Got any writing experience too?
I don’t think the Tsunami qualifies as “flat-bottomed”, but regardless, I honestly didn’t understand much of what you wrote, and I’m usually not so dense when it comes to these things. This sentence in particular, “What you will find is that your bow will be pushed around a rock because it cuts into the current” makes me wonder if you know what a backferry is, because taken at face value, you couldn’t have really been talking about a backferry for such a thing to be “expected”. That makes me think that your ability to communicate your thoughts isn’t making it with me. The beauty of the backferry is that the need to go faster than the water is moving in order to “carve turns” is totally eliminated, thus allowing you to drastically reduce the speed at which you approach obstacles. In most easy rapids, you can go at a dead-slow pace relative to the river bottom and move perpendicular to the flow, or nearly so, for the sharpest of “turns”, even though they are not really turns, but course changes that are not dependent on large changes in heading. All the while your boat remains pointed almost directly downstream. Differential currents may still occassionally have their way with a long, hard-tracking boat, but at least you won’t end up broadside to a rock as a result of your own maneuvering choices. I used to double-blade a Wenonah Vagabond through Class I and short Class-IIs, and a Royalex Vagabond is a zero-rocker boat that turns about the same as a Tsunami 140 (a friend of mine has one and I tried it out). Zig-zagging around diffucult obstacles by backferrying with a double-blade paddle was so easy it seemed like cheating. I wish I could backferry a canoe with a single-blade with that same degree of control (I’m still working on it).
Excellent Point On Class Ratings
They’re subject.
I stand on my comments on using backstrokes. I used them only to give me time to plan my attack. Using a backstroke on any touring kayak in current is a good way to get it wrapped around a rock. Think about it. You’re reaching upstream to grab water then pulling the boat into current. Yes the current will work to slowly move the boat laterally. It’s slow because you’re moving your paddle in the direction of the current. Then if you backstroking into a cross current, around a rock, you’re screwed if your bow happens to go left when you want to go right. You will be sideways so fast you won’t know what hit you. Only by moving forward would you have a chance of any recovery. Another problem is that if dependent on that skill only you’ll be unable to handle trickier situations. I’ve had to power one side of the river to the next without much room to move. The means forward movement. Trying to ferry from one side to the other won’t cut it. I have to confess though that’s on fast moving shallow rock infested desert rivers in the west. You people in the east would call them creeks.
No offense Steve
Your baby isn’t ugly, it’s just not well designed for whitewater. It is also not a full fledged sea kayak. An experienced paddler can do many things with a Tsunami, but my perception is that it’s a high end rec boat. Certainly at home on flatwater and light to moderate sea conditions, and capable of much more in the right hands as you have shown.
Certainly a nice boat, but not one I would recommend for a beginner who wants to get into the easy to moderate whitewater stuff. Yes, it can do the job, but it’s a bit like easting your ice cream with a fork.
jim
Back ferrying can work
but not always.
Many rec boats are wide enough that it only slows you a little and if you are in shallow class I rapids with a touring paddle there are times when you can’t get enough of a bite to back ferry. There are times when the sprint to shore is the only option and I’ve been there on a 14 foot rec boat. Didn’t quite make it but got out of the main current enough to brace on the log, lean downstream and push off the log 3 or 4 times to make my way to shore. It’s not a good feeling and could make your day a lot less enjoyable.
The dangers are few and the risk is relatively small for most class I/II runs, so common sense and a little caution are all that is needed. If you find you really like it, you’ll want to build your skills, upgrade to a more appropriate boat, or most likely do both.
jim
This still seems strange
Once again, this appears to be a case of not understanding that a boat's handling depends on how it moves through the water, regardless of current, and all the current does in impart an additional componant to the velocity you create by paddling (velocity = both speed and direction).
You say "Think about it. You're reaching upstream to grab water then pulling the boat into current." Of course you are, and that's why your downstream travel speed is nice and slow. Your boat still moves through the water with whatever speed you impart with the paddle, and since it's an upstream speed, you go downstream more slowly.
