Rainy Day Paddling

Was a rainy day yesterday ... perfect for paddling. I met Alex for a morning paddle on Cedar Lake. First I wanted to try out the new QCC 700. I was surprised with the way it handled, being a long and narrow boat, I expected it to be hard to turn without rudder, but that was far from the case. With the boat on edge, it will carve a turn very nicely. There was no wind yesterday, so I never had the chance to see how the rudder would effect handling. The boat seemed very stable, and when on edge, was predictable. The 700 is an easy roller, not at all like the 500. With a high back deck, I was limited to side finishing, and forward finishing rolls ... forward finishing rolls are not my strong point. Alex offered to let me try his new Nordkapp LV, so he got in the 700, and was able to do many different rolls. Hand rolls, sweep rolls, all the fun stuff. The hatch covers did leak some .. not much, but there was water in the hatches afterwards.

While Alex was paddling the 700, I was able to play with the Nordkapp LV some ... what a nice boat! So nimble compared to the full sized Nordkapp .. in fact its a completely different boat. I was able to do an Angel roll, forward, and reverse sweeps. The boat feels very stable, until you try and put it on edge, then (just like the Nordkapp) it keeps going until capsize. The balance point on edge is subtle enough that I'm not able to find it quickly, the result is a quick brace, or the embarrassing capsize and quick roll back up hopefully before anyone saw what I did. I do like the boat very much, I may have to consider selling the Nordkapp in favor of the LV.

We did try the "Bow Roll Rescue", this has been written up in the latest Sea Kayaker magazine, and has a nice video clip on Wenleys site. I was able to complete the rescue, but need some practice for sure.