Epic story there Chuck!

Glad you got out in one piece: heard anything from your boat again yet?

I paddled the Kompressor once, found it indeed to be more stable than my
Salto, but to be honest, that's not what I look for in a creek boat.
I'll paddle class IV stuff in my (really low volume: 180 litre) Flip
Stick, only if it gets above that, or if I want more comfort, then I use
my Salto.

You're in the wrong size group, I'm afraid. With my 220 lbs, I already
manage to be overweight for a lot (most) of designs. :-(

Good luck finding the right boat!

Wilko

Charles Pezeshki wrote:

Hi Folks,

Well, it finally happened. After 25 years of paddling, I finally had an
uber-wipeout that led to me separating from my craft.

It happened on Lolo Creek, a scene of others' epic stories, but mostly until
now a source of fun and entertainment for myself. Lolo Creek is a Class
IV-V run with 6 miles of 160 fpm in the middle. Wiping out in the middle of
the steep stuff is what I did, and since the steep stuff on Lolo Creek is
all pointed downhill (there aren't any pools to speak of) my boat has now
taken off for the Clearwater.

The boat is a red Riot Big Gun. After numerous problems with this boat, I
can't really recommend it for people like me. The vast majority of these
new creekers are designed for much better boaters than myself, and they
demand a more athletic style. They also top out right at my weight limit
(I'm 250 lbs., and not really very fat either), so their sharp gunwhales and
abbreviated rocker in the tail make it bad when the boat spins around
backward. Not stable. Believe me.

I flipped in the middle of the drop known as Chaos or Maniac. I spun
around, dug my tail in, and turned upside down. My Grateful Heads Hard Hit
took about 5 hits-- it worked great. I was up against a rock, unable to
roll, when I finally hit the button and aqua-projected. After a few
desperate seconds of holding on to my boat, I realized that it was gonna be
the boat or my life.

Hiking out of Lolo Creek was epic, but not as epic as I always had dreaded.
I had to scramble like a four-legged herbivore up 1800 vertical feet of 45
degree slope crumbling granite. Not fun-- falling would have meant very bad
things-- probably worse than what the river had already done to me. I made
it, then wandered around lost on old logging roads, learning tons about the
local geography-- knowledge gained by going the wrong direction. I finally
ended up at a very nice, crusty old farmer's house. I regaled them with
tales of my stupidity, so they let me use their phone and gave me a hot cup
of tea.

I all ears about real STABLE creekers for big guys. I've been thinking
about the Micro 250. Since this boat is out of production, I haven't the
foggiest where I'd locate one.

I've also thought about the Prijon Kompressor. Any comments would be
appreciated-- Wilko?

Quite frankly, I'm looking for a boat that WON'T spin on a dime. This is
not a real advantage for me, mortal kayaker that I am, doing runs that
almost never have gradients steeper than 180'/mile. Most of the runs I do
actually have real water, too, but it would be nice to have a boat that slid
predictably off rocks. The Big Gun never did for me.

I'm alive.

Best,

Chuck


--
Wilko van den Bergh Wilkoa t)dse(d o tnl
Eindhoven The Netherlands Europe
Look at the possibilities, don't worry about the limitations.
http://wilko.webzone.ru/

Hi Wilko,

I heard that Eskimo may bring out a bigger Salto. True?

You're probably right at the top of the Salto's weight range, I'd think.

The problem that I have at 250 lbs. Is that these boats behave VERY badly
for me. I get few of the benefits (only if the boat is on a plane) and a
new set of very bad traits. Lighter people wouldn't have the foggiest what
I'm talking about-- but think about it this way. When the boat is moving
fast, it planes. When it stalls, it sinks, and the gunwhales are now about
1" above the waterline. Very different than if you weighed 2/3 of my
weight.

Best,

Chuck

in article , Wilko at
wrote on 6/6/04 8:38 PM:

You're in the wrong size group, I'm afraid. With my 220 lbs, I already
manage to be overweight for a lot (most) of designs. :-(

Good luck finding the right boat!

Wilko

Charles Pezeshki wrote:

I heard that Eskimo may bring out a bigger Salto. True?

I heard the same thing, that doesn't make it true though. :-)

You're probably right at the top of the Salto's weight range, I'd think.

I'm within the range according to the people I talked to at Eskimo, but
some outsiders think differently. I think that in your case the 30 lbs
of extra weight might not be as much of a problem as trying to get
muscular thighs under the thigh braces. Have you ever tried to get into one?

I know a German paddler who outweighs you by probably 15 to 20 lbs who
also paddles a Salto. That's sitting lower in the water than I would
like, but he likes it that way.

The problem that I have at 250 lbs. Is that these boats behave VERY badly
for me. I get few of the benefits (only if the boat is on a plane) and a
new set of very bad traits. Lighter people wouldn't have the foggiest what
I'm talking about-- but think about it this way. When the boat is moving
fast, it planes. When it stalls, it sinks, and the gunwhales are now about
1" above the waterline. Very different than if you weighed 2/3 of my
weight.

I've had a few "over the weight for a boat model" problems myself, but
I've come to see paddling a boat like that to just require a different
style of paddling. As long as I manage the nose from burying, I'll try
it. My Flip Stick sure is too low volume for me, but I think it's fun
and I manage to squeeze in, so I'm not bothered by other people's
opinions. :-)

Then again, seeing people almost sink a Diablo because of being well
over the upper weight range does make me wonder about them having much
fun on the water. :-(

Looks like someone weighing over 200 lbs or being taller or more
muscular than average has a big problem finding a good boat. Eskimo
might have a point and a piece of the market with their idea for a
bigger Salto. The New Topolino is kind of like the smaller creekboat, so
a bigger creekboat would fit the scale nicely. :-)

Wilko

--
Wilko van den Bergh Wilkoa t)dse(d o tnl
Eindhoven The Netherlands Europe
Look at the possibilities, don't worry about the limitations.
http://wilko.webzone.ru/