Before deciding on the Caribou,
I trialed quite a few boats in the 16’ category Vela, Montauk, WS, Chatham 16, Romany), but wasn’t sold on any of them. You’re right that the Caribou is long - 17-1/2’, but it’s not a high volume boat and is quite narrow. I love the hard chines. Ballast weight at the keel helps me achieve the 150 lb that this boat requires to handle well for me. I’m going to start with padding the thigh braces. Soon I’ll be wearing the wet suit too.
Thanks for all the advice!
Gail
padding, padding, padding
I also live in west michigan, if you would like some help outfitting your kayak let me know and drop me an email.
I also have a feeling that if you are paddling a caribou, the kayak may be way too big. If you are paddling a big kayak and get tossed around you are going to rattle around like a pea in a tin can until you pad it out.
Keith - I would appreciate your
advice about padding the Caribou out to fit me. I could make it down to Lee’s some rainy Saturday this fall. Here in Holland, I haven’t found the Outpost to carry much foam for outfitting.
BTW, Ralph and I were at the WMCKA Symposium, and I trialed a couple of the boats last fall at Lee’s - remember?
Gail
I thought maybe it was you from the
– Last Updated: Aug-30-05 2:11 PM EST –
sound of it.
I would suggest heading over to lee's and ask for jason roone, he would love to help you get outfitting. Barring that, drop me an email and I can get you squared away. I don't work IN the shop anymore, just out of the shop.
Smaller kayak is probably in order too gail :)
I see maybe a vela or a montauk in your future.
Agree…
– Last Updated: Aug-30-05 3:18 PM EST –
better fitting boat equates to better control, though one can't dismiss hull design either.
I am bigger than Gail but find the 'Bou a big boat. I like the Montuak (which I have)and have good fit in it but think it higher volume than I need for most of my day trips. I think the Vela is a good day tripper (it has the sharper chines to relative to other boats) and fits me just fine.
Part of what's going on is that "comfort" (diminishing fear of entrapment) with a tighter boat comes over time. As the tighter boat gets more comfortable, one becomes less comfortable with bigger boats because these present windage and control issues. Plus, in surf, it's much easier to get sucked out of a looser fitting boat. This scares me way more than entrapment.
sing
17 1/2’
it’s still big for you even if it’s a relatively “low volume” kayak compared to the average touring kayak. This isn’t to say it’s not an appropriate kayak for your desires. Look up Salamander Hip Adjustable Hip pads,they’re removable,adjustable,etc. One problem is whether your legs are long enough to engage the glass thigh braces comfortably. Minicell won’t address that.
Actually, Minicel can do the job…
…but you have to be creative with it.
http://image12.webshots.com/12/0/59/35/142705935smoIRm_ph.jpg