You say "Yes the current will work to slowly move the boat laterally. It's slow because you're moving your paddle in the direction of the current." You don't get it. It's not necessarily slow, and it has nothing to do with which way your paddle is moving. It's slow because if the current is fast, most of your velocity is directed to counteract the current, and only a small componant of your velocity can be to the side. Increase the lateral componant and you lose a degree of your upstream speed. Anyway, it's the BOAT's speed relative to the water that matters in having control, and if you are going 3 mph backward into a 6-mph current, you have 3 mph of handling speed to give you good control, and you have half the forward speed relative to fixed objects that you'd have if simply drifting, and only 1/3 the forward speed relative to fixed objects that you would have if you gained the same degree of boat control by paddling 3 mph forward *through the water*. Imparting a direction slightly diagonal to the current makes your boat move laterally, but the boat is still going in a straight line relative to the water that its floating in. That water is moving, and adding the componant of water velocity to your backward velocity gives you an overall velocity that is sideways (except in a jet ferry).
Then you say "Then if you backstroking into a cross current, around a rock, you're screwed if your bow happens to go left when you want to go right." The problem is the reverse of that. First of all, when you backferry around the upstream side of a rock, only the bow of the boat ever faces the rock, not the side. If you backferry in steady current, there will be no problems, but if you backferry into a blast of stronger current, it is your stern that will get grabbed and knocked to the side, not the bow. If you were backferrying and somehow the bow got blasted by a stronger current, it would straighten you out, NOT turn you broadside. Anyway, both of these situations are the result of differential currents (stern pushed into a zone of faster flow), not uniform currents, and yes, in a hard-tracking boat this can be tough to deal with.
"Only by moving forward would you have a chance of any recovery." Not true. The boat will handle just about the same going backwards as forwards, and doing your maneuvering while going backwards buys you time before you hit something because your approach speed is so much slower.
When you say "I've had to power one side of the river to the next without much room to move. The means forward movement." In this case, any ferry, especially a forward ferry (which is faster), will limit the degree to which you drift downstream a lot more than going straight across. Go straight across and you have nothing counteracting the downstream speed that you will invariably acquire within the first few seconds of the crossing. If you direct much of your velocity into an upstream componant, your crossing time will be slower, but your downstream drift will be kept under control. If you have the opportunity to "jet ferry" out of an eddy, which is to momentarily have a lot more forward speed against the current than you can attain by paddling simply because the current takes time to overcome the boat's stationary momentum, you can shoot across pretty quickly with little of your own effort required except to countersteer against the stronger current hitting the leading end of the boat, but a jet ferry will only carry you so far before your momentum is overcome and your downstream drifting speed increases, at which point a standard ferry takes over. Shooting across perpendicular to the current will work if you don't have far to go, in which case, just like during a jet ferry, the current does not immediately get you "up to speed" and you sideslip against the current until your stationary momentum is overcome or until you make it across.
Again, I've found ferrying in general, and usually backferrying, to be the great equalizer when using a boat that is unfriendly to making sharp turns. I find that it is the best way to maneuver and AVOID getting turned sideways, RATHER than an invitation to getting turned sideways. You can't ignore the laws of physics and the fact that the water wants to move you downstream, and counteracting that force with speed in the proper direction causes you to gain control, not lose it. I've noticed that whitewater kayakers rely more on sheer manueverability and bursts of planing speed than canoers (a canoe won't get up on plane just by paddling hard). Watch any decent canoer in whitewater and you will see a lot of ferrying, both forward and backward. With a longer boat, you are forced to rely on ferrys. Finally, if differential currents are pronounced, you can always fall back on staying perfectly lined-up with the current while backpaddling, and incorporate a side-slip. I can sideslip a solo canoe at something close to 3 mph for and extended time, so it's not quite "slow".
That's as much as I will try to say here.
more great info
Obviously I’m going to have to practice on my own time the paddling maneuvers I get lessoned on next week,
especially ferrying.
