[Paddlewise] new boat shake down.

A couple weeks ago I finally decided on a new boat and bought an Epic
V12.   It had come down to an Epic V12, a Huki S1X special, or a Fenn
Elite.  The deciding factor was, I had a V12 demo and could get a good
price on it.   The 3 boats are all pretty comparable.

Yesterday was my first trip out on it in fun conditions.  The wind was
blowing out of the east, 10 to 15 knots.
We paddled from Lynch Park in Beverly Mass to Misery island.  We did a
few loops around little misery as the waves running along the island
were great fun.  One of the guys, using an Epic V8 recorded 10.4 mph on
his gps as we played in the waves.   On one trip around the island a
series of sport fishing boats had just gone through the channel so there
was some good slop - 3 foot waves plus 2 foot chop yields entertainment.

Riding the waves back from Misery Island to Lynch Park was fabulous.  
You need to work to get every ride, but the rides were steady.   My
benchmark was I managed to stay with one of my buddies, who the best
local surf ski paddler in rough water.   For me sticking with Mike Tracy
was great, it meant minimal mistakes or lapses on the trip in.

I'm getting used to the elvstrom/anderson bailer in the cockpit.  I'm
getting fairly good at opening or closing it in a single try, using my
heel.  The epic website says the boat is 3% slower with the bailer down.
  That was definitely visible.  On the way out to misery island I was
side by side with Mike Tracy with the bailer up.  When I put the bailer
down, I fell back a bit and had to work harder.   But when water is
coming into the cockpit every third or fourth wave it's nice to have the
boat self bailing, instead of collecting.

-- 
  Kirk Olsen
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