The second portage on the "Rondje Kamerik". I made this morning my own private "Koninginnedag-party". Janine and Jelle are on holiday (in Jordan), Lieke stays with granddad and grandmamma for a few days. So I got the house for myself (and unlike all the other fathers accompanying their kids on the traditional flea-markets and Quens-day fairs: no obligations!). No obligations? Finally there is time to do all the little jobs in and around the house I promised to do and that are waiting far to long to be done ;-(
Koninginnedag in Woerden: familyday with flea-marketOf course it would be a pity to spent a public holiday only doing useful things. So I decided to get up early and to start the day with a paddle. Because I wanted to do a lot of other things I limited my kayak time. I went to the boat-house and took the K 1 racer with the Brasca wing-paddle for the shortest circular paddle trip you can do around Woerden: the "rondje Kamerik": 9,5 km's, with two portages. It was the first time I took the racer out for a solo paddle this year. With the cold water I paddled this unstable racer last weeks in company with Gus (a rescuer on a safe distance). But on this beautiful day I went out alone in T-shirt and shorts (with a drybag with towel and spare clothes on board...). And the trip passed of without any incident: a real confidence booster! The portages were a delight with this lightweight kayak. I really start to love the combination of the racer and the wing paddle. I forgot to stop the exact time, but I have got the impression I broke a personal record. A very promising experience. The goal is to paddle the marathon-distance of this years' "Rondje Groene Hart" in the racer. I don't intend to paddle the 42 km in a very fast pace, I am already confident when I manage to survive the distance in the spartan racer. After the experience of this morning it looks like a realizable ambition (thoufh I still need some practice). And If I only can find a seat for this kayak! My buttock hurts after an hour sitting on that stupid foam block.
Google-Earth view of the "Rondje Kamerik" - click on the picture to view the track of the kayak-route ( Sorry, I don't know how to edit the thickness of the lines in Google Earth).
Hi Hans,
ReplyDeleteI have the same experience that paddling "on wings" is most effective, you might also call it "most convenient", in a K1-racer. Probably because you have much more hip-movement in such a kayak. And that is something you need quite a lot with a wing.
Adapting the same wing to a seakayak means as well that it will not give the same experience because you are a little bit limited in your movements when compared to the K1-Racer.
But: there are differences between seakayaks and I, being in the situation having more than 1 seakayak, choose the kayak "for the day" thinking about these details.
Best for wingpaddling is a seakayak offering the posibilitty of paddling with the knees close together like in the racer. To compensate for the loss of knee-contact doing so, the seakayak must react perfectly on only hip-contact and -movements.
Buy the way:
Ever thought of eskimorolling in a K1-racer?????????
When applying a thick sheet or block of foam on your knees, like Freya uses when performing rolls, it should be possible. Give it a try.
When you can roll in it, you extend the usage of the racer quite a bit.
Once I made a circumnavigation-tour in the neighbourhood of TheHague and did a part of the tour, paddling a K1-racer, on the sea from Scheveningen to Poeldijk. Quit an experience.
Hi René!
ReplyDeleteRolling the K1 with this K1 open cockpit: I will drop out, before I even can think of it. My knees are in the open air... Perhaps I should fix a pair of tigh-braces-straps like some sit-on-tops have...
greetings,
Hans