Getting to know you...

[bubba]

The new forum is great but I'm wondering who's out there doing things, what they have and how they use it:

I've got a Perception Carolina 17.5. I've had it for a couple years and don't get out nearly enough as I'd like too. I have a cottage on an inland lake in Western NY and paddle sometimes when flat and sometimes when choppy due to boats and jetskis. The lake is big enough to do miles.

Close by is the Genesee River. This is a typical river run. Not too deep for most of the summer and fall. Fun paddle that I do with kayaking buddies. Long enough to find different trips if we want.

The reason I bought the Carolina is that I hope to combine yakin and hiking. I've thought that heading up the Oswagachie and doing the trails in the Northern ADK's would be a blast. So, having some storage was important.

I'd also like to grab Carmel while Darren is in Hawaii and paddle around the open seas! only kidding!! Actually, I'd like to be able to do some touring like Carmel did recently - or as Darren and a few did to an island (was that Block Island??) a couple years ago.

Where's the first Kayaking Gathering??

 

[darren]

Where's the first Kayaking Gathering??

You missed it! It was 2 years ago in RI and then continued at my house. There have been a few other VFTT kayak get togethers after that too. So the real question is when is the next one???

Back to the main topic, I have 3 kayaks. The Impex Mystic, a 14' fiberglass sea touring kayak that is made for smaller paddlers - Carmel paddles that boat. My old Wilderness Systems Sealution II XL (aka the garbage barge) which is a 17' plastic boat made for the big and tall. Mainly, my friends use it now but I might take it out for a multi-day trip. It is a big beast and it can haul a ton. My kayak that I paddle all the time is a P&H Orion. It is a 17' fiberglass sea touring kayak, and even though it has a 24" beam it has a reputation for being a high performance boat on par with 22" beam boats.

I lucked out when I got it. It is the English version as opposed to the American version that they generally sell here. The difference is that the rear bulkhead is not divided up into a main hatch and a small "day hatch". My rear compartment is just one big compartment. It makes it easier to store gear and I like it much better than the American version.

Anyway, I'm in Hawaii for the next 11 months or so, but when I'm at home I generally paddle the South coast of Mass and RI - Westport and Dartmouth are my main stomping grounds. Paddles around there include everyting from flat water tidal estuaries to larger bays to open ocean. It depends, I like quiet flat water paddles sometimes, but mostly I lke to paddle in the open ocean. The waves make things "interesting". Six-pack Dan and I have done some sick paddles in waves well over our heads. I like it when you drop between the waves and can't see land. Always willing to travel though. I'm looking forward to doing some multi-day trips on the MITA when I get home next fall.

Bubba - I'm sure Carmel would be psyched if you would go down to my house to kayak with her. I'm sure six-pack dan would jump in too.

- darren

 

[spencer]

I'm not letting you 'yakers get all the fun in the new forum.

I'm Spencer and I like open boats. If you bought me a kayak, I'd like that too. Much of my paddling involves a cooler full of beer (or wine) and my better half. Take two weekends ago - we drove to Scraggly lake, loaded the canoe, paddled 20 minutes across the lake, drank a magnum [box] of wine, paddled back across the lake, hiked the Traveler loop, paddled back across the lake. and then repeated the above process, substituting the Traveler for another hike.

Sometimes I paddle in the Penobscot, across the street from my house. It's tidal down here.

I've been racing in the Kenduskeag for the last couple of years and I hope to do more of that. However, my partners tend to be a bit less competitive than me, so I get kind of frustrated. They just don't seem to understand that you don't stop paddling b/c your arms are tired when you are racing. Having spent many years rowing boats with oars longer than most of your kayaks, I got the competitive streak in my seamanship.

and as for that silly debate going on in another thread, I love the J. The J is your friend. Of course, if someone gave me a fancy ZRE bent shaft I might change my mind.

I'd like to do more tripping but my BSP obsession gets in the way. I wish I could really forego some hiking trips to take long paddles.

We have lots of great small streams around here to play around in. Birch stream in Old Town is a wonderful evening trip for ospreys, moose, otters, etc. The Kenduskeag is a fun paddle for a mix of flatwater and moderate whitewater.

and, as ashamed as I am to admit it, my only boat is an aluminum canoe. There, I said it. It's out in the open now.



spencer

 

[darren]

and, as ashamed as I am to admit it, my only boat is an aluminum canoe. There, I said it. It's out in the open now.

spencer

Huh?

