From: Guillemot@aol.com
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 1995 22:15:25 -0400
Message-Id: <950411221421_80077339@aol.com>
To: baidarka@imagelan.com
Subject: Re: Why Plastic boats?
Good Stuff! I should be doing my taxes but any excuse to procrastinate
further is always appreciated.
I completely agree with Joe yet, he is all wet (gratuitous pun:). Of the
people out there paddling "traditional" boats, how many of you chose those
boats primarily for performance characteristics? I would be willing to bet
nobody did. I expect the reason for the initial choice was for some reason
less concrete: "History","beauty", "tradition". These and reasons like them
are what draws most people to *any* kayak.
Performance aspects and more pratical reasons come later (often used to
rationalize a rather hairbrained purchase or project).
It is unfair of Mr. Seda to group all the traditional boats together. There
were some traditional boats that will be faster than some modern boats. Some
will also be slower. I'm sure the modern sprint kayak will beat all
traditional boats in a drag race. The modern sprint boat is not well suited
for the open ocean. I also expect on a given day on a given water a modern
kayak can be found that can compete favorably with the best traditional
design. However, the original designers probably evolved kayak design to the
point were improvements can only be noticed by the most skilled paddlers. The
best traditional boat will probably only be passed by the best modern boats
paddled by a stronger paddler.
The traditional kayak was a product of thousands of years of evolution. This
came during tens of millions of hours of paddling. How many hours have been
put into modern kayaks? I think there are probably more active kayakers alive
today than during the whole history of the original builders. The modern
racing circuit (WW & flatwater) probably produce more on-the-water hours in
one year than during all the history of traditional kayaks. One manufacturer
probably makes more kayaks in a year than were produce in all of the Pacific
NW in 100 years. One modern designer probably makes more completely different
designs than a whole village made in a generation as he can afford to make
more mistakes. All this action is bound to continue the evolution of kayaks
beyond what was imaginable 100 years ago. The golden age of kayaks is now.
However, a kevlar Seda design would not be the best kayak for an old Aleut.
He can't make or fix it with stone age tools, the materials are not available
from the sea, and the delivery truck doesn't service his island. Our needs
have evolved and so have the designs.
Joe Seda is right that traditional kayak designs can and have been improved,
he is wrong about why we will always want to build and paddle traditionally
inspired kayaks....because its fun.
Nick Schade
p.s. the best kayak design is the one your paddling. At least your paddling.
A day in a re-constituted clorox bottle beats a day at work.