100!
Given your sailing background…
once you get accustomed to the feeling of being one with the motion of the water on the ocean, I’d suspect that you’d find a full out sit inside skinny sea kayak to be considerably more enjoyable than something like the Hobie. We paddle with a number of folks who have a very solid sailing background. Most of them went to kayaks to get the same kind of thrill on the water without the hours of maintenance and setup, and the need for a crew to get out there.
Where I know the boat they had it was smaller than what you mention, more in the 27 to 30-odd foot length than 40 ft, and one had a traditionally rigged Friendship Sloop. So they may have had a wetter relationship with the water than you. But I suspect that the affinity for a proper sea kayak would be the same if you spent some time learning about them.
Warren / F1
I have spent time on much smaller craft than my last one which really was over the top, IMO. So I’m familiar with the more intimate aspects of sailing and the sea.
Several of the posts here had me looking a bit further afield than the Hobie offerings. Per my OP, I gravitated to Hobie probably because I used to hang out a bit with Mr. Hobie down in Capo Beach, CA. Thus it was the only brand name which I’d heard of initially.
Aesthetically, I think I’d prefer a craft where, as you post, I sit in rather than straddle or perch on like a plastic log. This has led me to two which highly attract my ignorant self as of now. The first is the Warren sailing kayak which seems wonderful having a transom and a fully battened main with a jib. This implies much betters sailing characteristics than the Hobie. The cost is brutal…
The other is an F1 from OR. The idea of traveling to OR to construct or consult on the construction of one to fit me is intriguing. No doubt as time moves on and I learn something of the sport as well as other offerings, my horizon will widen.
Congrats
You just die the century post!
Leash
I’ve used a leash for a lot of years, the best being a telephone cord style leash that stretches easily and has velco fasteners. I usually leash it to the boat, and I’ve had some point out the concern of entanglement. Entanglement has not proven to be a problem with this tether. It is stretchy enough to not impede a roll and short enough that I haven’t had any issue with entanglement.
This risk is really a trade-off vs. the larger risk of your boat being blown away from you if you capsize. You have to assess conditions and make your own choices. Being very unconcerned about moving water on the ocean, you have time to disentangle from a leash. This may not be true on a river or lake which may have other objects in the water (trees, strainers, etc.) which seem to have an attraction for anything that dangles. When paddling on moving water, I’d probably leash the paddle to myself since I’d have other folks on the water to recapture my errant boat.
This leash, but the way, is quite short (about 3 feet, but it stretches to almost double that). Because the coils are so stretchy, it is never so long that it is much of an entanglement risk. A less flexible tether would, more likely, either impede motion or entangle in a capsize.
Rick
F-1
The F-1 is a great boat, a slight improvement over the SC-1 that I built there a few summers back. Building a boat with Brian was great fun, and the boat itself is a real treat to paddle. You make a Greenland paddle, which was an eye-opener as well. The course/boat/paddle combination is a fantastic bargain, especially if you camp while doing the workshop - go for it!
Leash
I think your advice to assess conditions will be my rule here. While the water may not move much (currents), the wind may be a factor. A light craft like a kayak can scud away faster than I can swim to catch it. So if it’s windy (also means waves) I’ll give greater weight to a tether.
Also, as an FYI, a current isn’t an issue because a person in the water moves at the same rate and same direction all other things in the current such as the yak.
Hobie in Everglades challenge
Hi,
in the recently completed Everglades Challenge race,
it seems like “lots of Hobie Adventure tandems finished, including one with a 78 and 80 year old man in it!”
see evt.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proa_file/message/28411
Rasmus
I help with this stuff
I play safety for this stuf all the time. I use an all in sea kayak and carry a pare PFD or two a spare paddle float and tow lines.
The back deck is an OK rescue platform but I am a paddler.More years with a paddle than anything else.
The down side is at 12 miles I can see you becoming a problem and if it is rough water you NEED a sea kayak.
An open canoe would be right out here.
You are obviously NOT here so this is likely of no use to you.
We deal with cold water, 1 M swell and most open water swims are in a lake.
12 Miles is a long swim and no slouch for a day paddle either.