- d

 

[Amicus]

Two-blades

My wife bought me a red Perception Dancer XT in '89 as a surprise birthday present - an unusual choice in that I'd never been in a kayak, although we'd just bought a camp on the water and I had said something about wanting to take 'yakking up. I had to struggle with the thing at first to get it to go in a straight line, but soon formed a sentimental attachment to it that has lasted to this day. She's a nimble beauty and absolutely indestructible. I've used it constantly, 8 months a year, bashing it off whitewater boulders and dragging it on 60-70 mile river campers (with my drybag in the canoe of friends, since the Dancer has no storage). It's what was then called a "slalom" kayak, which I don't think is a recognized category anymore.

One Blade

My baby in this category is a Wenonah Jensen 17 Kevlar Ultralite, which mostly sits under wraps in my backyard, emerging once a year for the Run of the Charles 24-mile canoe relay race, held on the last Sunday of April. Friends and I have paddled her in that race for the last six years.

I also have a very dumpy old Mohawk fiberglass tub for paddling around the ponds, esp. with kids

 

[Warren]

I only have sea kayaks and then only folding ones.

I have a Feathercraft K1, 16 1/2', 25" beam. It hauls a lot of gear and these days I use it only for longer trips. It's pretty a damn stable boat.

I also have a Feathercraft Wisper 15' 9", 23 1/2 beam. I use this for day trips and for any camping where I dont have to haul water, it's a smaller volume boat. It also weighs a lot less.

I paddle mostly around NYC doing day trips, mostly from the east river. I go out to Long Island and up the Hudson or the ADKs or Maine for overnight trips.

I've been hankering to get into canoe camping....

 

[MattC]

Newbie

Through involvement in the hiking community over the last couple years, I've heard a lot about paddling, both on and offline. I was interested, but didn't really have the spare $$ for a boat and gear. A few months ago my dad gave me his Old Town Hunter, which is probably at least 20 years old, but still water-worthy. I've since picked up a little gear-webbing straps and foam blocks for the car, a decent PFD, water shoes, a small dry bag, and the AMC Quiet Water New York guide.

I happen to live just a bit down the road from access to the Wallkill, which is a small river that flows north from Jersey, past the Shawangunk Ridge and meets the Rondout Creek near Kingston. So, I've taken advantage of this resource to get out a few times to practice and have a little fun. Other than the Wallkill, I've had the boat in the ADKs once for two short paddles (Putnam Pond and Northwest Bay Brook) and have done one other local day trip to Chodikee Lake/Black Creek.

I'm trying to get the hang of the J, and I suppose am making some little progress. One of these days I may try to glom on with some folks from my local ADK chapter to pratice w/ more experienced paddlers. As for carrying, I manage to walk it down to the Wallkill access, which is about three houses down a hill, across the road and through a parking lot. That seems to about the maximum I can go before it starts biting into my shoulders. I think it's just too heavy for any serious portaging.

Anyway, I'm having fun so far and look forward to gradually getting more into paddling. I think my favorite thing about it is the access to different types of flora and fauna than one sees in hardwood and boreal forests. Nice to see this forum has caught on so quick. Looks like it will be as great a resource as the rest of the site.

Matt

 

[Jay H]

Bubba: The R.I. trip wasn't to Block island, which is kind of a pretty serious paddle from RI (though I've read where people paddle from CT to the eastern tip of LI to Block Island and then back to CT.... It was to a set of islands inbetween exeter and newport with a light house. Dutch Island. There should be a trip report somewhere in the archives here, if it's still available since the board change.

Darren, you also have a foot (bilge) pump in your Orion, no? that seems to be more typical of a true british boat..

As for myself, I bought a 14' Impex Mystic at the Jersey Paddler's Paddlesport show 2 years ago and have used it extensively in the lakes and rivers around the NJ/NY area and have taken it off the coasts of NJ, RI, MA, and ME, but would like to explore some of the Norwalk Islands/Thimble Islands in CT and of course more parts of the MITA trail in ME.

Paddling is a nice complement to my hiking and cycling, cause it's a different perspective from the water.

Jay

 

[AMF]

Paddling is a nice complement to my hiking and cycling, cause it's a different perspective from the water.

That's an aspect of boating that never fails to captivate me. As much as you think you know a landscape, it totally changes from the perspective on the water.

Anyway, my present fleet consists of a 17' blue hole royalex canoe, a 15' grumman aluminium canoe w/ home-made sail rig (needs a new mast), 15' mohawk fiberglas barge, 12' plastic perception acadia, 14' plastic wilderness systems seacret, and 17' plastic current design scirocco.

