First trip with the Seajett

Last Sunday we went with six Aquavite members on to the lake 'Gooimeer'. The wind was a strong 5Bft decreasing to 4Bft. That afternoon there was a hypothermed paddler rescued from the lake 'IJmeer' about 10 miles from our location: https://www.knrm.nl/nieuws/onderkoelde-kajakker-gered-uit-ijmeer. But when we started our trip we didn't know that yet. We planned our trip to the isle 'Schelp' straight against the wind. However, when we left the protected bay and entered the full wind and waves two members indicated they were not fit or save enough to make the crossing under these circumstances. So we returned to the protected bay and played around there. We made some short trips outside the shelter heading into the wind and surfed back again. When the wind decreases we made some short trips on the lake. Good conditions to get an impression of the Seajett on open water after my first experience in the swimming pool.

The maneuverability is excellent without skeg. That the skeg is not lifting complete into the hull is apparently not an issue. There is no need to edge the boat to make a turn. I even had to pay attention to paddle in a straight line. With skeg down it's maneuverability diminishes dramatically to the level of a traditional sea kayak. That's a pity but of course expected behaviour of the skeg. As expected the Seajett was very prone to weathercocking but this was easily resolved by using the skeg. Stability was good, may be not as assuring as the Skarabee but never a problem to me.

In the waves one thing surprised me: The bow hardly rises on the waves, it just penetrates the wave burrying itself into a lot of water. But it happened very smooth and the boat seemed not to slow down. It made me think the Seajett is certainly not a real traditional sea kayak but may resemble more the fast racing sea kayaks of today which behave in the same way. Or is the Seajett just a flat water boat and not a sea kayak at all? Happily when surfing, the bow did not burry itself too much.

The Seajett is certainly a better surfer than the Skarabee and may be on the same level as the NDK Explorer, but that is hard to compare. Surfing without skeg is possible as the boat is good to control when it broaches. Better controllable than the Skarabee anyway. With skeg down it doesn't break out too soon but it will do sometimes. With the skeg down it is not easy to control anymore of course. With a rudder the Seajett would probably be an excellent downwind surfer. I have to make time then for adding the rudder...

After the trip I checked both compartments and unfortunately both had taken in some water. There was no water in the cockpit so I can exclude de bulkheads from being leaky.