challege was on a surf ski - 303 miles in 3 days 2 hours. http://race.fit2paddle.com/C741445042/E20070314202642/index.html At the very end of the article he concedes a strong sea kayaker should be able to beat his time - the stability of a sea kayak may be more advantageous than the faster hull speed of his racing surf ski. > find I can keep up fine with most paddlers in longer kayaks that my > Nordkapp (longer waterline) but I do get tired by the end of a long day keeping > pace. Some boats I can't pass, like a Seda Glider, despite valiant efforts. > However, once seas and wind build significantly, I can run circles around > these guys in my kayak. That's because with a 100+ pound boat the wind can't move you ;-) > I like the idea of going lighter; maybe I should pick up a plastic > Tempest locally, cheap, for rock garden play. Problem is, I like to rock garden > play on remote trips, with all my gear aboard. Kayaks are so specific. It is > hard to find a boat that can do it all. No boat can do it all. The 3 or 4 boat quiver gets closer... The quick turning bullet proof rock garden boat/rolling machine, the 2 week tripping boat, and the lightweight deep water downwind run boats just don't seem to overlap. As a rough water or go-fast fitness paddler I definitely have my bias. For me storage is not in the top 10 requirements, and I've chosen the option of going 7+ knots over being able to spend time in a rock garden. > The new P&H boats look promising. The new Cetus even has a sandwich hatch > on the foredeck like I designed into my Nordkapp. Hopefully a Cetus LV will > come out one day. Check out the cool black Carbon/Kevlar P&H at the > bottom. > > http://www.savannahcanoeandkayak.com/p&h%20sea%20kayaks.htm That is definitely a cool looking boat. The 22" beam sounds more like a fishing platform (from my highly biased stupidly tippy perspective). Although if I wanted a tripping boat that would definitely be on my short list to demo. > As you can tell, I'm at a crossroads with sea kayaking right now, in > terms of design, construction, and fitness paddling vs play vs tripping. Duane > certainly comes up with his own homemade boats that I assume perform well > (not sure if he kept the Elsmere that he modified with a longer skeg > portion on the keel). I could build a very nice marine ply/glass boat faster than > a strip, well budgeted, and maybe built it like the Betsy Bay boys do, with > stronger epoxy fillets at the chines. I'd build mine with more glass > layers though. Knowing of your woodworking skills (we'll ignore those finger incidents ;-) I'm very surprised you haven't built a plywood/glass boat. I would think you could crank one out quickly. Kirk -- Kirk Olsen *************************************************************************** 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 Fri May 04 2007 - 05:22:32 PDT
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