Re: [Paddlewise] Another Tiderace Review

Craig, we were bantering back and forth previously:



Craig:
> Certainly the seat was undeniable genius. And I suppose it does add
> complexity in the most basic sense. It's a pretty simple complexity 
> though.
> I would have never thought it would work and never believed I could make 
> it
> work. But it's actually easy. The sliding seat in my rescued Escape has 
> been
> installed for at least 20 years and all I had to do was re-epoxy the rails
> to the hull to make it work as good as new. Maybe that's how genius works.



I have heard that sand can clog up the ease of adjustability. Of course, 
sand makes a mockery of many things boat and camping related. :-)



Doug:
>> The lack of bulkheads was another fantastic, if bold, course of action to
>> take. I should know, I have almost irreparable damage to my kayak 
>> underhull,
>> where one can plainly determine the profile of the bulkheads from sever
>> cracks. I remember a fellow who first circumnavigated the Charlottes; he 
>> had
>> a Washington-made kayak that he specified without bulkheads, due to the
>> heavy surf landings he anticipated. He also found the kayak a pain to 
>> load
>> and unload. Again, not a mass-market appeal.



I'd sure like to see boat makers put some extra glass in the hull where the 
bulkheads go, say a strip or two perhaps between 2 to 6 inches each side of 
the bulkhead (that would be a strips totaling 4" to 12" tapered to avoid 
additional stress risers, with the bulkhead centered in the strip. I plan to 
do so if I ever do a lay-up. I'd also go custom GRP bulkheads with a lipped 
fit to spread the load bearing. Some boats do come so equipped with said 
bulkhead, but only in the stock factory position.



> Now, it's axiomatic that whatever kayak one owns is the kayak that one
> either loves or hates. Just glance over the paddler reviews on
> www.paddling.net, for instance. You'd be hard pressed to find many scores
> under 9 out of 10. And maybe I'm a convert. A few years back Matt Broze 
> made
> a comment on Paddlewise in which he claimed that simple and almost 
> automatic
> edges make a rudder a useless appendage on a Mariner. My reaction to that
> was, basically, "Pfftt." Oddly enough, Matt was right. Imagine my 
> surprise.
> There's nothing worse than a new convert, right?  :)



I've been reading a number of reviews on that site the last few days (I 
should be writing my SK articles instead!). Man, you are correct. Glowing 
reviews everyone. The Nordkapp LV even gets 12 out of 10. Discounting the 
exaggeration factor, should it be a real 10 out of 10? :-)  A 12 out of 10 
means I could sip my Tippy Assam tea without sculling for support in a 
Nordkapp when multitasking!



Craig:

> Maybe this is where I find myself in the minority of sea kayakers. I have 
> no
> problem with a kayak that does something specific and does it very well. 
> My
> Nimbus Telkwa HV is a wonderful expedition boat (rudder and all) that is
> secure, comfortable and safe for long trips. My wife's Nimbus Solander is
> perfect for her size and is wonderfully neutral on windy days with scrappy
> seas but doesn't carry much of a load. The Express is a terrific 
> performance
> boat that can easily carry gear for a weekend. The Coaster works for play.
> Any of these have some crossover so in some sense they can "do it all"; 
> but
> the Coaster can't be a great expedition boat, the Telkwa wouldn't make a
> good rock-garden boat, the Solander wouldn't be my choice for surfing. I
> suppose the Express comes as close as any of them to a "do it all" boat 
> but
> still has a lack of performance "edge" in the specialties.



The buzz words are performance touring, with usually a shorter, bit wider 
boat for serious coastal play and one a bit longer with more displacement 
for play and touring. I'm looking for something between those two. I see 
there's an Explorer LV under $2000.00 on the Body/Boat/Blade website. 
Tempting maybe, at least to try.



 Craig:
> And, like most w/w paddlers, I don't much care whether the boat is 
> "pretty".
> God knows, the spoon bows and squashed sterns of a w/w playboat or the
> bulbous contours of a creekboat bear little resemblance to a "pretty" 
> kayak
> but they sell craploads of them to paddlers who expect the boats to do
> specific things.



That's fine. Lots of paddlers like the Inuit heritage of the kayak, and like 
lines to reflect that. I happen to be one of those so inclined.



> I really don't think you can get all this in one design; certainly not
> without adding skegs, etc. Not that this is bad, mind you (we all know 
> that
> I have no problems with rudders, etc.) but it seems that the majority of
> boats have to make compromises to get the form that their customers want 
> as
> well as the handling characteristics. Duane's point seems to have been 
> that
> Mariner got this right; why hasn't anyone else?



Skegs and pebbles! Arggg! Skegs and sand! (There's that sand again!!) Kinked 
cables. Dang! Yeah, no skegs are a good thing. You know, when I first heard 
about the shorter mariners, I had in my mind a paddler, sitting bolt 
upright, seat trimmer just right, eyes on the horizon, then looking left, 
then looking right to counteract the forces of the sea while leaning left, 
then leaning right respectively, still remaining perpendicular (like a 
smurff plastic paddler), the kayak carving the course the paddlers wanted it 
to - all pivoting from this magical, mysterious pivot point near the 
Mariner's skeggy abaft keel line. Guess it isn't that simple.



Doug

>> It has to look good too, be able to be maneuver back on course when wave
>> and wind conspire to push you around. I don't want a kayak that pops 
>> hatches
>> in open surf, leaks, and one that doesn't crack under the indignation of
>> heavy rocky surf landings; one that has at least a bit of secondary (or
>> final) stability, and a kayak that you simply are not overtly aware of
>> beneath you (one that makes you feel like part of the environment, rather
>> than sitting in a big tub). That last point has been mentioned by Mariner
>> owners, so I know some are happy, and certainly the responsiveness of 
>> kayaks
>> like the Express suggests that this is a key aspect of kayak "feel" and
>> flow.



I realize after reading some of the reviews that this notion of kayak fit a 
feel is a highly subjective one. Heck, when one considers what the surf ski 
crowd is capable of, it is also so personally preferential for what one 
designates good contact for boat control. However, I still know what I'm 
looking for. And I do like something that is low profile and doesn't inhibit 
paddling. The European kayaks seem to take this into consideration. I also 
wonder if the newer keyhole cockpits remove some of the former deck profile 
of older designs. But to be fair to you and others, I haven't paddled a huge 
variety of kayaks to really have an appreciation of what else is out there. 
I've never even tried an Avocet, a Skim kayak, etc.
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