Thoughts about the Zegul 550

After last summer in which I have used the Nigel Foster Shadow a lot, I took the Zegul 550 on a few trips lately. The last trip was a crossing of the lake IJsselmeer from Trintelhaven to Urk and back. We made this trip with 3 men. Soon, the wind developed to a 4 Bft with gusts to 5. Nice circumstances to get a better impression of the Zegul 550.

departure at Trintelhaven

The pointed bow of the Zegul likes to point into a steep wave instead of going over it. This gives a wet ride but doesn't seem to slow down the boat too much. Also when surfing this happens. Despite it's length the Zegul surfs quite well. That is, it is quite easy to get it in a surf, controlling it is much more difficult as the boat is very eager to break out.

on the beach at Urk

The long waterline makes the Zegul difficult to turn. Edging does work a little but you feel that you have to turn a long boat. Turning on top of a wave is always a good idea but 'within' the waves the sharp stem and stern lock themselves in the water. That could be an advantage like it is with a Baidarka: just going straight no matter what. But not the Zegul: the stem and stern are easily pushed away by the waves. In a three quarter or following sea I couldn't control the boat very well without using the vario skeg. It just wants to break out. You really need the skeg and if for any reason the skeg wouldn't work you would have a hard time then. 

To make matters worse the stem is also pushed aside very easily by the wind and waves resulting in bad pointing against the wind. I have managed up to bft 5 now but this would probably develop to a severe problem in stronger winds. 

Lighthouse Urk

Because of the high and narrow cockpit in front of the seat, the boat contact is not as good as other boats like the Shadow or even the Baidarka. For use as a sea kayak some extra padding for the thighs/knees would be a good idea. This would also help for rolling. Otherwise, this cockpit shape fascilitates a racy way to paddle with both knees together. I am not used to that but may be I can.

on the beach at Urk

Stability was never a problem for me. The initial stability is clearly better than the Shadow or Baidarka. The Zegul feels quite safe also in the waves.

What really is quite impressing is the speed. The Zegul 550 is certainly my fastest sea kayak that I have owned until now. Especially when using the Kinetic Wing paddle it is easy to leave all other group members behind you.

My current impression of the Zegul 550 is that it is mainly a fast sea kayak. Good for training and fast expeditions but on relative flat waters. It would have been perfect for the last circumnavigation of Flevoland e.g. For wild water and sea I would prefer other boats like the Shadow or Baidarka. These boats do sacrifice some speed but are far more comfortable and manageable under rougher circumstances.

NZKV Vlielandweek

Elk jaar organiseert de NZKV een zeekajakweek op Vlieland. Zo'n beetje het hoogtepunt van zeekajakvarend Nederland. Dit jaar waren Linde, Jeffrey en Jeroen van de partij namens Aquavite. Verslag door Jeroen.

onderweg naar Vlieland

De week begint traditiegetrouw op zaterdag met de overtocht van Harlingen naar Vlieland. Met een diploma Zeevaardigheid (ZV) kun je deze tocht per kajak doen. Jeffrey en Linde hadden nog geen ZV, dus die gingen met de veerboot. Het was een rustige tocht waarbij we nog in een mistbank terechtkwamen. In de loop van de dag werd het steeds zonniger zodat we uiteindelijk onder welhaast tropische omstandigheden onze tent konden opzetten op camping Stortemelk.

na aankomst op Vlieland

camping bij zonsopkomst

Wat een geluk hadden we met het weer! En dat zou de hele week zo blijven. Ook fijn was dat het avondeten verzorgd werd door een cateraar waardoor je na een vermoeiende dag lekker kon aanschuiven in de grote zaal. Het was gezellig om bekende en onbekende deelnemers uit het land te ontmoeten. Opvallend was de grote delegatie uit Groningen (GKV) waar ik -maar vooral Linde en Jeffrey- veel mensen van kennen.