I did note that it took a lot of space to turn it around the first time I had the Tsunami out and about at my inlaw’s place on the lake. Likely thats just my primitive boat handling skills.
Ideally the Tsunami will do for less challenging trips with the GCA. It seemed ideal to haul stuff for an overnite of camping. I’m also hoping that I can use it at Cedar Key as well.
As for brief bits of class I/II water - I’m getting that info from “Canoeing and Kayaking in Georgia.” Looks like most of the day trips local to me have just a little here or there. I understand that its hard to judge exactly what is class I/II.
Again, I’m enjoying reading everyone’s responses. Thanks!
Class II - Broad River Style
So either the Broad Outpost is just lucky and not too many of their rental boat customers have overturned their non-maneuverable rec boats… OR Broad’s class IIs are accessible to more than just performance boats : )
Seriously, the Broad is on my list, in my book and of interest. Its good to read that I’ll likely be able to get through the more exciting bits in one piece.
So, with skill…
my boat is is capable of some pretty cool things!
Thanks for the link to the pictures! Oh - and I’m going to assume you’ve got a rudder on it?
overnite of camping?
you can easily fit a week’s worth of gear, clothing and food in a 14’ Tsunami. enjoy 
Be careful with those GCA people.
I was their newsletter editor from about 1979 until about 1991, so I know what a bunch of flakes they are.
If you can find someone locally
with moving water experience to observe and learn from, the lessons are priceless. Watch and learn, and ask questions.
Most people (I’ve met) are pretty good about sharing what they know.
ferrying in sea kayaks
I used to play with front and back ferries in my 16’ Avocet in the Huron just below the Barton dam. You do need to watch your angles and edges, but with practice I could go bank-to-bank without much movement downstream. It is easy to get broadside if you let your angle open up too much. But it’s pretty neat when you get it right.
For backferries it helps to get you weight forward if you can. I suspect that boats with more of a “skegged” stern shape would be less forgiving – the Avocet has a fair amount of stern rocker.
I agree with Guideboatguy
and with Flatpick. I own a Tsunami 145 and I will not hesitate to run it in Class II whitewater or in rough conditions on the Bay. It is not a recreational kayak, it is not flat botttomed, it is not a “flatwater only” boat, it does have rocker, it will turn, it will backferry and attain with the best of them. I get beat up routinely on this board for advocating whitewater in a touring kayak. But, think about this; we’ve been running Class II with straight keeled 16-foot canoes for centuries and nobody thinks twice about it. You can turn a Tsunami a heck of a lot better than you can a straight keeled canoe. Backferry is the key as pointed out numerous times in previous posts. I can be supremely arrogant, too, but in this case I know the boat and I know what it can do. If a Class II looks dicier than you feel you can handle then portage it. There are rivers that are hundreds of miles long and only have one Class II rapid, are you going to advocate staying off that river because of that one silly rapid?
BTW, a strainer blocking the river is not a Class II rapid, it’s a clear danger that needs to be scouted and avoided. Experienced paddlers don’t even go there in a 8’ whitewater boat. Jeez.
Back ferrying is a critical skill as is
the ferry. You can learn to ferry and back ferry a rec boat. You need to lean the boat first. You can learn leaning on flat water and then transfer the skill to moving water. Stay in shallow, slow moving water close to shore at first and give yourself plenty of space in front before hitting rough water.
Sometimes “experienced” WW paddlers
don’t get a choice! I came to a ledge on a small river, kinda high water, and there was a log clear across the ledge, about a yard from the lip. There was too much current to spin and retreat, and no way evident to portage on either side. So, in my WW canoe, I picked up speed, leaned WAY back, so as to loft the bow over the log. The boat slid up on the log and then stopped, balancing neatly. I took a couple of pictures of the hydraulic below the ledge, and finally hunched the boat off the log and over the lip. Because it was a 15’ rather than an 8’ WW boat, it spanned the hydraulic and I got through.
You’re right, logs don’t fit into the international whitewater scale of difficulty.
