So Cal Coastline Man-powered Craft

Greetings--- I've had a 50's era wooden "kookbox" paddleboard displayed on my patio for a long time and have long thought about building one to ply the local coastline. I want something that I can cover 3 or 4 miles per outing and would be a good platform for fishing and occasionally some snorkling. I'm not sold on SUPs yet but the Kahalo looks like a light and stable platform. I read a post where it was suggested that it could be fitted with a seat to paddle from. If it could be removable, I might give stand-up paddling a go. Primarily, I think, portability drew me towards a paddleboard but I've learned here just how light a wooden kayak can be. The Sea Island Sport caught my attention. It's called a very stable boat, a beautiful version of the kayaks I'm used to seeing around here and it's been suggested one might use it to snorkle from. Plus, it's a quickish build. I then read that the Wood Duck 12 is also a very stable and roomy craft. Not sure about getting in and out of it. The Wood Duck Hybrid is so sweet to look at I could wet my woodworker's knickys. This is the very essence of "Mission-creep." Anyone care to share some thoughts that might get me back on course. Thanks, JW

5 replies:

« Previous Post       List of Posts       Next Post »

RE: So Cal Coastline Man-powered Craft

JW,

The Kahalo could be outfitted easily with a removeable seat. These guys, http://www.seairsports.com/ make fishing seats for kayaks. My Sea Island Sport uses one of their seats, not the fishing one, and I think the kits come with the same seat. Very comfortable seats.The Sea Island is a stable boat, I can stand up in it and paddle. It's also reasonably easy to perform a wet entry. Not tried that in a Wood Duck but Laszlo has and maybe he'll chime in here. The Sea Island also is pretty fast for a SOT and you could easily cover the distances you want in a day. The same goes for the Wood Duck.

George K

RE: So Cal Coastline Man-powered Craft

Happy Easter guys.

It's funny how your past catches up with you. After a trip to Hawaii where I went kayak-snorkeling, I came back to the real world with the idea of building a yak that I could use as a swim platform. It looks, JW, as if you've been following my musings on the subject on this forum.

I've done wet exits and wet re-entries in both the SIS and WD12. For both boats I just put my legs over the same side and leaned. Both boats dumped me out well before they capsized. I was able to use the same wet re-entry technique for both boats - approach the boat from one side, grab the near side of the cockpit, pull while kicking hard and come up and on top of the coaming,turn to put my head to the back of the boat, get my legs into the cockpit, roll over onto my bak and sit up (Maggie at CLC caiught my execution of this maneuver in the WD12). Neither boat had rigging when I did this and it worked first time on both boats. In both cases the water was pretty still, much more so for the WD12, but it should work with a long slow swell if timed correctly. Forget it in choppy seas.

I also did a head-to-head comparison between the SIS and WD12 for speed. It was GPS-measured and for my case the WD12 nosed out the SIS. However - at that point I was above the nominal weight for a SIS and below that for a WD12. SO it was an overloaded SIS vs. a lightly-loaded WD12. The results were completely valid for me, but may vary for othe paddlers.

As far as the Kaholo, when I suggested adding a seat the designer agreed that it was possible. I tried the Kaholo at last year's Okoumefest, but only standing up. I am happy to say that I did not fall off. It was more awkward (for me) to carry than my WD12, but lighter.

That's my experiences with those boats. Best thing to do is to see if you can attend the southern CA demo show for CLC and try them out. It makes a big differenc. I was all ready to buy a SIS, but then at the last minute I tried a WD12 and became a convert.

Have fun.

Laszlo

PS - George, hope you have a boring day tomorrow.

 

RE: So Cal Coastline Man-powered Craft

Laszlo,

I was hoping you'd post this pic! It's a classic.

And by boring I suppose you mean uneventful. Launch should go on time barring any mechanical problems, weather looks good.

George K

RE: So Cal Coastline Man-powered Craft

Happy Easter and thanks to both for the replies. The seat company whose link George posted had a fisherman's seat that was pricy but would sure cut down on the modifications to the  kayak. I couldn't tell if it's backrest was self-supporting and as such relies on cockpit support. I'll contact them and find out.  Lazlo, I'm not sure if you were suggesting that more rigging on the deck would be a help or a hindrance. I only hope I could pull off such a graceful wet-entry! I think we're all on the same wavelength regarding a versatile platform. There are few boat launches in my area, so a light, beach-launchable craft can get you out early before the power boats get in and stay in while others are heading back. Not to mention the advantages of a shallow draft inshore and around the kelp. Does anyone know when the next So Cal CLC shindig is happening?

 

JW

RE: So Cal Coastline Man-powered Craft

George,

That's exactly what I meant. I didn't want you seeing that shuttle today except on TV. It was a real pretty launch. Unfortunately the clouds were just a little to thick to see them come screaming up the coast from here.

JW,

More rigging would be a help. The fact that I was able to re-enter with no rigging is a very good sign, since I was basically grabbing wet varnished surfaces.

Reading your reply just reminded me about launching through surf. The SIS might be more successful at that. I launched my WD12 through foot high "surf", but had to do a bunch of bailing afterwards. It also helped a lot to have a helper with putting on the spray skirt out on the water (longer-armed paddlers might find it easier than I do). Neither of those things would apply to the SIS.

Laszlo

 

 

« Previous Post     List of Posts     Next Post »


Please login or register to post a reply.