A sunny trip with the Skarabee

Today the weather was too good for not paddling. It was sunny and a nice wind of 4 Bft. I went for the isle 'Hooft' in the lake IJmeer. A trip with a total distance of about 18 kms. I took the Skarabee and started with my Greenland paddle.

A sunny day

Soon I switched to my Schlegel Ozean spare paddle. It is heavy because it is fully made of aluminium. Today, I just wanted to make a longer tour with it. This paddle has long, narrow blades for easy stowing on the deck as a spare paddle. This shape does not differ much from a Greenland paddle and it can even be adjusted to a similar 0 degrees blade twist. It has a bit more power in a normal forward stroke but it is less suited for more dynamic slicing and dicing. Probably because of the high weight.

Schlegel Ozean paddle

Not much to say about the trip, just a few photo's to show.
On the isle, sitting sheltered from the wind, it was nice resting.

Break on the isle Hooft with a view on the lake Markermeer

A few trips with the Skarabee

Last two weekends we have made a trip with our club. Both times I picked the Skarabee. Both times there was a lot of wind. The first time we didn't make a trip actually but played again around our sheltered bay. The second weekend we made a trip of about 18 km to the isle Hooft in the IJmeer.

The experiences with the Skarabee were not different than before. It needs a lot of skeg to correct weathercocking. Probably this would be better when loaded, as this boat has been designed for taking a bulk of load. Unloaded as I paddle it now it definitely needs a larger skeg. When you paddle across the wind and totally lower the skeg I want the boat to turn down the wind but it is not very eager to do so. Also downwind it is not very straight tracking. I will look if I can alter the skeg somehow to get it more effective.

Nothing new about surfing also. It takes some effort to get the Skarabee into a surf. But I managed to get the bow burried in the wave once. Exciting and fast. On sea, with larger wavelengths, it would probably surf better. Controlling the boat when surfing is still difficult as it wants to break out too soon. A larger skeg would help here of course. Or...why not make a rudder on it? and why not a sail? The Skarabee can have it.

Another idea I have is to lower the aft deck as I don't need all that volume. It could help diminishing the weathercocking and also for esthetical reasons this would be good idea. But a lot of work... And before I would make such a drastic change I first want to test the Skarabee when it is loaded. The first camping trip is planned with Eastern. However, this trip might be cancelled because of the Corona lockdown.

During the long trip I developed a few blisters on my hand. A few minor ones but one serious. The shaft of my Greenland paddle is made from soft wood. The spots where my hands are on have been abrased by wearing gloves with some antislip pattern.

worn spots on both ends of the loom

The bare wood absorbs water and these spots are pretty rough now. Not good for wet and cold skin. I already tried to fix the spots with linseed oil but this didn't help much. Now I try the hardwax oil that is used for wooden floors.

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.

Storm Dennis arrives

This weekend the storm Dennis passed by. But first we had a swimming pool session on Friday. This time I took the Seajett, making it my first action with it. It soon became clear that I should do some adjustments on the seating position: the foot rest is too close in its far-most position but when removed the front bulkhead is too far away. Also the thigh braces proved to be too small, as my legs slips too easily out of them. These things made rolling more difficult and should be fixed for reliable rolling. With the Orion and Skarabee I had better swimming pool sessions. After the session it appeared that the front hatch was dry but the rear hatch had taken some water. Could be the skeg fitting but the rear bulkhead doesn't look very confident too. So, enough work to do on the Seajett, including the rudder.

The next day storm Dennis had starting to blow with a decent 5 Bft with gusts to 8 Bft. I made a trip to the other side of the lake Gooimeer from Almere to the beech of 'Oud Valkeveen'. With this wind and waves I took the Skarabee as I didn't want to take any risk with the Seajett yet. Seating in the Skarabee felt as comfortable as always and I never felt unsafe during the trip. It was hard working with my Greenland paddle against the gusts of wind. The Skarabee slammed sometimes on the waves, not very disturbing but a Baidarka would have done this much more elegant. After a while I finally came near the shore and out of the wind. I took a rest on the beach. Looking from there the water seems so quiet...

Resting on the luff side, no waves here...

The trip backwards was a lot quicker. I tried to surf as much as possible but the Skarabee was not very eager to take off. With the Explorer this trip would probably have been one exciting long surf but with the Skarabee it was up and down. I experimented with the skeg. Without the skeg the boat was indeed easier to correct. However, I was continuously busy with correcting and the Skarabee zig-zagged from left to right. With the skeg down it was a lot easier to stay on course but the boat still wants to break out sometimes, even when not in a surf. I got sweet memories of my Baidarka that tracked so much better in these conditions. On the end of the trip the waves became bigger and bigger and I had to take care not to ram the landing place. But with the skeg in I could control the surfing Skarabee to point it in the good direction.

