Deception Pass -- home of 9 knot tidal currents
google map
The Sea Wind Gets Salty
D, E and I did a paddle in Elkhorn Slough, from Moss Landing to Kirby Park and back. Due to the full moon, the tide was big. We put in a little before high tide, and had the flood pushing us in. We turned around a little after high tide, and had the ebb pulling us out back to our launch point.
The afternoon onshore wind kicked up pretty strong. The Sea Wind has more windage than a kayak, so I had to work a bit harder. But it's way better than the Wenonah. I came to really appreciate the rudder. I would have struggled a lot in an "ordinary" canoe.
I used the middle seat height, but with the seat tilted forward. This worked pretty well. On the first paddle in this boat I had some sciatica, but this paddle was reasonably comfortable.
satellite photo 250k
Names
The Wenonah is very green, and was initially named Shrek, although now it's known at Kermit. D suggested naming the new boat "Sea Gas". I resent that remark. I'm leaning towards "Mighty Wind", and there's even a theme song, from the movie of the same name ...
A mighty wind is blowing,More as the story develops.
blowing across the sea.
A mighty wind is blowing,
blowing you and me.
Is it a canoe or a kayak ... or a sailboat?
I found this picture of a Sea Wind outfitted with sail, leeboard and outriggers from Balough.
The paddler/sailer's blog goes by the name Captain of the "O" Dark 30.
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.
Bay Access
Orcas Island
D took a multiday kayaking class at Orcas Island, in the San Juan Islands. The class covered paddling techniques, rescue techniques, and navigation. The navigaion part should be especially useful. I'm just saying.
Much of the "right lobe" of the island, seen at the google maps link above, is a park. Most of the traning classes took place in one of the two lakes on the right half of the island. They did an overnight trip to the Sucia Island, just north of Orcas.