Subject: Re: baidarka Phil's phat boat
From: James Mitchell (mariner@seanet.com)
Date: Sat Dec 09 2000 - 14:22:53 EST
Phil, bear in mind that most of the Norton Sound and King Island hulls ran
about 25" beam. But the King boats in particular seem to have used the steep
vee technique with extensive flare that we have been discussing lately.
They were also comparatively short, 14.5-15.5'. I think what you would get
is a hull that is very nimble (that translates into "scary" on flat water)
but with reasonably good tracking and excellent maneuvarability in waves.
But those hulls also used the round or mildly oval cockpits with rims that
were nearly straight above the gunwales. Use of a double bladed paddle in
that kind of hull would seem to involve a lot of elbow banging. Here again
they used single bladed paddles almost exclusively; there is one photo of
Frank Ellana holding his double bladed paddle, which is very VERY long with
very small blades. My understanding is that they used the double bladed
paddles seldom in the entire area from the Aleutians to the Arctic Circle.
But I digress... what I wanted to say was that the use of a more "V" shape
to your hull will increase your performance, sacrifice some initial
stability, but retain most of the secondary stability that is inherent to a
25" beam. Example: the Feathercraft Katsilano vs. the K1. If you can, go
paddle these two side by side.
----- Original Message -----
From: <kyak@rockisland.com>
To: <baidarka@lists.intelenet.net>
Sent: Friday, December 08, 2000 8:21 AM
Subject: baidarka Phil's phat boat
> The whole "long/narrow" thing is vastly over-rated unless speed is your
only
> desire. as long as you watch deck geometry (rim height (from keel), size
> etc) you can go out to 24-27, probably even 28 inches and still have a
boat
> that is not difficult to double paddle. At 15' x 25" you have lots of
> stability & respectable overall weight As for "big cockpits" they sure are
> comfortable! Hazardous? That's what spray decks are for.
> It sounds as if you know what you want, so I say go for it.
>
> you wrote:
> >I am still wrestling with the design of that main station. Having
paddled
> >only wide Folbots, I am not too worried about it being a hard boat to
paddle
> >even if I make it 24 or even 28 inches. That is still much better than
34"!
> >It may be sluggish to many here, but so much easier than what I have
done. It
> >could then be about 15 to 17 feet long by 24 to 28 inches wide, provide a
> >wide, long cockpit so fishing gear could be easily used, and still be
rather
> >light (my 17 footer I am using weighs 62 lbs empty). It isn't going to
be a
> >speed demon and it won't be as easy to use as the baidarka designs can
be. A
> >native of years ago would gag looking at it. All that aside, it would do
its
> >job admirably I think, and that is exactly what the originals did too.
> Visit Kayak Way:
> http://www.rockisland.com/~kyak
>
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