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Mighty Sea Wind -- First Impressions
I took delivery on my new Kruger canoe Wednesday, and had it in Lexington Reservior yesterday evening.
Jeez, it's a lot of boat. I went with the deep hull version, which yields greater volume. I'm glad I did, becasue it gives me more room to move around in different positions. I can sit cross legged, which is a nice alternate postion, and something that is impossible in a kayak.
The boat has less primary stability than my Wenonah Vagabond (rounded bottom vs. flat bottom), so I put the multi-position seat fairly low (in the second to lowest spot) for more stability. For comfort reasons, I may move it up. I also want to fine tune the angle of the seat. I'd like to have the rear of the seat slightly higher than the front. I may experiment with some of the stiff closed cell foam that's used for kayak fitment.
The main problems I have with kayaks are lumbar pain, leg numbness and, eventually, sciatica. How does the Sea Wind fare? In the first paddle, I did experience some leg numbness and afterwards had lumbar pain. But, with some fitment adjustments I should be fine. Seat height and tilt will have the greatest effect, and I have plenty of options. A seat back might be worth considering if those adjustments aren't enough.
The boat is waaaay faster than my old canoe. No surprise there. It's probably slower than D's long, sleek, fiberglass touring kayak, but similar in speed to her rotomolded touring kayak. My stroke is rusty, so there are a lot of variables right now.
I tried both a canoe paddle and a double-bladed kayak paddle (a pretty long one intended for a double kayak). Both work fine. I'm not sure what my preference is.
A rudder is a new thing for me. I need to spend some time getting used to it. The boat has pretty subtle chine, so it's less responsive to chining (steering by leaning). Also, it has less rocker than the Vagabond, so it's generally slower to change direction.
For outfitting, my list includes: fine tuning of seat tilt, sit-on-top style thigh straps to give me greater contact with the boat, mounting points for thigh straps, knee padding on the side of the interior for use with thigh straps, float bag lashing points and float bags, lashing points for cargo. The stern of the boat is huge, and may take a pointy end bag and a rectagular center bag to fill the space. I plan on using lashing systems from North Water and float bags from NRS.