In keeping with the obsessive nature of this sport... or at least some of its practitioners... or at least me... I have a couple of new toys. 1. The first new toy was a Mariner Express which a friend pointed out to me after she so unwisely bought another (<cough>Necky<cough>) kayak and so was left without funds. A kayak habit can be an ugly, ugly thing. Some of you may remember that I have been looking for something closer to a "playboat" for sea kayaking for some time. My extensive research (ok... I read a few articles and surfed the web) has led me to suspect that the exact boat I want hasn't been designed. I would like an 18' boat to get to the playspots fast and then collapse into an efficient 14' boat for the rock gardens and waves. This, surprisingly enough, has turned out to be a tall order. I was willing to settle for a Mariner Coaster only to discover that there are virtually no used Coasters on the market and, being a big guy, I'm not at all sure I could fit into one anyway. They make big sea kayaks for big people and smaller sea kayaks for smaller people. But they don't make smaller sea kayaks for smaller people. How a 7-foot white water kayak can have enough buoyancy (and room) to take a 230-lb guy down a serious river but a 14-foot sea kayak can't even have enough room for a 230-lb guy to get into it still remains a mystery to me. So, pending a test in a Coaster, I opted for the first Mariner Express that wandered down craigslist. Mary and Mike in the U-District of Seattle had one for sale and I was the first to email them. After a quick test paddle in Lake Washington I cut a deal in which I hammered them down in price to exactly what they had asked for and found myself the owner of a new (to me) kayak. It was just in time because only a weekend later our group took its annual pilgrimmage to an exotic paddle-spot (Orcas Island) and so I could take both the Nimbus Telkwa and the Mariner Express and compare them. Well the Nimbus carries more and the Express is more nimble. Pretty much what I expected from two well-designed and thought-out kayaks. The Express is much more willing to hike up its skirts and surf almost any wave that comes along and the sliding seat makes this much easier. Just move the seat - foot braces and all - forward and the Express becomes a surfing machine. Move the seat clear aft and even I can get my legs out of the cockpit with my butt still in the seat. The deck rigging on both boats is outstanding but in a different way for each kayak. The Express has rigging on the aft deck that seems to know what you wanted to attach to it before you did. The Telkwa has rigging that is heavy-duty as befits a kayak that was designed to take a paddler into the exposed waters of the Pacific Coast of BC. I plan to modify the Telkwa somewhat to gain the benefits of the Express. The Express could use more rigging forward but I'm as yet unsure as to how to proceed without clutter. What was surprising is that in a sprint the Express will move very nearly as fast (within .2 mph as measured on a Garmin GPS) as the Telkwa - which is 2-1/2 feet longer. All in all, an excellent second boat that will make it easier on me physically when just doing day trips. But the Telkwa is still the best choice for a week-long trip, in my opinion. I'm going to try the Express on some overnighters to see how it loads and paddles when loaded. 2. The second toy is a wing paddle. There's been a lot of chatter about wing paddles and my location here in the desert of eastern Washington state is not the best place to live and still test new stuff. This particular wing paddle was originally built by Werner for the US Canoe and Kayak Team (and says so on each blade). Werner still doesn't produce a wing for public consumption so when I had a chance to acquire this particular paddle I jumped on it. The person who had it said that a Werner rep handed it to him (as a member of the team) personally. Wing paddles look like... well... a wing. They have a turned-over leading edge that gives them an airfoil shape. But since an airfoil works on the principle of high and low pressure and water cannot be compressed (although, actually, I've done it - don't try it at home) I'm not sure how the airfoil shape enhances the action. It does seem to enhance the action, however. I tried the wing along with the Express on a trip around Hope Island near Shelton (and a 7-mile excursion up Squaxin Island and back) and averaged over 4mph. The boat just seemed to go faster; especially when I relaxed and let the wing do its own thing. The wing's blades are smaller than my usual blades so the wind (up to about 15kts that day) was even less a factor than I was used to. But the wing wants to go its own way and if you fight it you will lose the benefits. That "way" is a swoop outboard at the end of every paddle stroke. This is a pronounced swoop and you can feel the energy in the paddle when it does it. The next day, on flat (and tideless) water, my son-in-law and I went out to see if we could come up with a fair comparison. I was in the Express and he was in his own Nimbus Telkwa. The Express is 16' overall and 14.5' at the waterlline. The Telkwa is 18.5' overall and we estimate that when it's light the waterline length is about 16.5' (this particular spec wasn't given). But the Express is 2-inches narrower than the Telkwa. At any rate, we had paddled together often enough to know that we tended to stay together and the Express doesn't seem slower than the Telkwa anyway. Michael paddled first using the wing. I was using my normal very lightweight Lightning paddles which I stole fair-and-square from my friend Pam. Michael seemed to be paddling his usual cadence and I was finding it difficult to keep up with him. So I demanded that we trade back. Now Michael had a difficult time keeping up with me. Indeed, that was the pattern over the next few miles of paddling; whoever had the wing paddle was faster. Or at equal speeds the wing seemed to be making it easier on the paddler. This can be a considerable advantage on any trips that stretch the paddler's fitness. But it's not all upside. A major downside to the wing is that it does take a new technique and I don't believe that a wing makes as good a paddle in extreme conditions that might require bracing. And rolling could be interesting. As far as sculling goes.... well, forget it. Maybe by holding the paddle upside down it would work. But normal sculling - at least so far for me - is impossible to do. Also, this particular paddle has to be gripped just right; if you relax your grip the blades rotate to a neutral position that resembles nothing useful for paddling. It's also somewhat heavier than my usual paddle. My plans for the rest of the season are to use the wing as much as possible with my standard Lightning paddles stowed for use in rock gardens, surfing (where getting up to speed is important), and for anything requiring close maneuvering. But for trips, it's the wing, baby!!! I just hope Werner doesn't come try to take it away from me. Craig Jungers Royal City, WA *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 8/7/2007 4:24:15 PM Pacific Daylight Time, crjungers_at_gmail.com writes: After a quick test paddle in Lake Washington I cut a deal in which I hammered them down in price to exactly what they had asked for and found myself the owner of a new (to me) kayak. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The above citation is an example of one of the great joys of Paddlewise. It doesn't take long to find a gem like that. Cheers, Rob G ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Craig Jungers wrote: > Wing paddles look like... well... a wing. They have a turned-over leading > edge that gives them an airfoil shape. But since an airfoil works on the > principle of high and low pressure and water cannot be compressed (although, > actually, I've done it - don't try it at home) I'm not sure how the airfoil > shape enhances the action. Great post, Craig -- found your blossoming love affair with a wing very intriguing. If it gets you another half a knot with the same effort, I'm interested. Small quibble, however: water _is_ compressible ... just not as highly compressible as air. And, you can definitely generate a high pressure within it ... or, a lower one. The Bernoulli effect is live and well in water, and so is the "airfoil" effect. Ostensibly, a wind paddle generates "lift," albeit not in a vertical direction, but along the longitudinal axis of the kayak ... and it does it using the effects of an airfoil. Sounds like the wing is working for you. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
"I don't believe that a wing makes as good a paddle in extreme conditions that might require bracing. And rolling could be interesting." A high brace with a wing seems OK to me. Rolling seems easier with a wing than with a flat paddle, when the wing blade is swept out it feels very solid. When beam winds get above 20 knots a wing can feel more twitchy than a flat blade. Surfing stern rudders with a flat blade are done with the blade sliced in, but with a wing I put the back, convex side down on the water and use drag. Generally, trying to use the thin edge of the wing as the leading edge isn't helpful. *************************************************************************** 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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