I had never paddled a kayak when I got the opportunity to try
paddling some courtesy of local sporting goods stores who were
giving free demonstrations at a local public beach. Over three
evenings I paddled 14 dfferent kayaks. They were all what I'd call
general puropse kayaks. There were none for white water or long
trips.

I found it easy to paddle a kayak the first time. You have to
wedge yourself in by bracing your feet on peddals and in decked
kayaks your knees under the deck. Then its just a matter of
swinging the double bladed paddle as if you were swimming. I've
done a lot of swimming so it came naturally. I was able to paddle
at full power right from the start.

All the kayaks save one were fast and efficent for their size. The
theory of hull resistance has been pretty well worked out. There
are computer programs you can buy which will do the computations
and print out the numbers for the hull shape. The one bad kayak I
paddled was noisy and left trubultent water in its wake. The
others all went through the water cleanly.

Some of the longer boats didn't manouver very well. Some had to an
extra piece on the back, either a skeg or a rudder, to help them
go straight or to turn. These were supposed to be raised an
lowered by a thin line but many didn't work well. Some stuck. One
had no stopper on the line which dropped in the water and trailed
behind. I had to to twist around and fish it out with the paddle.
That took a few attempts. On all but one the line was held in a
small hook or cleat which was not easy to use. You can't turn fast
with the skeg or rudder down. If you want to turn fast you first
have to raise the skeg or rudder with the line, then use the
paddle and body to turn the boat. That's pretty slow. One of the
boats with a rudder must have had sand in the works. It was hard
to push the peddals to turn the rudder. I could feel the grit
grinding in the works.

There must not be a computer program for the best way to build a
lightweight but strong and rigid kayak because there was a lot of
variation in the longer decked kayaks. The sexier boats with fine
entries and flat bottoms were the least rigid. The bottoms flexed
up and down. Some boats had a piece of pipe from one end to the
other to make them rigid. Another had a brace between the top and
bottom which you had to put your legs around. Others had ridges on
the inside. The boats with rounder bottoms and rounder decks were
more rigid and had less extra bracing. All of the boats were light
for their size. The longest was 15 feet. Any I tried to lift I
could do so with one hand.

There was a lot of variation in comfort and convenience among the
kayaks. After a while my preference was for a roomy cockpit in a
boat wide enough I could twist around in and look back, or get
something out of the rear compartment if the boat had one. One
boat was so narrow I tipped it over trying to get in. Another was
so wide I couldn't brace my feet and knees on the inside. In
one my knees were braced on the side of the kneecaps. That was
very uncomfortable. I think getting a kayak is like getting a suit
of clothes. Fit is important. One thing I would look for is a seat
high enough to support the back. Only two or three of the 14
kayaks had a seat which provided good support above the hips.

Some of the kayaks were sit on top models and others were sit
inside models. My overall impression was that the sit on top
kayaks were the most successful designs for performance and
comfort. They were also lower priced because they are simpler to
make. They come right out of the mold ready for sale, only
requiring sufficient labour cost to screw on handles at the ends.
However, the sit on top models offered no protection from wind,
waves, or sun. None had waterproof storage. In fact they are so
wet I would wear a bathing suit. One had drain holes which let in
water. I would avoid paddling in questionable water. They would be
fun to use at the beach. My preference would be for a kayak which
had a dry place to keep a camera and some food. I like to drive
out in the country and spend the day exploring local waters.

One evening there was wind and small waves with whitecaps. I
had fun bashing through the waves. All of the kayaks I paddled
let in spray and became wet. During the three evenings I tried
paddling kayaks I never got into a dry one. We all seemed to get
water into the kayaks even when there was no wind or waves.
Perhaps that was because most of the people trying out the
demonstration kayaks were inexperineced novices liek myself. It
was like sitting in a shower stall. I'd wear a bathing suit or use
a spray skirt. I wonder how hot it would be in a kayak with a
spray skirt without any ventilation.

So far my personal preference in one of these kayaks would be a
long wide one with a rounded bottom, roomy cockpit, high seat, dry
storage accessable afloat, and no skeg or rudder. These weeknight
demonstrations continue throughout the summer so I hope to try
more boats.

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