kampvuur op strand

Op zondag en maandag werden er clinics gegeven. Ik heb meegedaan aan een eskimoteerclinic met interessante oefeningen op het droge. Leuk om mee terug te nemen naar huis. Verder een navigatieclinic waarbij we een tocht naar de Engelse Hoek (voor Terschelling) hebben gemaakt. Interessant was ook een theoretische verhandeling over hoe je je lichaam het best kunt gebruiken tijdens het varen en tillen van zware kajaks. 's Avonds was er in de jachthaven nog een oefening samen met de KNRM. Ik mocht spelen dat m'n arm uit de kom was, dat deed veel pijn.

oefenen met de KNRM

Vanaf dinsdag werd iedereen ingedeeld in groepen. Linde in de ZV-oefengroep, Jeffrey in de ZV-examengroep en ik in de Zeevaardigheid Extra (ZVE)-groep. Dinsdag zijn we met de ZVE-groep naar West-Terschelling gevaren voor de onvermijdelijke koffie met gebak. Er stond al aardig wat wind (4 bft) en dat zou in de loop van de week alleen maar erger worden. De heenweg hebben we met de wind in de rug lekker kunnen surfen. In de ZVE-groep wordt er geoefend voor het ZVE-examen. We hadden 1 kandidaat in de groep die voor het examen ging. Dit betekent dat er af en toe wat reddingen gedaan moeten worden, slepen, etc. De terugweg was voornamelijk tegen de wind in. Ik was best wel moe na deze dag maar ik had me opgegeven voor zwembadtraining 's avonds. Gelukkig bleek er 1-op-1 instructie te zijn: Luut is flink met me bezig is geweest met de Groenlandrol en de CTC-rol. Heel leerzaam en nuttig!

voor vertrek

op zee

Woensdag voelde ik de inspanningen van de dagen ervoor wel. Gelukkig had onze instructeur ook meer behoefte aan koffie dan aan een lange tocht zodat we er een oefendagje van hebben gemaakt in en rond Vlieland-dorp (koffie, uitsmijters, reddingen, re-entry & roll, scullen).

nabespreking

Donderdag was de wind nog verder aangetrokken tot bft 6 met vlagen 8 en heeft de leiding besloten om een rustdag te plannen. Na 5 dagen varen kwam dit helemaal niet verkeerd uit. 's Middags werden er wel theorie-examens afgenomen. Linde en Jeffrey deden ZV en ik ZVE. 's Ochtends nog even flink leren. Het examen viel me tegen en ik kwam in tijdnood toen ik nog een heel vaarplan moest opstellen. 's Avonds hoorden we dat alle deelnemers geslaagd waren, pfff gelukkig!

de boten lieten we op het strand liggen

Voor vrijdag was de weersvoorspelling niet veel gunstiger dan donderdag. Toch werd besloten de praktijkexamens voor ZV en ZVE door te laten gaan. Wij zouden een rondje Richel doen waarbij we een flink stuk tegen de wind in zouden moeten knokken. Het beloofde een pittig tochtje te worden. Maar eerst was daar de branding... de hele week niet gezien maar nu imposant aanwezig. Ik kwam er vrij makkelijk doorheen maar gezien het lange wachten op de rest van de groep deelde niet iedereen die ervaring. Ook voor de ZV-groep bleek de branding een lastige hindernis. Eigenlijk was de branding te hoog voor een ZV-examen maar de deelnemers die er wel doorkwamen waren zodoende vrijwel zeker van hun ZV-diploma. Gefeliciteerd Jeffrey!

branding vrijdag

klaar voor de start

Tijdens onze tocht om de Richel hebben we gepauzeerd op het vogelwachtershuisje. Hierna kwam het zwaarste deel van onze tocht recht tegen de inmiddels aangetrokken wind. Gelukkig zaten we na de rustdag weer vol energie en konden we lekker anderhalf uur buffelen. Daarna werd iemand toevallig misselijk, verward en onderkoeld tegelijk waarbij ik mijn laatste energie kon opmaken aan het slepen van een vlotje met het slachtoffer. Dit was natuurlijk in scene gezet maar toen er ook nog iemand spontaan omging ontstond er toch een complexe situatie. Na een welkome pauze op het strand bij de jachthaven wilde ik nog wel over zee terug naar de camping. Helaas was er toen van de branding niet veel meer over.

