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.