C-Forum

With all this talk in a an earlier thread about C vs. K, I guess I have to come out of the closet........A couple weeks ago, after running the Cheat Canyon at 5' and the Upper Yough in my Ovation I was absolutely taken by the beauty of a K-1 squirt boat my friend in Confluence,PA was selling. I took the boat home with me knowing I needed to avoid detection from my "C" comrades. The following weekend I took my sister, my girlfriend and her two boys (12 & 13) to the local run for a short trip. While unloading gear at the putin, I noticed a H3-255 with a t-grip sticking out of it. That could only mean one thing......I'D BEEN FOUND OUT!!! The H3 and t-grip belonged to MotorcityOC1. He was a good sport about the whole thing and only called me a "Darksider" a couple of times. We all ended up having a great day, even Motorcityoc1's dog! She got to ride in the 16'MRC Explorer with my girlfriend and her 13yr. old. The youngest boy took my Ovation and even with a couple of unplanned swims will is aspiring to be the next C-boater on the block. Cool!
BTW: had trouble rolling the squirt boat......don't know what to do with that "training blade" on the other end of the shaft. Weird!

Mick

There are pretty C-1 squirt boats, too!

I, too, occasionally walk on the dark side but only in a sea kayak. I have just not found a way to go as fast in a canoe and must confess there is an undeniable pleasure in getting up a good rhythm and just flying across the water. However, when things start to get sketchy, I'm as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. My roll in a kayak is a long since last practiced, poorly performed act... The outrigger canoe I have shows promise - it is fast and stable, however this one at least won't replace the sea kayak. It's wet (no deck) and would be a cold ride in the winter. The water tight storage ain't, partly because at my weight the rear deck is frequently awash.

I did try whitewater kayak briefly and never really took to it. I could get enders and roll, but by that point I already had the way of the C deeply engrained. I felt like I was sitting too low and that other blade got in the way. I kept trying to do cross strokes!

Even if you dabble, you'll always be a c-boater.

Scott

Was that the "Sin"?

Enjoy the squirt boat! Squirt boats transcend all this stuff, K1 vs C1 .....

If so that is a pretty boat!

Tom

Using a paddle is an advanced move in a squirt boat.

Get yourself some handpaddles. They are way more intuitive.

The one K-1 that I can paddle without shame is a wildwater K-1

Yes, I am a wuss. Years ago I tried a WW C-1. At that time I did a lot of solo "dawn patrol" paddling in mucky-bottomed estuaries. I wasn't sure I could roll it, and I was frankly scared that if anything went wrong and I failed to roll & the kick-up thwart somehow didn't kick I could get caught & -----. But endless flatwater in a slalom C-1 gets old eventually so i got into using an old K-1-Match. One thing led to another....

I have to say that running solid whitewater in any wildwater boat is a rush, and even if it's a butt-boat, in my view it's nothing to apologise for. In fact, most butt-boaters will dis-own you anyway. ("Why are you paddling THAT? Now, see that boat right over there--if you were just paddling that it would be SO much easier... & blah & blah. "

Well, maybe it would be easier, but it wouldn't be faster....and that's the point: the need for speed.)

Instead of down with butt-boats, how about just down with plastic???