Maybe I need a new category for this

I seem to have a lot of kayaking entries recently. Maybe they need their own category – except all my categories start with the letter “R”, and I can’t think of a good R word for kayaking.

As you probably guessed, I went kayaking again today. I tried to take it easy, and so far my elbows are only a little bit sore.

The owner convinced me to try a different kayak instead of my usual Dagger Magellan. I didn’t catch the name brand. It was a snugger fit, but quite comfortable. And the seat had a cup holder in between your legs which was a perfect fit for my water bottle. But I didn’t like it out on the water. I’d paddle four or six gentle strokes, and the kayak would suddenly veer sharply to one side or the other. I’d then have to do five or six HARD sweeps on the opposite side, pausing after each one to see if it was still veering to that side. But even though I was only paddling on that side wile it was veering to the one side, it seems that the correction was too much and then I’d go off to the other side, requiring hard paddling on the other side to get it back. This was too much like hard work, and I was not enjoying it. I wanted to give it some time to see if it was just something I needed to get used to, but after 30 minutes it was still sucking. So I went back and got my Magellan.

After this kayak, the Magellan was like coming home. I could paddle gently, and pause to take a drink without the kayak doing a sudden 90 degree turn. The Magellan was a bit slower, and wider, but definitely tracked better. I think if my elbows don’t go totally apeshit I’ll be buying this boat or something similar. The owner confided to me that hardly anybody uses these boats because, he said, most of the people who come out to rent boats are beginners and these boats are too much for them. So maybe I can wait until the end-of-season sale.

Based on my experience so far, I think a perfect kayak for me would be one that had a skeg so that it tracked as well as the Magellan, but which I could pull up the skeg when I wanted more maneuverabilty. Something lighter and faster wouldn’t go amiss either. Another thing I’d like would be the ability to adjust the foot pegs while on the water. While I was out today I decided to bring the foot pegs up closer which I could do with my feet, but one of them came too far up, and while attempting to put it back down with my hands, I nearly tipped the boat over.