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19-11-2012
Although 4-5 bft wind was predicted for today, the reality was thick fog and S-SE 3-4 bft wind blowing offshore. This means a rather calm sea.
But a trip was planned and so we started in the fog at Bakkum to paddle along the coast; hoping for nice waves somewhere to surf or playing along.
In a headwind and a rather lively sea it was very pleasant to paddle the Pilgrim. I could, without using the retractable skeg, easily keep course with only minor corrections.
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13-11-2012
Today I paddled the Pilgrim for the first time at sea. But the short time I paddled her at the Grevelingen, a month ago, gave me confidence to take her for this first test-session to the Texelstroom; starting the trip in Den Oever. The wind was average SW-4 bft with some periods SW-5bft. Such a wind against a current of 2,3 knots gives an interesting sea.
The seat is rather comfortable with my knees fitting exactly in 2 bubbles in the deck on both sides of the cockpit.
The deck is rather low because my feet were almost locked between deck and bottom. Maybe because I wear shoes of size 44 (for fitting over my drysuit socks)
At first I wondered if I was too big for this kayak because she felt if I was "top-heavy". Probably I had to get used to this kayak and her stability. I think that the initial stability is good, but not a very stable platform. The secondary stability is not bad but the end of the stability curve is a bit abrupt, meaning the stability, when edged, changes quickly in zero. But at the end of the day I had no problems with this any more. But it is a different behavior compared to other kayaks. The bottom is very pronounced; almost hardchined in the midsection. I can imagine this the explanation for this behavior. But on the other hand; these hardchines makes her very obedient in following your paddle-corrections. However, other test-sessions will follow and probably give more information on this.
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29 October 2012
Thinking about a summary of the test-sessions, I concluded I needed more information about changing course in windy weather; especially because I improved the grip on thighs and knees.
Today it was bad, rainy weather with 6-7 bft. at sea and approx. 4-5 bft. on the Alkmaardermeer.
So I paddled for an hour in the rain looking for the windiest places on the lake.
When changing course into the wind this is very easy as the kayak wants to weathercock a bit sending you automatically in the desired direction.
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19.10.2012
The predicted winds were S2-5bft. To find reasonable waves we to paddle the Hoornse Hop, just south of Hoorn. A spot were waves build up quite fast in southerly winds.
But unfortunately: the wind was only 1-2 bft and the IJsselmeer like a mirror.
Beautiful yes, but not to gather much information about the Etain after improving knee- and thigh-grip contact in the cockpit.
Today we started in Edam and on the first 14km-leg the wind came from aside causing our kayaks to weathercock very slightly. Jos and Henk dropped their retractable skegs slightly to compensate for this.
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13.10.2012
In earlier posts I wrote about the bad knee-contact in the cockpit. This bad contact is not just with my knees, but Leo, who owns this kayak, isn't either happy with that.
Last test-session I defined the problem: the wings on the cockpit rim, which are supposed to support the thighs, does no make any contact. Instead the kneecap is pressed bluntly against the underside of the deck where also a ridge can be found. To my opinion this is or a design-fault in the cockpit or the mistake is not having covered the underside of the "wings" with a thick layer of foam.
In both cases I cannot really understand why Valley delivers such a cockpit because almost no one will fit comfortable in this cockpit.
For this test I concluded that I had to add 2,5 cm of foam to the underside of the "thigh-wings". The result was encouraging. The kneecap only slightly touches the deck now. To improve that I added 1 cm soft foam at that spot.
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10.10.2012
On forehand it is always difficult to predict the weather. Today Roel and I planned circumnavigating Kernwerderzand; starting at Harlingen. The weather turned out to be very quiet with a NE 2bft. wind. Lucky enough a rainsquall passed by, pushing the wind to approx. 4 bft. for about an hour. Anyway it was a useful trip for the test.
At first, with the wind at 45 degrees from behind the Etain weathercocks slightly, needing the retractable skeg to drop for 50%. This is not strange because, to my experience, a seakayak needs often more skeg on wave-less seas. This is because small waves make most kayaks more maneuverable causing small course-corrections being done without knowing.
Another issue which became clear is the knee contact. As described before the knee-contact is a bit painful on a ridge in the deck next to the cockpit-rim.
Today I saw that this is not strange because the "wings" in the cockpit rim, which are supposed to give support on the thighs, do not function at all: pressing my knees against the deck there is no contact between these wings and the thighs. There is approx. still 1 cm space between thigh and wing. I can put 1 finger in between.
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08.10.2012
Today Henk and I planned a paddle-day. We were blessed with quiet weather: sunny, SSW-wind 2-3-(4) bft.
The idea was to cross the Marsdiep where the tidal currents often can be up to 3 knots. Starting at Den Helder we paddled just north at 0 degrees to follow the desired course of approx. 30 degrees. This should bring us to shore at Texel just south of Oudeschild where we planned a gastronomic break of a few hours.
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30.09.2012
Oh, what I regretted it today not to have tailor-fitted Leo's Etain. In 2 earlier occasions the hip- and knee-contact was fine in the Etain, but now conditions were much more demanding and I missed hip-support (the seat is a bit too wide for me) and also my knee-contact was painful.
Wieger asked me for a sunday-afternoon-paddle at sea; starting at Wijk aan Zee. Conditions were a SW 25-knot wind (6-7 bft.) and down-going tide.
Our plan was to break through 2 zones with breaking waves and than to take a look at the north pier of IJmuiden; just to learn how the sea looks like in the conditions of today.
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Als een vervolg op eerdere tochten langs de Noorse kust begonnen we dit jaar in Stavanger. Doel was Bergen.
Daar zijn we echter niet gekomen omdat we vlak voor Bergen een brede zeestraat moesten oversteken. De weersvoorspellingen waren echter dermate ongunstig dat we dat niet verantwoord vonden. Er is daar namelijk tamelijk veel scheepvaart en omdat het water overal diep is heeft men geen aangegeven vaargeul. Op een breedte van 4 kilometer is het lastig te bepalen hoe je schepen kunt ontwijken.
Klik hier om verder te lezen een een grotere track van de route te bekijken
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21.07.012
This Saturday-morning Anoushka organized a surf-session at the beach of "Castricum aan Zee". Although the wind was reduced to 4->3 bft. North, she consulted surfsites predicting a good swell for surfing.
And Yes, there was swell with surfable waves and cresting waves up to 1 meter. Good conditions for testing a seakayak.
Left a 2-minute film with an impression of today:
The way the Etain behaved in the disturbed and irregular waves, which you normally find in the surfzone, gave me a lot of confidence. First of all the excellent stability of this kayak tributes to that. But also "how the Etain glides over the waves in a very balanced way". There has been no single moment that she moved or responded in a "twitchy" way on the waves. All her movements were predictable and forgivable. So I was relaxed all the time. Only when a particular strong dumping wave tried to push me backwards I had to paddle very hard.
Of course I also surfed on waves: like most seakayakers I know, I like surfing. Besides fun surfing is an opportunity for constant improvement on paddling skills. Anyway, the Etain surfs very well on the steepening swell approaching the beach. As long as the wave does not crest too much, the Etain runs fast. The stability also gives confidence in performing the paddle-rudder. Inviting me to hang over far aside to curve a wave.