Fast kayaks for potential conversion?
Moderators: kenneth, sbroam, TheKrikkitWars, Mike W., Sir Adam, KNeal, PAC, adamin
Consider picking up a good used slalom boat, one of the newer designs. I watched a slalom boater thoroughly outclass several playboaters on Smelter Rapid in Durango when it was running a coupla thousand cfs. Not only could he throw ends and flat spin, but he was so much more able to get back on the wave than the others.
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yarnellboat
- C Maven
- Posts: 1331
- Joined: Wed Apr 06, 2005 8:54 pm
- Location: Winnipeg
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the great gonzo
- Paddling Benefactor
- Posts: 1718
- Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2003 2:03 am
- Location: Montréal, Québec
Pat,
I will be in Kamloops BC for at least the next 2 years, while attending the Adventure Guide program at TRU.
And yes, I brought some of my boatswith me.
The Sith, Ceemweaver, Prelude, Outrage and Finkenmeister are all in Loops now!
Can't wait to paddle out here. Paddled the Shusweap today, and will try to get to some other rivers soon!
TGG!
I will be in Kamloops BC for at least the next 2 years, while attending the Adventure Guide program at TRU.
And yes, I brought some of my boatswith me.
The Sith, Ceemweaver, Prelude, Outrage and Finkenmeister are all in Loops now!
Can't wait to paddle out here. Paddled the Shusweap today, and will try to get to some other rivers soon!
TGG!
Everyone must believe in something. I believe I'll go canoeing - Henry David Thoreau
Got the Atom this weekend and I'm really liking it so far.
I've only got to use it in some small class II to II+ so far, but it's fast enough to make ferries in small water like that effortlessly.
It's very stable and I can even stand up in it (not useful normally but it's nice to rest the ankles), but I can still put it on edge for eddy turns. It carves very very well.
As I'd heard would be the case, at 160# I'm far too light to stern squirt it in general but playing with eddy lines and throwing my weight around I could get the bow pretty far up in the air some of the time-- maybe not in a way that was helpful but I could get the stern under.
The edges that make it carve so well make you stay awake... drop an upsteam edge into the current too drastically while coming out of an eddy and there's nothing that'll stop you from going over. That said, it's pretty easy to roll. It's not as easy as a Gyramax, but what can I expect? The Gyramax is all but round.
The outfitting leaves a little to be desired but I could get myself tightly in it after a little fiddling... I need to really crank the straps tight down and it makes it hard to get out of the boat without releasing them.
Knowing that wet exiting was going to take a lot more time than rolling dissuaded me from swimming even in some shallow rocky sections (my stern squirt games put me upside down a few times this weekend). Being able to get out of the boat in a hurry would be much better, but I feel like learning to not consider wet exits as an option will improve my roll... a lot. Very quickly.
One review I checked out of this boat mentioned it didn't surface too smoothly because the deck didn't shed water well, and that after punching a hole or running a drop the boat would be very wobbly as the bow tried to float up unless you leaned it to shed water quickly. I noticed that it surfaced slowly but didn't notice any wobble... of course that might have been my paddling technique, I wasn't punching holes, I launched off a cliff into the river
I've only got to use it in some small class II to II+ so far, but it's fast enough to make ferries in small water like that effortlessly.
It's very stable and I can even stand up in it (not useful normally but it's nice to rest the ankles), but I can still put it on edge for eddy turns. It carves very very well.
As I'd heard would be the case, at 160# I'm far too light to stern squirt it in general but playing with eddy lines and throwing my weight around I could get the bow pretty far up in the air some of the time-- maybe not in a way that was helpful but I could get the stern under.
The edges that make it carve so well make you stay awake... drop an upsteam edge into the current too drastically while coming out of an eddy and there's nothing that'll stop you from going over. That said, it's pretty easy to roll. It's not as easy as a Gyramax, but what can I expect? The Gyramax is all but round.
The outfitting leaves a little to be desired but I could get myself tightly in it after a little fiddling... I need to really crank the straps tight down and it makes it hard to get out of the boat without releasing them.
Knowing that wet exiting was going to take a lot more time than rolling dissuaded me from swimming even in some shallow rocky sections (my stern squirt games put me upside down a few times this weekend). Being able to get out of the boat in a hurry would be much better, but I feel like learning to not consider wet exits as an option will improve my roll... a lot. Very quickly.
One review I checked out of this boat mentioned it didn't surface too smoothly because the deck didn't shed water well, and that after punching a hole or running a drop the boat would be very wobbly as the bow tried to float up unless you leaned it to shed water quickly. I noticed that it surfaced slowly but didn't notice any wobble... of course that might have been my paddling technique, I wasn't punching holes, I launched off a cliff into the river
TGG,
Welcome to the Loops! A few friends and I paddle the local rivers in canoes and kayaks, whilst co-existing peacefully (ebony / ivory?). I made my first run in a C1 on an easy section of the Shuswap last Friday, so there is some hope for me too. Drop me a line if you want to get together on the water. We'll be paddling the Adams regularly until late Oct / early Nov, and would welcome additional boats for the Clearwater or possibly Thompson Rivers. If not, we'll probably see you in the pool this winter.
Cheers,
Bob Costerton (We'll c)
Ph:(250)851-3158
Welcome to the Loops! A few friends and I paddle the local rivers in canoes and kayaks, whilst co-existing peacefully (ebony / ivory?). I made my first run in a C1 on an easy section of the Shuswap last Friday, so there is some hope for me too. Drop me a line if you want to get together on the water. We'll be paddling the Adams regularly until late Oct / early Nov, and would welcome additional boats for the Clearwater or possibly Thompson Rivers. If not, we'll probably see you in the pool this winter.
Cheers,
Bob Costerton (We'll c)
Ph:(250)851-3158