To repair or not to repair
You noticed perhaps that I did not write very much during the last two months.
Yes, that's right but there was a reason. Being a bit impulsive, I bought this NDK Greenlander which was punctured during a surf session and declared total loss. A nice project to improve on repairing kayaks; that's what I thought.
Not wanting to make the repair-project last for years, I started immediately. As this kind of damage was new for me, the reparing took quite a lot of mental energy. I think that's the reason that I did not find inspiration for writing. Just a matter of mental overflow.
it feels very clumsy with these long tools, ... it's not a pleasure !
But yet I am finished.
Here is the Greenlander,stronger than before:
Of course I can show you the places where the repair is slightly visible, but at a first glance you don't notice.
Last night I took her to the swimmingpool for some rolling exercises.
As reviewing has become part of me, I could not resist examining the kayak.
The kayak rolled reasonably well, but I noticed that Hans' AnasAcuta was easier to roll. Maybe this is partly caused by the fact that I did not fit yet well in the cockpit.
Some works has to be done there: making better knee- and hipcontact.
Edging the kayak is easy and you can easily hold her on edge. Doing so, she is easily turned, although I do not believe yet she is very manouevrable in waves. But I will learn more on this in a later stage.
As I did nog have a proper fitting sprayskirt yet I used another, allowing some water to enter in the cockpit. After a while the kayak, having water aboard, felt a bit instable in the primary stability. I was a bit surprised as this amount of water normally doesn't matter very much. A positive fact is that the Greenlander has a secundary stability making her more stable on edge. So I guess hat this kind of behaviour is something to get used to.
Comparing the stability of the Greenlander with a AnasAcuta it seemed that the seat in the Greenlander is mounted higher. But we thought also that the Greenlander itself floats higher. She has more volume; something that could mean that a heavier person should paddle her. Although: the small cockpitsize does not ask for bigger people.
The cockpitsize is another issue. I am a fan of a small cockpitsize and I like the Greenlander for this. But in this kayak a kneetube was added. Entering the cockpit was not made easier with this tube. In fact you could hurt a knee on the edge. And I doubt if you can easily exit the cockpit in surf. It's not as bad that I will remove the tube immediately, but I will keep it in mind. Maybe replacing the backband by a foamblock will help. Yet another issue to investigate.
Such a block will also improve a layback on the aftdeck. This was already very good, but I was not able to perform a balancebrace yet; making better contact in the cockpit wil help a bit but improving my technique will help more I guess.
On the other hand: Sculling was very easy in this kayak. Also doing a slowmotion roll coming up while sculling.
This was a first glance at the characteristics of the Greenlander.
To be continued.