aankomst voor Harlingen

Het weer op zaterdag stond in groot contrast met vrijdag. Het was een zwoele dag met nauwelijks wind waarbij we monter de terugtocht naar Harlingen aanvaardden. Nou ja monter, ik moest er al wel om 6.00 uur voor uit m'n bed. We hadden nog wat leuke golven boven de Richel maar daarna werd het rustig tot saai. Jeffrey en Linde gingen weer met de veerboot.

Kortom, het was weer een intensieve, leerzame maar bovenal leuke week!

zonsondergang

Just some photos of some trips

The last weeks I was quite busy with kayaking. I joined an excercise weekend in Zeeland to fine tune some rescue techniques. It proved to be quite useful.

Exercise weekend in Zeeland

North Sea beach

During the weekend I was confronted with some failing rolls and I was pointed out that I used a wrong grip on the elongated Greenland paddle. So time for some rolling sessions at home to regain technique and confidence. The most useful video for me was this one:

Happily, with the correct grip and body rotation as is demonstrated in the video I was able to roll quite easy. So never stop practising rolling.

With Aquavite we canceled a trip to Ameland but made a trip to Edam:

Marken lighthouse

Campsite Edam

I have used the Nigel Foster Shadow for all these trips as this is my best sea kayak and a good expedition boat also.

P&H Baidarka Explorer

The P&H Badairka Explorer was my first sea kayak (and will probably my last). This classic design of Derek Hutchinson had become legendary now. I acquired a nice, almost new Baidarka. It is almost identical to the P&H Dawn Treader Odin I started my second sea kayak life with. However this is the 'real' one: with the curvy ends and with the smaller ocean going cockpit.

Collecting the Baidarka, beautiful lines!

Of course I know the drawbacks of the design as I described in the Dawn Treader Odin posts: Low initial stability and not very maneuverable. For that reason I will continue to take the Shadow for the real sea kayaking in difficult circumstances. But for many other trips the Baidarka is a nice boat. It feels so familiar to me as it was my only sea kayak for over 10 years in my first sea kayaking era.

At the first trip

Old fashioned deck pump

This Baidarka is build in the old fashioned way with an open space behind the seat. Not good to common safety standards but the deck pump is very useful. The build quality is simply good as you would expect from P&H. Both yellow and white gelcoat look like new. The two hatches with the traditional small round VCP lids are leak free as they should (while the Zegul is still not watertight...).

Nice Swede form hull

A variable skeg has been built in later. It is leak free but the control handle is behind the seat. Not very beautiful but it works for now. May be I will make changes to the boat later. I did fit a hard foam plate to the front bulkhead to get a nice foot brace. The seating is comfortable with ample space for legs and feet. The small cockpit gives good support to the knees for easy rolling. It rolls indeed quite easy.

On a trip from Medemblik to Stavoren v.v.

Surfing the Amarok

One day last month the wind forecast was ideal to test the Amarok surfing.

I made a trip from IJburg to Gemaal De Blocq van Kuffeler with a firm 5-6 Bft wind in the back. I first surfed from IJburg to Pampus Island to wait there for my club mates who arrived from Almere Haven. Together we surfed to Gemaal De Blocq van Kuffeler where I was collected by car.

13 kms of surfing

The Amarok is certainly a decent surfer. I was always at the frontline of the group, so speed wasn't a problem. However, I couldn't notice any advantages of the shorter length. It still needs significant power to pull into a surf. I think comparable with other longer sea kayaks like the Shadow. In my memory the Explorer was still a lot easier to launch.

Typical behaviour of the Amarok in a surf is: a quick start but also a quick stop when the bow burries itself in the wave. On a steep wave such a 'brake' could be quite forceful and I got covered with water up to my waist. Not a problem of course and quite spectaculair. But I didn't manage to surf over multiple waves like I can sometimes with the Shadow or Inua.