I figure boats are like skiis - one is never enough!

 

[cbcbd]

I started paddling about two years ago when a sports injury kept my knee out of commission from running, hiking, and anything where I had to be on my legs.

Started on a Perception Carolina 14.5 with rudder. I used the rudder for some time... and then I learned how to paddle

Used that boat for a year and a half and paddled mostly on CT lakes, a couple times up in RI at Charlestown and Point Judith, and a lot in the sound around the Stamford area - Norwalk islands, accross the sound to LI, etc... All day trips.

I learned a lot of my paddling technique on that boat and taught myself how to roll it last summer... after I reached that personal milestone I felt that I wanted more

So this spring I got a used Wilderness Systems fiberglass Arctic Hawk - 18' long, 21.5" beam, 11" deep, with a very hard let-me-stick-my-head-in-the-water-for-a-second-and-come-right-back-up-chine... oh, sweet sweet Greenlanders...

Took a little getting used to it as it has no skeg and the primary stability is not there compared to my Carolina. But now after learning to make the small corrections with strokes and leaning it's all butter.

This year I haven't done anything epic with it but I've gone out more on the sound -Stamford, Greenwich, Norwalk Islands, Cokenoe Island in Westport - CT river in Old Saybrook, some marshes around Deep River, and a couple times in RI south of Narragansett - one of those during a storm with a killer (literally) surf with 8' waves that thrashed me around after I told my friend "Hey, I'll be back, I'm going to play in the surf".

BTW, waves are great! I completely agree with Darren:
"I like it when you drop between the waves and can't see land."

This week I'm taking a whitewater lesson up in Deerfield, MA. From there we'll see - I hope to get more into WW and surf kayaking next year. I have a feeling I'll have many more boats in the future

Yak on!!

 

[sleeping bear]

Before moving to Mass. canoeing was my main focus, then it became hiking, and upon moving back to Michigan it has returned to caneoing.

I currently have a 15.5 foot wooden Northland canoe (avatar) which was given to me by my father in law. He had it custum built in 73. It saw a lot of hard use before coming into my possession. This spring I spent every evening for 6 weeks sanding, epoxying and varnishing to get it back into good shape. I still have a little work to do, but it doesn't take on water anymore

Previously I've owned a large 16 foot fiberglass beast with tractor seats and a 12 foot fiberglass canoe designed for double blading. That 12 footer I named "the death boat" because it had no floatation and steel piping for gunnels, consiquently it would completely sink when submerged. I also used to have a Wilderness Systems kayak, but that was a while ago and I had no idea what I was doing when I had it.

At some point I'll probably build my own strip canoe, and I'd like to start making my own paddles. I would also like to paddle the Missinaibi River from Lake Superior to the James Bay. I also just finished teaching a two-week canoeing course at NMU.

 

[sardog1]

That seems to about the maximum I can go before it starts biting into my shoulders. I think it's just too heavy for any serious portaging.
Matt

If you have a portage yoke (or can substitute one for a center thwart), the Superior Yoke Pad is by far the most comfortable way to carry a canoe that I've found. I carry a 65 pound Old Town Penobscot 17 with it and it's "almost" pleasurable.

That Penobscot succeeded a Klepper Aerius II kayak, which succeeded a Bell CJ Solo, which succeeded an Old Town OTCA 16 that my dad rehabbed and passed on to me. If I had kept all of them, I'd have a perfect fleet right now.

 

[darren]

Jay - no, I don't have a foot or lever activated bilge pump. A lot of Brits do add them though. I've even read about some Brits who mount lawn mower batteries in the aft hold and have electric bilge pumps - now that is livin!

cbcbd - you have an Artic Hawk? Nice. When I get home next year, we will have to meet up so I can try it out. I used to drool over those way back in the day when I bought my WS Sealution II. I'd really like to see how it paddles. I'm interested in how the primary and secondary stability compares to my Orion. It would be cool to swap.

- darren

 

[Puck]

I do not own anywater craft.( I only have waders for fishing.) I do, however, aspire to own a canoe...soon. I have canoed alot on lakes. In fact I did teach some classes at a Scout camp in Northern VT.

This past summer my son went on a 5day canoe trip with the AMC. So now canoe ownership is imperative. He loves the fact that you can bring so much more stuff compared to a backpacking trip. We have canoe camped together in Lake Superior Provincial Park 100 miles north of Soult St Marie.