After the trip I checked the average speed and that was a little dissapointing: against the wind 4,8 and before the wind only 7,8 km/h. With the NDK Explorer I would certainly have reached much above 8 km/h... The Skarabee is known as a fast boat but may be I am not strong enough to overcome the extra resistance of it's length and width. But with this wind I would have expected there was enough power to get it up to hull speed... I am curious how the Seajett will compare in this. We will see later.

Gumotex rudder kit

A trip to the kayak shop was needed for two new rubber lids and a new back strap. In the shop I explored some options to fit a rudder to the seajett. I found a complete kit from Gumotex: www.kajak.nl/roerkit-seawave, originally made to fit a Gumotex Seawave kayak. 

Gumotex rudder kit

The quality of the parts seems good and with some adjustments the endplate that holds the rudder pin could be fixed to the rounded tail of the Seajett. The steering pads could be fitted on top of the footrest plate in the Seajett:

Foot rest steering pads

I took the kit home (it was almost more expensive than the Seajett...) and I took the parts to the boat to check my ideas. Everything looks allright. To get the steering lines through the hull seems to be the most challenging part.

Rudder kit parts

Eagle Seajett

There is a kayak design that I have always admired: the Seajett. Firstly made by Stip Yaks and later by Eagle. The design is special because it has a rounded stern, not pointed:

Eagle Seajett

The theory is that this shape will help prevent squatting, and so reducing wavemaking resistance. This shape is actually quite common on sailing yachts and other bigger boats. The experience of some Seajett paddlers seem to confirm it's speed. But also that it needs a lot of skeg to prevent weathercocking which is explainable as the stern is rounded below the waterline and does not have much lateral resistance. For this reason I think the Seajett could be a good candidate for a rudder.

Stip Yaks Seajett

So when I encountered a cheap Seajett on the internet I decided to buy it. It is an Eagle, almost new, or better: not used very much. Eagle kayaks are considered to be good value for the money but the build quality is not outstanding. I hope it will be sufficient for my intended use: making day trips on the lake at the kayak club. I will not use it on sea or with lots of luggage. At home it appeared that both original VCP rubber lids had been teared during the car trip. They looked nice before but were probably dried out too much. The second setback was that the skeg appeared to be not fully retractable. Even after modifying the operating mechanism the undeep skegbox prevents the skeg to disappear fully into the hull. On the water this will probably not be a real problem as the boat needs a lot of skeg but it makes it more vulnerable during landing and onshore. I know that the Stip Yaks version does not have this 'problem' so I am a bit disappointed in the Eagle then. May be I had better searched for a Stip Yaks Seajett. The sprayskirt is also not very good and the backrest needs to be changed also... But I am curious to paddle it and to test it's behaviour and speed.

This is my Eagle Seajett:

Skeg or rudder?

I made a few trips with the Skarabee. I have already praised it's maneuverability which makes the long boat feel a lot shorter. However, this is without using the skeg. When you lower the skeg a bit, the boat feels completely different: it does not want to turn anymore, even on edge. Of course this is explainable as the skeg prevents the tail to slip sidewards and the skeg remains under water on edge. This is actually the purpose of a skeg, so it is not a failure but a design feature. But it is a pity to sacrify so much maneuverabililty when using it. With the Baidarka I never experienced such a difference. But with the Skarabee there is a huge difference in maneuverablility. I am now trying to remember how this was with the Orion, it should be about the same as this is also an easy to turn boat. But somehow it didn't bother me at the time.

That makes me wonder how to use the skeg in a surf: normally you put down the skeg when going downwind. It prevents the boat to break out and that is a good thing if you want to make long surfs. However, when it starts to break out it will be hard to correct because of the same skeg. On the other hand, when you don't use the skeg in a surf the boat definitely want to break out earlier but it would be easier to correct. May be because of the good maneuverability of the Skarabee this could work. Definitely more fun also. Something to test the coming months when there are enough waves to surf.

Now I realize the real benefit of a rudder: with a rudder you always keep maximum maneuverability. Especially in a surf this would be perfect. And it makes me think there are two types of sea kayaks: 'skeg boats' and 'rudder boats'. The Baidarka is a good example of a typical 'skeg boat': the vario skeg just varies the built in 'skeg' in the already well tracking hull. You use the skeg to fine tune the balance of the boat. There is not much difference in maneuverability with or without skeg (both are bad).

On the other hand a typical 'rudder boat' would be much more maneuverable. A skeg would spoil this, so a rudder is the better option. Because of the rudder it is not needed anymore to make the hull track well and it can be optimized for speed and/or maneuverability. Such a boat is the Tiderace Pace 17 Tour. One of the kayaks on my wish list...

May be the Skarabee would be also a good candidate for a rudder. At least, it is an option if you order a new one at MSC. Another thing to think about because a rudder has also some drawbacks.