The limited maneuverability of the Amarok makes it difficult to keep the boat straight on the waves. It breaks out quickly. Using about half the skeg seemed to be the best compromize to hold the boat straight and still be able to make some corrections. In fact this behaviour does remind me of other 'keel' boats like the Baidarka. Under these circumstances it is clear that the Shadow can be much better controlled.

Conclusion for me is that the Amarok is not the excellent surfer I had hoped for. It certainly is not bad and comparable with most sea kayaks. The lack of maneuverability doesn't help also. Still amazing that Inuit has designed this short boat to behave like a sea kayak that is 1 meter longer.

Zegul 550 leakages

Unfortunately the Zegul appeared to have leaking front and rear compartments. This was a reason to not take it on the Flevoland circumnavigation.

The leak in the front compartment was easily found: a partly loose hatch rim

leaking front hatch rim

The first attempt to glue with epoxy didn't succeed, probably because I had added to much white pigment. Also, the hatch rim is made from ABS and that is not the ideal material to glue with epoxy. So I tried he second time with 2-components PU glue. This did a good job, no water entry anymore!

glueing the rim again

However, the leakage in the rear compartment was not that easy to find. Only after two trials with filling the compartment with water I discovered the leak was at the skegbox. Even with low level of water it was leaking so the leak must be somewhere at the junction of the box to the hull. A first layer of epoxy on and around the skegbox didn't help. The last days I added two layers more. A trip to Edam would be a good testcase. Unfortunately, still water had came in. Further investigation showed there was still a leak around the backside of the skegbox but also at the stern at the hole for the toggle rope. To be continued...

Lendal Kinetic Wing revisited

The Kinetic Wing did a good job during the circumnavigation of Flevoland giving me more power than the Greenland paddle with the same forward stroke technique. It has become my main paddle but there are some minor issues that I wanted to be solved: increasing the shaft diameter and removal of the oval shaped grip for the right hand. Both lead to a bit cramped position of the fingers. The shaft diameter is only 29 mm, except for both ends having 30 mm. 

the right hand oval grip

I ordered a thin walled carbon tube with inner size 29 and outer size 30 mm. So it could be sleeved around the thinner part of the shaft. It's length is 1000 mm and that will increase the paddle length a few centimeters up to 227,5 cm. Quite nice. Due to it's thin wall it will not increase the weight of the paddle too much. The tube is already lacquered for UV-protection and has a smooth surface.

the new carbon tube in between both halves

it is a thin walled tube

First, both hand grips needs to be removed. They were quite easily stripped off after a small incision. The plastic insert that makes the oval grip is also easily taken off.

stripping the old sleeves

the stripped off parts

The new tube in place over the shaft until it reaches the thicker ends:

all 30 mm now

very nice

No glue has been applied yet. The seems are sealed with tape to prevent for incoming water and rotating of the blades. In this way it is possible to disassemble it.

finishing tape

Update: the sealing with tape did not prevent the blades rotating a bit. I have glued all parts now with epoxy.

Circumnavigation of Flevoland in three days

This circumnavigation of Flevoland has been planned for next Saturday, Sunday and Monday. With about 50 kms a day this will be a though trip. We will paddle clockwise around the isle with some Aquavite club members.

Flevoland

My plan is to use the Zegul 550 as this is a fast boat with sufficient storage for a few days. I will take my large GP but want to use the Lendal Kinetic Wing most of the time.

Update: Unfortunately the Zegul had a leaking hatch rim. Repair did not work out well before the trip. After some deliberation I decided to take the Shadow for the circumnavigation. At least the Shadow has enough storage space and it seats comfortable. The Inua would have been a good candidate too when the bulkhead is moved.

Floating rest at Pampus haven

We started with five men from Almere Haven. At our first rest on land at De Blocq van Kuffeler two members decided to return via the inland route. They couldn't keep up with the high speed, and they were right as we paddled around 8 km/h. It was no problem for me probably because of the Kinetic Wing paddle that seems to give extra power. So we continued to Lelystad with three men.

