I bought a used sundance 12’today, my first time in a kayak, been canoeing 20+ years, I think I’m gonna like it, being closer to the water and being able to sit with legs out front. But with the long open cockpit I got wet from alot of paddle drip. The guy threw in a seuena carbon fiber paddle 87" long. Is it normal to have a lot of drip from a kayak paddle? Or is it because I’m a beginner at this. Right now I just want to do flatwater creeks. I’m 5’4".
Me too
I get some even though I use drip rings. If you don’t have drip rings on your paddle it will help. What bugs me is the drops rolling down my legs makes me think a bug is crawling on me. It drives me crazy. I use a half skirt if it isn’t too hot or sometimes I lay a light towel across my legs.
I have found…
two things contribute to excessive drip… high angle strokes (not a bad thing), and placement of the paddle with more than the blade in the water. Once I got my stroke down to where just the blade was breaching the water surface, my soakage went down substantially.
Get a half skirt or do a low angle …
stroke, (or both) and also make sure the paddle has drip rings.
My wife has the same problem. I think the water gods don’t like short people.
She won’t get in a yak unless she has a sponge with her.
Cheers,
JackL
Drip rings…
adjust them so that they are not in the water on your stroke.
How about this problem:
My excessive drip only happens with the left hand paddle. I am using a Jazz Tripper with 60 degree feather, high angle. Any clue?
Imbalance
I have found that I paddle with more blade in the water on my right side than left. I didn’t realize it until one day I stopped my stroke after finding a good rythem and noticed that my left hand was closer to the blade than my right. I corrected it, continued paddling and slowly I ended up the same way again. It may be because I am right handed and am stronger on that side. Now I am trying to correct the flaw.
This may be the case with you.
I experienced so much drip with…
…my first kayak, an Old Town Dirigo 140, that I’d have to tip the kayak over to let all the water drain out when I’d finish my ride. It also had a HUGE cockpit that would simply let in more drip. My next two yaks have had progressively smaller cockpits and my current yak, a Tempest 165, lets in so little drip (even with no skirt) that I don’t even bother sponging it out when I finish – I just let it evaporate.
I get little paddle drip with my OT Loon
It has a bigger cockpit than even the Dirigo. But, I paddle low angle much of the time.
the better you get
the less your paddle will drip
Don’t try a Greenland paddle.
It’ll soak you.
Paddle drip
Bending Branches makes wood paddles with a drip groove and notch. This and a drip ring adjusted to stay out of the water should keep you dry. Keep a sponge in the bottom of the boat anyway. Get a cockpit cover to keep spiders out when not in use.