skills came in question today

Thanks but…

– Last Updated: Nov-19-06 9:47 AM EST –

Thanks for the compliment, but I am not in the cohort you mention in terms of knowledge and depth of paddling. I just talk a lot, and am one of those experiential types. Put me into a boat and, these days, it'll take me relatively little time to figure out what balance the boat wants (tho' doing so often escapes me in that kind of wind). It's quite another matter for me to figure it out based on measurements and empirical info.

Though I don't know the Mariner, I can mention a couple of things I've noticed with my sea kayaks. One is an NDK Explorer LV with the classic "loose bow" - I've long since learned to trim the bow a smidge heavy. The other is a "bow tight" P&H Vela, even more so since I moved the seat to its more forward position.

If I have to pick the best boat to paddle dead into a strong wind, the Vela is it. It just locks down and very little steering is required unless you want to turn around. But if I have to go at an angle to a strong wind, the Explorer wins. I've had to shift my seat to drop weight onto the downwind hip for an entire crossing, but once done the boat holds.

Going backwards into wind, it'd be the Explorer. (In fact into a strong wind is one of the few times that it is very easy to get the boat to go backwards straight.)

I suspect that what happened that day is not entirely due to the effect of a constant wind or seat position, but gusts of wind and a somewhat mobile balance in the seat due to its sliding around. At that wind speed, it takes very little of a change in balance for the boat to react and even minor, typical switches in the wind are pushing a lot of force.

I wasn't there so this is pure conjecture, but I also suspect that the balance of the boat between bow and stern wasn't particularly different going up or downwind, but that the combined conditions of wind and waves caused a different reaction in each direction. The Tsunami may have just had a balance that was not so differently affected - or did they have a skeg they dropped one way? That could have made a huge diff.

Yes, that makes sense, Celia. : )
Bottom line, original poster’s friend’s Mariner is like a whirling dervish.

Hey cooldoctor1…

– Last Updated: Nov-19-06 1:38 PM EST –

"Bottom line, original poster's friend's Mariner is like a whirling dervish."

What sort of medical professional are you? I am surprised you make such absolute conclusions with such little data. I know of two MD's on this board, and they do not write like you.

With your adversarial statements...I suspect you are trolling.

Wish Someone Would Buy Out
the Mariner molds from the Broze brothers and start producing them again. Good boats that don’t follow the “dime a dozen” crowd. Lots of good paddlers stand by their Mariners.



sing

Yea…

– Last Updated: Nov-19-06 8:07 PM EST –

I kind of admire John Lull for his accomplishments, and if the Coaster is good enough for him…it’s good enough for me. Everything he said about the boat was true, and he hasn’t let me down once in the five years that I’ve owned it.

“Whirling dervish” and "Mariner boats are lame-o" comments strike me as trolling and being out of character for a doctor in the medical profession.

Not That It Matters…

– Last Updated: Nov-19-06 8:27 PM EST –

if you like your boat and it works for you. Sanjay loves his Mariner Elan, enough that he traded his glass one for a kevlar version. The person who bought his old one, an architect, loves it as well. The architect used to come out and surf with me in his Elan.

Sanjay has got be the best seakayaker that I have ever paddled with. When we paddled out in conditions, he used to literally go circles around me (training for the Blackburn), does a bunch of handrolls, etc. I am talking about paddling in the middle of winter. I believe Sanjay is a pyschiatrist (psychologist?). All I know is that he is an insanely good paddler and 25 knot winds out in the open doesn't seem to affect his control or his speed...

sing

PS. Oh, I almost forgot... ScottB down below ain't likely going to get rid of his mariner any time soon, if ever.