For days already I found on www. windfinder.com the information that friday/saterday 6/7 oct. would be real windy days.
As I did not have any appointments on saterday, my blood was cooking a little bit as I have currently the Skim Distance for testing and this could be an ideal opportunity for investigation; The water not being very cold yet.
As the day comes near I did not find a companion for the day. But the last minut, the evening before, Jos phoned me for a shorter trip.
So it turned out NOT to go to the sea, but to an inland lake the Alkmaardermeer.
As the wind was blowing 7 Bft., with stronger gusts in between, this turned out to be an interesting excersize as well.
As the Almaardermeer is not as deep as the sea, the waves will not be as high and be of shorter amplitude, which builds rather steep waves.
Under these conditions I was able to investigate the difference in behaviour above and below 6 Bft, which turns out to be a turning point.
Under all conditions and wind/-wave directions I was able to be sitted very comfortable in the kayak, having no problems at all with the stability.
The only thing was paddling a course in short waves against the wind at 10-80° angle with it, when the wind was above 6BFT.
Then, paddling the Distance unloaded, the long nose was being blown sideways after each wave, causing leecocking. This was difficult indeed to correct with the paddle. Because of the "being blown"-effect it was even more difficult to turn into the wind; much more difficult than a P&H Baidarka which is already known to have simular difficulties.
Following a course, like mentioned above, but without waves the Distance turned out to be not influenced at all by the wind; no lee- and no weathercocking.
When the wind drops to 6 Bft or lower, the leecocking in waves was minimal and could be corrected by pre-edging the kayak at the moment of hitting a wave; doing so it was very easy to correct.
Paddling with following waves turned out to be something you must perform concentrated, even when dropping the skeg.
At the end of the day, before padlling home, we excersized braces and rolling. Excersizes that could be performed very well in the Distance.
We also judged and improved Jos` high brace in his Baidarka (an essential part of the "zeevaardigheid"-examination) as a preparation for his examination tomorrow.
Next time, paddling in wind with the Skim Distance has to be repeated in higher waves of longer amplitude because at can be expected that the leecocking will be less than.
Details: distance 27 km; wind "7+"Bft, going down to 5,5 Bft; Weather- Raingusts changing into sunny periods.