Bears repeating that Tsunami is not
a rec boat. Certainly good at hauling, but as mentioned, will take pretty much whatever you throw at it within reason. I’ve never hesitated to take mine anywhere I felt my own skills could handle.
On a class I / class II
trip last year I watched a new paddler hop in a 16 foot sea kayak and within 100 yards she put the bow into the right bank. The current pulled her boat around until the stern hit the logjam in the middle of the creek. She effectively plugged up that side of the flow and had no idea what to do. The trip leader pulled her free.
Watched another new SOT paddler get into some shallows and get hung up. Her instinct was to try to get her foot off the side and push like a skateboard. I have pictures of that one. The slick rock and swift water could have quickly separated her from her boat.
Same trip one of the new girls in a long, capable boat almost speared me with the pointy bow of her kayak while I was sitting still below a drop taking pictures. Thought we were jousting for a second. I had to physically push her boat away and redirect it downstream as she came over a small ledge.
Any one of those paddlers could have got themselves into serious trouble because they just couldn’t make their nice, big boat go where they wanted. Certainly not the boat’s fault – even the SOT was plenty capable for class II. This section of river was ideal for them as there were no real hazards and they were with a good sized group with various levels of experience. Had they been on an easier creek with a hazard or two and no guide they could have gotten themselves in a proverbial pickle.
The point being that new paddlers in long boats on whitewater, while very entertaining at times, can easily find a nonexistent hazard (like the shore) – or become a hazard to others simply because they have little control of their very capable kayak.
A shorter, but stable whitewater boat might not solve all these kinds of problems but it could at least give them a better shot at making the boat go in the direction they intend it to go. Or they might just spin in circles all day long…
jim
We were all beginners once
Our club does classes for flatwater paddlers (in rec boats) who want to get some experience in moving water (quickwater/class I). We teach pretty much the same skills that are taught in a WW class (river reading, hazards, ferries, eddy turns, peal outs), but with an emphasis on running rapids rather than playing in them. With a little experience, its amazing how quickly people take to moving water.
I think the skill that gives new paddlers the most confidence in moving water is a good low brace. Once people get past the point that they are bouncing off the shore, its submerged obstacles that tend to tip people over. With a good low brace they are much more likely to stay upright – and they know it.
We usually encourage beginners to paddle forward and maintain momentum through rapids. For group trips in easy rapids with a leader who knows the lines, this works fine. New paddlers often get into trouble when they stop paddling in rapids and drift sideways into obstructions. Back ferrying is a great skill too, but might be too advanced for beginners.
Guess it goes back to the first couple of posts – its not the boat, it’s the boater.
Class I/II
Yes the boat is capable but if if you are looking for instruction I would stick to flatwater a while, also you might as well get you an older ww boat they can be picked up cheap. As you get in the sport you may end up with a quiver full of boats like a lot of us. Keep in mind that boats vary almost as much as the rivers and creeks we paddle them on.
apparently, you can!
So I got a lesson yesterday from an ACA instructor.
Out of all the things I’ve bought for my nifty new boat, this lesson was one of the best!
First of all, paddling for many years and doing it wrong takes a while to fix. Hopefully I’ll get to a point where I can stop thinking with every stroke, paddle in by toes, rotate upper body, keep arms low and straight, pull kayak to paddle, paddle out by hip, other side, repeat.
Secondly, this is one stable, straight tracking boat. My previous boats were all wide, stable, slow toys that took a real effort to paddle. Going smooth and fast was easy in my Tsunami.
Thirdly - while I did not fall out - my instructor noted I had good balance over the “honest class II” I did (even when I got stuck on a rock) my boat likes to go straight. Very straight. Its stable and does maneuver well through a section of technical water, but I can see where a smaller boat is more nimble for nipping across the eddy line to play.
I don’t have buyers regret, but, err - I can see where a boat for more specialized river stuff might be nice as well.
Which will make 3 boats : ) Anyone want a bathtub sponge disguised as a kayak and good for fishing?