Date: Wed, 08 Jul 1998 23:50:12 +0200
From: Gerald Maroske <gumaroske@email.uni-kiel.de>
To: baidarka@lists.intelenet.net
Subject: Re: [baidarka] successful trip
Wolfgang Brinck wrote:
> It seems that the nature of the expedition changes based on the boat. I
> believe that you can go to sleep in a Klepper and it will stay upright
> whereas the same cannot be said for a Nordkapp. Furthermore, I believe
> that Nordkapps and other British boats have less storage space, thereby
> limiting the length of the expedition or necessitation resupply. In the
> Caffyn books that I read, he had shore support, someone following along
> shore in a car to haul gear. Had he done the same journey in a Klepper,
> he could perhaps have done it without the shore support, but would
> probably also have taken twice as long. To my knowledge, no-one has
> tried to duplicate Lindemann's Atlantic crossing in a Nordkapp.
>
> I am fond of sleek boats myself, but whenever I go on a trip, I keep
> thinking that I should build a roomier boat for the next trip.
>
> Wolfgang
OK, I think I remember right that Caffyn spent about 3400 km unsupported on the
Alaska coast. Well, he never slept in his boat. I don't know what he planned for his
crossing of the Tasman Sea. But what I wanted to point out is that a boat of a
kayak's size and weight distribution should not only be evaluated by its stability
and ability to carry gear but the most important part of a boat is the paddler.
Gerald