Sea kayaks are specially built to
withstand attacks from vicious flying fish.
vicious flying fish???
0_o flying fish? I’ve seen them in aquariums, and I can hardly see them being, vicious. LOL!!!
sees it now
THEY NIBBLED MY PFD!!! did you see that? I’m gonna diiiiie!!! my ability to float has been compromised. …nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo…
Romany introduced in 1993
boat has earned its reputation
Yes, that is the Romany’s reputation.
Far more experienced paddlers than me have said “Nothing beats a Romany when the sea gets snotty.”
I have to admit it is a great boat to surf.
It certainly weathercocks less than the Elaho.
The Romany is certainly more agile than the Aquanaut.
However, my experience is that the Romany requires more action on my part (alertness and bracing/ruddering) than the Aquanaut in larger beam and quartering seas. My experience also has been that in confused seas the Aquanaut holds course better and slams around less than the Romany.
Others’ experience varies.
Well said Greyak
At this point …
I would want to be in a boat that requires the least effort and the moves the fastest - the engine being what it is.
Agree, and
I like Celia’s stuff. I’m coming at this from a different perspective. I’d love to put her in a boat and do some actual testing of her performance in said boat Vs her Explorer. This IS a highly subjective activity full of tradition and guru worship etc. Personally I regard folk like Chalupski and Barton as far superior athletes and boaters than the industry standard. But as a group we’re slow to learn from guys and women like this. What is this industry doing to attract the young jocks and jockettes into playing in the sea??? What WW or surf paddler is gonna get excited about any of these boats?
The demographics indicate middle aged professionals as the touring market.
Celia If ever my way please e-mail me so I can loan you a boat. I’d love to see your reaction! Heck you could even paddle with some hooligans…you might have fun. Later
I just need to learn to paddle…
while I’m out of condition now, I used to be a very strong fellow, so I don’t doubt my ability to power myself a long, once I’ve slimmed down and learned. it kinda sucks our library system doesn’t have any kayak video’s, I’ll have to see if there is anyone with something that they’d lend.
I’ve been thwacked upside the head
– Last Updated: Aug-16-06 5:29 PM EST –
Well, neck, actually. Paddling along, watch a flying fish cross my bow, think "cool!", and about that time its wingman hits me right below the ear.
no flying fish for me!
I’m fortunate that I won’t have to face anything like that in the waters we have here. tho on Allan lake, I could see being thwacked upside the head by young trout. those suckers were going a good 4ft into the air!
Laird Hamilton
Did ya’ll see the badass paddled the English Channel on a big surf board standing with a paddle! Now that’s cool. What if we put a carbon deck on such a board? Fins, rails???
Best sea kayak trip I ever did in terms of fun factor was on the outer coast of BC in a 10 ft. long finned flat bottom surf boat with gear crammed inside. Changed my thinking bout what’s possible. Way way way fun!
Yeah but
One guy we were with on a paddle last year got whacked by a carp when he went down to roll to cool off. So it’s not just the flying fish.
Back at it, Salty?
Salty,
If you really want to change how people think about your “new and improved” stuff then why don’t you send some samples of them East and I’ll have a bunch of old, fat, BCU & ACA drones take their best shots. You know the stuff is good, I know the stuff is good. So get it out here so people can kick the tires.
Few people doubt that there are better designs, better materials, better manufacturing techniques and more golden calves to melt down. The point I think is that few people care as passionately about the differences & benefits as you do and fewer still are willing to vote with their wallets. There’s a reason why the test boats that you talk about are not in production, they would not make any money for quite some time. What I want to know is why you seem to hold individual paddlers responsible for the economic realities of the paddling industry? Individual paddlers don’t control the margins or the excessive competition or the big box stores.
I’m ready to convert, send me a start-up kit. I’ll even pick up the shipping.
Cheers,
Jed
an encounter of the fishy kind…
if I have one, I’ll just chalk it up among my ‘odd’ experiences. LOL!
I’m ready to convert, send me a start-up
Yeah!
Send some of that stuff east. Hey there is the Downeast Sea Kayak Symposium in early September in Bar Harbor. Send the stuff east for that and then down to Sea Kayak Georgia for their BCU week.
There are a number of us who would love to try it.
And you know a goodly number of us put our money where our interests are. I bought 4 boats in slightly less than as many years (three of them new) and I’m looking at buying one or two this year. I have friends who have also bought mutliple boats, including new, over the past few years and are always looking for the next boat.
another difference
is that touring kayaks tend to have flatter hulls. This gives them more initial stability but also causes them to slap a lot more when dropping off the backs of ocean swells. Not that this is likely to be a factor in the areas you’re paddling.
How tough is it to do small-scale
production of composite boats on an as-needed basis? Can someone who’s basically doing it for fun make a buck that way?
Ask Pat…
… if he feels that sort of info isn’t sensitive.
How bout this
Any of you guys / women who come my way and e-mail me I will gladly put you in some prototypes. I’m not at liberty to send them east, although there are some out there.
Jed, I’m not blaming anyone, just challenging some of the statements made on this board which I believe are inaccurate. For example, there is nothing inherently seaworthy about a longer boat. A small woman trying to handle a 17-18 ft. pig in a 30 knot wind will NOT out perform a similar sized woman in a Coaster!!! Lets go paddle! Show me I’m wrong.