From: "James Mitchell" <mariner@seanet.com>
To: <baidarka@lists.intelenet.net>
Subject: Re: baidarka Kayakers may safely agree...
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 19:21:53 -0700
When life settles down a bit (December, I hope), I will try to post a
couple pictures of Will Baumgartner and Tommy Johns from Sitka whacking away
on the yellow-cedar dugout they built last winter. They did finish it, but
one of the elders told me that it had cracked during the heat expansion
part. I am really hoping they can get it up and running this summer, as I
have always dreamed of paddling in the Alaskan version of the "real thing"!
----- Original Message -----
From: Douglas Ingram <redcanoe@pangea.ca>
To: <baidarka@lists.intelenet.net>
Sent: Monday, October 25, 1999 7:40 AM
Subject: Re: baidarka Kayakers may safely agree...
>Doug, I will say thish about thaaat... the water we have around here is not
>a safe place for an undecked boat. Even on the calmest of days, the wave
>action and wakes will flood the deck of the average kayak at least a few
>times. Two to four feet is pretty normal, often with crossing patterns
that
>undermine most hulls. Any canoe in which you were sitting would most
>certainly have a high enough CG to be sensitive to this problem. As for
>kneeling, we deal with average paddling distances measured in multiple
>hours. The simple fact is that in the Puget Sound region, kayaks are much
>better suited -- more comfortable, safer. Canoes are still used frequently
>on our fresh water lakes, although less so on those with over 20 miles of
>fetch. Another factor around our area is that the kayaks are much more
>manageable for a single paddler, and we tend to be a pretty independent
lot!
I've seen canoes used in some pretty hostile water, and safely too. Spray
skirts are a big plus, as is flotation bags when needed.
People do have the greatest success using equipment and techniques that are
familiar and that they are trained to use.
And geography is definitely a factor in all of this. I am a child of
canoeing on the Sheild, with all of its lakes and portages, etc. Here, a
canoe makes sense. This is the geography which was its place of genisis.
One the west coast, a kayak definitely makes sense, with the varied water
conditions, the lack of portages, etc. Those conditions are the type of
geography, if not the actual place, which was the genisis of the kayak.
I never wanted this discussion to become a canoe VS kayak thing, and I don't
think that it has. My basic question has always been "What is driving the
recent and dramatic popularity of the kayak?" Paddlesports in general are
in a states of growth, and the growth of kayal sales is particularily so.
By the way, what do you all think about the popularity of Sit on Tops?
Douglas Ingram
Lorette, Manitoba
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