8 march 2013, wind E 6-7 bft, temp 2˚C, distance 22km.
Although the conditions were cold today because of the icy wind, we decided to paddle as planned. We started in Holwerd with destination Nes on the Island Ameland.
With wind and current pushing us the way out was not heavy. Because of the easterly wind the tide was very low: although we departed shortly after the high tide it seemed if we were paddling at the lowest tide already. Due to the low tide the waves were not higher than 40 cm. Keeping course in the strong wind without using the extractable skeg was heavy work. But with the retractable skeg the Pilgrim could be trimmed well. It turned out that the Pilgrim was depending much on the adjustment of the skeg and I had to re-adjust frequently. Partly this is because of the combination strong wind and low waves. In higher waves it is expected to be easier to maintain course.
Adjusting the skeg is not very pleasant for my hands and fingers. Firstly because the adjustment knob is positioned in the seam from deck to hull on the side of the kayak. Cold water is splashing at your hands there. Secondly the knob is flush with the deck, which is nice, but with the skeg drawn in it is so much to the front that you cannot get your fingers behind it to pullback, So I had to use my nails to move the knob backwards. A bit painful with cold fingers.
In the "Zuiderspruit" the water is deeper and we paddle through a field with waves of about 70cm height; a short track even with Clapotis-waves. It is clear that the Pilgrim feels much at home in these conditions. She runs nicely over the waves, is maneuverable and not so depending on the adjustment of the skeg anymore.
The return trip was not so easy as we have to paddle against the wind, not being helped much by the current yet. When the waves were low the Pilgrim achieve nice speed, but as soon as there were short waves, the kayak was slowed down by every wave. This is clearly a kayak for bigger ocean waves. These short waves lift the bow a bit allowing the wind to grip the bow. The leecocking which is caused by this, is however easy to correct by a combination of (pre)-edging and sweepstrokes. The kayak responds very well to edging and is maneuverable enough to stay under control now. However, if a smaller. lighter person than me paddles this Pilgrim Exp I wonder if the influence of the wind will be bigger. Probably such a paddler has to load this expedition kayak not to become a toy for the wind.
Back in the harbor I noted that my back was not as tired as after other trips in the Pilgrim due to the backband-less seat. Today I had to work harder, probable taking a more active sit-position resulting in less tension in the back.
And as written before: I felt too big for this kayak with shoe-size 44 on. But also with my length of 1,80m I had to wiggle a bit to get in and out the cockpit. I still think I am the maximum for this kayak.
Compartments are bone-dry at the end of the trip.