First results with the Legend

Today I went for a trip with the Legend as the rain has gone. I have made quite some trips now with the Legend and the results are becoming more clear.

Rest at isle Drost

The Legend is a fast sea kayak. It feels easy driven. I can get it over the 8 km/h limit easily. The speed seems only limited by my own performance... and that is a pity sometimes ;-) May be the Explorer is even a bit faster but the difference, if any, is small.

The amount of weathercocking in a quartering sea has now become quite annoying. It is possible to correct this with edging and sweep strokes. I am still not that confident about the stability so there is probably some progress possible when I would use more edging. But with a retrectable skeg life will be easier. So I am thinking of adding a retrectable skeg. This could be a nice new project after the Shadow is ready.

Stability is sufficient for a sporty kayak but for use on sea I would like to have a bit more stability to be able to eat a sandwich in a troubled sea. As said, on this moment I don't feel comfortable enough to edge the Legend to a far degree. When I have more confidence and experience with it's stability curve the Legend would probably become even more enjoyable.

The aft dry compartment appeared to be not very dry at all. After each trip there was some water in it. The test with the fire hose shows that the water is leaking from under the rubber lid. The good thing is that there are no structural faults that cause leaks but it is the fit of the lid on the rim. Well, the bad thing is that I can't change much about this. May be the Kajaksport lids from the Shadow do a better job, I can test that.

Another annoying thing is the sprayskirt. It is difficult to get the backside under the cockpit rim. It take a few minutes (yes, minutes) to put it in right. Not very practical for quick entries or exits. This is mainly caused by the lack of space under the cockpit rim in combination with it's recess into the aft deck. You can't just pull the skirt around the rim. The strong elastics of the sprayskirt doesn't help also.

A new seat for the Shadow, part 4

In the meantime the work on the Shadow goes on. The hole in the bulkhead is closed with five layers of glass. Two chopped strand mats embedded between three woven cloths. I have to do some finishing work yet.

bulkhead under construction

My idea's about the seat have changed a few times last week. I often have this problem... On this moment I want to use woodcore, plywood sheeted with carbon fiber. This will be lightweight and the carbon will give it a hi-tech look. I hope so at least. I started to glue extensions to the seat to form sidewalls.

seat under construction

Another trip with the Legend

Another trip with the Legend yesterday. Beautiful weather with a firm wind of 4 Bft. I took another route this time on the lakes Gooimeer and Eemmeer.

Rest with view on lake Gooimeer

On these more protected waters the waves are not that big and that makes the Legend more prone to weathercocking. Especially in a quartering sea it is difficult to keep course as the Legend wants to luff all the time. With the wind fully across or fully behind it is more managable, so that's what I did to prevent the quartering seas. I think I want a vario skeg...

A new seat for the Shadow, part 3

Still thinking of all different ways to fix a seat in the Shadow I examined the seat of the Skarabee. It is bolted to the flanks. A good idea to make seats interchangable. When someone wants a larger seat again then it can be arranged without doing polyester or epoxy work.

The seat in the Skarabee is bolted

Of course the seat will be supported by foam. And there is still an option to place back the original seat and glue it to the hull but not to the side walls. The side walls are necessary for bolting the seat to it and for fixing the backstrap.

I have received a few tips on my suggestion to place the seat as low as possible: Care must be taken that the seat can not touch the bottom or split can come under the seat as this can cause leaks after a time.

A trip with the Legend

Yesterday I took the Legend on a longer trip. Wind was a 4 Bft with gusts to 5. Good circumstances to get more familiar with the Legend and to check how it performs in the wind with the fixed skeg.

The first track was in a following sea. The Legend felt quick and I managed to get it surfing sometimes over multiple waves. Afterwards I checked the log and I am happy to report a speed of around 10 km/h. However, the Legend did not surf spontaneously, I think the Explorer is more eager to surf. Tracking is sufficient and with some edging you can make some corrections. However it broached several times.

Then a track followed with wind from aside. I could feel the Legend wants to weathercock a little. Normally I would put some skeg down but now I had to manage it with some edging and sweep strokes. It worked but I prefer a vario skeg.

Rest at isle Hooft

After a rest on isle Hooft I went on to IJburg. The last track between Muiden and IJburg the wind was on a beam. Being on leeshore the north eastern wind has created some big swells, some waves even breaking. I almost got the impression I was on sea! The Legend behaves well in waves. However, stability is not that reassuring as it would be in the Skarabee, Orion or Seajett. On that moment I remembered I still had to put some knee or thigh bracing in it. A positive remark is that the weathercocking in the waves wasn't noticable anymore. Or may be the corrections could be easier to make.

The way back had some tracks against the wind and it proved to be a good workout for me. No issues with weathercocking. I can imagine there are paddlers that don't need or want a retrectable skeg on a Legend as it behaves mostly very neutral. But I think I would rather prefer one, just to have more options in all kind of different situations with wind and waves.

A new seat for the Shadow, part 2

From the kayak shop where I bought the Shadow I could get a kayak for free to obtain a new seat. Well, not new, actually quite old, but I do fit better in it.

The seat removed from it's donor wreck

First I removed the bulge from the bulkhead with a disc cutter.

The bulkhead with the bulge removed

The bulkhead has gelcoat on it. It would be difficult to match colors with the new inset. And I don't like a coloured bulkhead, so I decided to remove all gelcoat from it. Quite a tedious job...

The bulkhead without gelcoat (almost)

There are still some pieces gelcoat to be removed but I need some other tool for that. The new seat is a lot smaller than the original one. On both sides there is more than one inch space to fit to the wide cockpit coaming. I am still thinking how to solve this in a functional but also beautiful way.

The seat smoothly transitions into the bulkhead

To be continued...

A new seat for the Shadow, part 1

I have decided to give the Shadow a fair chance. The primary stability issue has probably something to do with a lack of load. When the chines are deeper in the water the stability will probably improve. Besides this, a seat that is too wide does not help also. And as the seat is quite uncomfortable for me, I actually want to make a complete new seat in it... Quite ambitious indeed and I have to say I am inspired by the new owner of my old Orion who is also making a new seat. See his blog on: https://www.zeekajaksite.nl/blog/r_weblog.php. The new seat should be placed as low as possible in the hull as every single centimeter will help for initial stability.

Old seat

So I started to remove the seat. It was quite well fixed with polyester resin but with some force the seat finally got loose. I also removed the backrest and all it's fixing bolts. The seat may be original but the backrest certainly is not.

Seat and backrest removed

After removal of the seat the hull appeared to be undamaged happily. The next step will be to remove the bulge in the bulkhead. This bulge, padded with foam, forms the original backrest. Also a Nigel Foster idea, simple but not very comfortable. My plans are for an ordinary backstrap.

An empty cockpit

To be continued...