So I will lurk on this board to glean info if that is ok as I do consider myself a novice at this point.

 

[bubba]

So I will lurk on this board to glean info if that is ok as I do consider myself a novice at this point.

We'd better start seeing "greenies" before we vote you out of here!!

 

[cbcbd]

cbcbd - you have an Artic Hawk? Nice. When I get home next year, we will have to meet up so I can try it out. I used to drool over those way back in the day when I bought my WS Sealution II. I'd really like to see how it paddles. I'm interested in how the primary and secondary stability compares to my Orion. It would be cool to swap.

Definitively, a boat swap meet sounds like fun. Trying other boats is always a blast - At the time that I was shopping for kayaks I was also looking at the Impex Outer Island - another sweet boat that clinched my appetite for a Greenland style boat. But it was a much much tighter fit for me and I had found a good deal on the WS...
I'm sure I'll still be around then

The secondary stability is scary, it just keeps going and going and going... I've still yet to comfortably lean to the limit with a powerfull sculling brace before backing out
Primary is also scary... the first time I took it out it was a little choppy and I wanted to take some pictures - pretty iffy, you really can't be lax with it in chop and waves. Now I'm much more controlled with it though.

I guess it's just a scary boat

The guy I got it from was around 6'2" and it was really too small for him. I'm 5'8" with some thick legs so it fits me fine and I still have about 3-4 notches left on the foot peg rails.

-Doug

 

[brianW]

Just bought myself my first kayak. A Wilderness Systems Capeoutlook 15.5' used a few weeks back. I have only paddled canoes before and am looking for a new toy to play with.

Plan on going to Lake Thurmond next week and paddle some more and try to learn how to self rescue. Should be a "fun" day.

 

[BorealChickadee]

My canoe is a 14 foot Wenonah Kevlar which is used for exploring lakes and canoe camping in the Adirondacks. At only 31 pounds, I can load it by myself and it's got tons of room for camping gear for my son and myself.

Last year I got us two Swifty kayaks. I knew they were just introductory kayaks to most, but to me they fit the bill. literally. Since I have to buy two of everything (and on one income) at less than $300 not only could I get the necessary two but they're light enough that I can load them by myself. An absolute requirement is the low weight. I did splurge and got myslf a nice lightweight paddle and my son got stuck with the cheapie.

The canoe is for canoe camping in the Adirondacks or just general paddling together. Nice when one of us doesn't want to do much work.

The kayaks we use both locally in nearby lakes and in the Adiorndacks on lakes and streams. This year I managed to camp out of the kayak. It was tight, but it worked. My son couldn't go so I didn't want to take the canoe.

I used to kayak in Maine off of Deer Isle (Goose cove and Stonington area) using my brother's kayaks. They are 14.5 foot Wilderness Systems. Going out aroudn the islands was pretty exciting stuff compared to lakes. i remember coming back one t ime and before we crossed a bay where the waves were quite high, my brother told me"whatever you do, don't stop paddling". In my flatwater ignorance I happily said Ok and paddled on, ahrd to make progress, but back I went. Only after we were back did he tell me that he'd never been out in waves that bad before.

 

[Artex]

I grew up in Florida, where my father and I would go canoeing often. I remember laughing with excitement (fear?) as the two of us paddled quietly to sneak up on alligators to see how close we could get before they'd duck underwater.

My interest in paddling sparked up again around 4 years ago when I moved from New Jersey back down to Florida for a bit over a year before I would move up to Maine. Because I thought the hiking in Florida was quite boring, I needed something else and I took up sea kayaking and bought a used 17' Perception Shadow, which I still own today.

During my time back down in Florida, I had a lot of great kayaking experiences, the most notable being the multiple dolphin encounters I had.

After moving up to Maine, hiking and a more intense interest in running prevaled while kayaking took a backseat (more like thrown in the trunk). However, I've experienced a renewed interest lately. My major fear is navigating the seas and relatively huge tidal changes up here, which I'm not used to. But I'm getting accustomed to it and having fun.

~Fin~

 

[Jay H]

I just read an article about paddling down south in some of the marshlands. I forget whether it was florida, or it might of been S. Carolina. But anyway, they mention that because there really isn't any solid land to camp at, they have platforms built up into the marshes, some with roofs and they call them "chickees" like say "Springfield chickee" would be a platform tent site marked on the map at "springfield".

It looked pretty cool, the article which was in Atlantic Coastal Kayaker mentioned he would be camping and here alligators running around his canoe.

Jay