Bataviawerf at Lelystad

First campsite near Lelystad

After camping at a nice beach with good weather we continued the second day to the Ketelmeer. Unfortunately the forcasted tailwind appeared to be a headwind, making the leg to the Ketelbrug long and boring.

Passed the Ketelbrug

The Ketelmeer didn't give us any excitement and without any waves we entered the Randmeren. It had become quite warm and windless making it a though and long day. That day we paddled a distance of 55 km and we were all tired. Happily our camping site on Pierland isle was a nice place to stay.

Second campsite at dawn

The third day we started early and we paddled quiet on a quiet lake. After two breaks we arrived soon at Almere Haven, our starting point.

Break at Nuldernauw

During the trip the Lendal Kinetic Wing has proved to be a powerful paddle. When I switched back to the Greenland paddle I had more problems to maintain the high speed. The only thing is that the shaft is a bit too thin. I am thinking of methods to increase the shaft diameter in a nice way.

The Nigel Foster Shadow has proved to be fast enough to keep up with the high speeds. However these kind of expeditions would be very interesting to make with the Zegul 550 or Inua.

Lendal Kinetic Wing paddle

The Lendal Kinetic Wing paddle has always intrigued me. It's blade shape is somewhere in between a Euro and a Wing paddle. It seems to me an interesting paddle to use with the 'wing paddle style' forward stroke, similar to how you can use the Greenland paddle. The Kinetic Wing is not in production anymore and are hard to find now. When I got the opportunity to buy a Kinetic Wing paddle from a club member I bought it. So here it is, next to my largest GP:

I have used it on one trip with the Zegul 550. The first strokes felt very unconvenient as the blades went all over the place: sidewards and under the boat. But after some time everything settled down nicely. The blades move easily sidewards as expected, more easy than with the GP. When paddling against a Bft 4 wind the blades created a firm grip in the water while moving sidewards. I think this is a good paddle to use it in the same way as I use the GP. May be it can give a bit more power and speed. 

Inuit Inua

The longer and sleeker sister of the Inuit Amarok is the Inua. It is certainly has the looks of a good, traditional sea kayak:

Today I had the opportunity to paddle the Inua. I made a trip from IJburg to Pampus Isle. I had planned to go to Marken but the wind was too strong and my seating position wasn't very comfortable: the front bulkhead is too close for my long legs. The first leg was straight against the wind and the Inua sometimes slammed hard on the steep and high waves. Otherwise it seems a dry boat to paddle and it behaves like a real sea kayak: Easy to keep on course in all directions.

The Inua is certainly less stable than the Amarok, especially the initial stability took some time to get used to. The secundary stability was not convincing either, there seems no 'endpoint' where you can trust on. Nevertheless I was able to make the trip without real stability problems. The boat feels very fast and lively and took every wave with pleasure. To my surprise edging did work better than the Amarok. Of course I didn't feel very safe to edge a lot but the Inua is more maneuverable than you would expect. The directional stability was very good and the boat reacts very good on the retractable skeg. 

After a break on Pampus Isle I returned to IJburg. To my surprise the Inua appeared to be a good surfer that could be easily pulled in a surf. And in a surf it is fast... very fast! The last part I took the waves from aside and here the lack of stability needed my attention. Probably you can get used to it and may be smaller persons will not have any problem at all.

Later, a club member tried the Inua. As he is much smaller than me, I had expected the stability would be better for him. But instead, he found the Inua unstable too. Conclusion is that the lack of stability is simply by design and cannot be 'fixed' easily. For me the stability would be sufficient for day trips or expeditions on sheltered water. I wouldn't use it on sea. May be I will keep the Inua but than I have to move the bulkhead forwards to fit my long legs. May be I will try to sell it. I am still thinking about it.

The build quality of the Inua is excellent. The skeg operates direct and smoothly. And no drop of water within the three compartments. Both the Inua and Amarok were built by the now closed Inuit yard in Arnemuiden.