@carldelo said:
For myself, I think my new max acceptable weight is 35.0 lbs, and 20 is better. That Arrow looks tempting but it’s 7 hours away…
You are hereby nominated to design an equation for this. May I suggest that the result should probably be inversely proportional to age? Height and mass might play a role. There are probably some other creative variables to take into consideration…
I’ll definitely look into it, many variables to consider…
There is an older branch of Artificial Intelligence called “Fuzzy Logic”. This would be a great candidate for getting a usable result from your “many variables”.
Some years ago at Lake Patagonia, I watched a woman in the 350# range drag a 9’ Swifty down the boat ramp, then squeeze herself into the cockpit, overflowing the thing. As she paddled off, water was over her bow and stern deck.
Now I realize that she thought it was good exercise, though to be honest you would have to paddle for weeks to burn off those two mcdonalds gutburger she had for lunch, but in that case, she really needed a much larger boat.
Each kayak has a Max Load sticker. My CD Whistler-145 had a load capacity of 400#!
When I am loaded with my clothes, PFD, personal safety gear, water shoes, hat… my total weight comes close to 200#
That leaves me 200# MAX for water @ 8.5#/gal, food, extra safety gear, camping gear, etc.
Now common sense suggests that I keep far away from the Max Load.
Although my Whistler WILL paddle if I exceed that load, the closer I approach that Max Load, the less safe and less maneuverable will be the boat. So I keep my gear below 175#, 150 if possible (I am not an ultralighter) when I am doing a week-long self-support camp trip.
For a day trip, my load is closer to 15# and that includes my first aid kits.
@Doug Gilliland said:
This discussion (and many others on this site) remind me of a story about Derek Hutchinson - author, instructor, boat designer and expedition kayaker.
At a symposium he stated that the proper length for a sea kayak was exactly 16 feet 10 inches. When Frank Goodman (founder of Valley Canoe) questioned him how he came up with that length, Derek explained that the length could not be any greater because his garage was 17 feet long.
That sounds sooooo like Derek! He was definitely a character and very interesting to paddle with!
