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30.05.2013
Conditions: wind 4 bft N. Distance ca. 28 km.
Today we planned a tour in the Voordelta-area: a circumnavigation of the sandbank Aardappelbult.
Hoping that conditions at the sea-side of the sandbank would be ocean-like with a nice swell as a result of the wind the days before.
But before we could start I had to wait for an hour due to traffic-problem for my paddling-mate.
I used that time to take a critical look at the kayak. And I was pleasantly surprised: it is a magnificent design with very nice lines in the hull. The bow is very sharp with a flare to give enough volume. The front-ship has quite a lot of volume whereas the aftship is very lean and slim. The hull looks very good.
The widest point of the deck-line is just in the middle. But the widest point of the hull is a bit in front of the seat; which is the result of the lower volume of the aftship.
I think that the designers did a good job by developing this kayak for stability, speed and behavior in waves.
But: everything is a compromise. So also with this kayak. The downside is that the SI18 weathercocks a bit too much. Especially when paddling in wind in combination through low waves.
In fact the seat should be moved backwards, but that's not a good idea with the lean aftship. So rests only the solution to increase the skeg-surface to probably double size. This solution is easy to realize because the only thing to change is the skeg-housing. What result is a maneuverable kayak that can be trimmed with the skeg when weathercocking.
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28.05.2013
As I wrote before, my body did not fit exactly in the cockpit. So today I added some foam underneath the thigh-grips and on both sides of the seat to match my hip-width.
Today the wind was nice again: NE force 4. So fine conditions to check if my improvements are enough.
And: Well yes, I was satisfied because, when paddling with the knees unlocked, I could still edge for steering just on my hip-contact with the boat.
When using the knees as well, while edging, I was very surprised how easy I could turn the kayak.
As I was on the water anyway I made a small tour of 8 km to enjoy the weather and the wind. My attention was drawn again to the weathercocking. In fact you can, in windy conditions, best paddle with the retractable skeg fully dropped down. Most of the time this is enough to paddle a stable course. But sometimes in a tailwind, blowing a bit from aside, you have to correct course every stroke for weathercocking (with the skeg full down).
I think that this kayak needs a bigger skegblade. Next time at sea I will take some ballast for the aft-compartment to investigate if this helps for the moment. But also to find out if the SI18 with a heavier person than I am, weathercocks less.
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As the wind was NW 4-5 bft today, this seems an opportunity to paddle the kayak to the club-evening at night and at the same time test the kayak. Total distance 19km.
I took a GPS with me to get an impression of the speed I can reach with this kayak. My natural solo-pace in this kayak turns out to be 8,5 km/h. Only a bit slower in a head-wind and a bit faster in a tail-wind. When I entered a wind-free area I reached 9/km/h immediately. I think that this is not bad at all for a seakayak. Anyway: faster than the average seakayak.
I will do the sprinting later when there is no wind, but looking at the way the kayak cuts the water, she must be quite fast.
While paddling I discovered that the sloped surfaces, left and right, in the deck, which could make the paddle stroke more efficient because of entering the water with the blades closer to the hull, are too far aft. The sloped surfaces look very good in the current position, but are not functional because the paddle blades enter the water farther away to the front.
Afterwards looking at the paddle-scratch-marks on the deck, I concluded that these surfaces should move towards the bow over approx. 35 cm. A positive spin-off will be that the chart-table-elastics (read article "first glance") can be positioned better as well.
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Today I picked up a brand new seakayak at Kanoshop.nl. I am talking about the seakayak SI18, recently introduced by Stellar.
It is a very good looking seakayak with traditional lines. Made in China by the factory that produced Epic before and is still producing High-Tec competition rowing boats.
Behind the design stand two American designers (David Thomas and Ed Hofmeister)who designed also fast Stellar-surfskis and fast seakayaks very much like the Epic 18X.
The I in the name SI18 stands for "Intrepid", meaning brave: A nice recommendation ;-).
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12 may 2013
Wind: west 5bft, following some days with storm SW
Paddling in surf is, to my opinion, the final proof of a kayaktest because mostly this is the heaviest part of the test. It gives in relative safe-conditions, close to the coast, a feeling how capable a kayak is.
Well, after having paddled the Pilgrim Expedition in 7 sessions before this one, it did not surprise me that I felt completely at home in surf with this kayak.
The stability is very good and, also important, the kayak reacts very natural and predictable on waves: nu unexpected movements or whatsoever that could you make feel uncertain.
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10-05-2013
A lot of wind predicted: 6-8bft. But no good conditions for surfing along the coast due to a strong current along the coast.
BUT: ideal circumstances for wet exercises on the Alkmaarder-lake.
I aimed at a spot in the middle of the lake and paddling that direction was fun, being pushed by the SW-wind.
Although higher waves surf better the conditions were OK and the Pilgrim surfs well on these windwaves.
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08-05-2013
Until now all paddling opportunities sent me to the sea. The place to be for the Pilgrim Exp. However, I want to paddle her on flat water as well. This Wednesday-evening the wind was SW 3-4bft and I set out to paddle to the club in Uitgeest and back. In total approx. 19 km.
My purpose was to get an impression about the speed this kayak is able to reach. Until now I experienced that I could reach normal paddling speed unless I had to paddle against short steep waves. Under those circumstances she sprays a lot and is slowed down by every wave. Of course this is part of the compromise in a kayak-design. This kayak is designed for rough water and has, for that purpose, a lot of volume in the bow causing the "slowing down" as described.
This means that the Pilgrim Exp. is on her best on the open sea and rough water.
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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.
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5 march 2013 ; wind SE 3 bft ; temp 20˚C ; distance approx. 18km.
Today was very pleasant with plenty of sunshine and a nice temperature. A day to go kayaking. Not a day with demanding conditions for testing. This did not hold us back to go kayaking.
As you can imagine I didn't find new issues about the qualities of the Pilgrim in this quiet weather only consolidation of earlier conclusions.
Two observations:
- The Pilgrim tracked nice in a following sea with 40cm waves. No problem to maintain your course.
- The Pilgrim is really a boat for smaller persons. In winter I use neoprene shoes size 44; a bit bigger than normal to fit over an extra pair of socks in my drysuit. In the Pilgrim this shoe-size is not very comfortable because it forces me in a fixed position: the deck is too low forcing your feet in a unnatural position. Not using the footrests, but the bulkhead to put my feet against helps, but not enough. The lesson learnt is that the Pilgrim indeed fits smaller persons. I think persons width shoe-size 42 as maximum.
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06.12.2012
Yesterday it was terrible weather: windy and snow. Tomorrow it will be even worse with 8bft winds and 15 cm snow predicted.
BUT today it was a quiet, sunny day. Ideal to go paddling.
For testing I like wind and at least some waves and therefor paddling at sea in the Voordelta-area would have been perfect as the swell from yesterday could arrange interesting conditions over there.
Due to the predicted traffic-infarct, caused by the snow of last night, we changed plans and went to Lemmer, a lot more to the north.
Today's weather was pleasant because it was not so very cold. But I also thought that this weather and place were a pity for testing. But I was wrong: also today I collected useful information about the Pilgrim.