Boating and Sailing.pdf - Moja ladja

Chapter 10: Paddle Power: Canoes, Kayaks, and Rowboats
Because the paddler sits low in the water, they tend to be more stable at a given beam
width. (Narrow touring kayaks can be tippy, however!)
Typical general-purpose kayaks measure about 28 to 32 inches wide, while touring models
are 22 to 24 inches wide. As with canoes, wider models are more stable and carry greater
loads but are slower and harder to paddle.
Serious kayakers also are concerned with
volume, the amount of space enclosed by the
entire outer hull of the kayak, which affects its
buoyancy. A high-volume kayak floats like a
ping-pong ball and is the preferred boat for
beginners learning white-water tactics as well as
for straight-line white-water racers. Low-volume
models, which look almost like javelins, are the
choice of the most skilled of slalom racers and
trick paddlers, but are far too tippy for amateurs.
Open or Shut Case?
Open kayaks allow the paddler to sit in a small compartment or cockpit with legs and feet
exposed and provide more readily accessible space for gear.
Closed kayaks have only a manhole in the center for the kayaker to fit into. Feet and legs
are under the closed-bow deck, and in rough water it’s common to attach a skirt that fits
snugly around the paddler’s chest and snaps to the edges of the manhole, sealing out
water. The paddler in effect “wears” the boat.
Adjustable foot pads form a place to brace for maneuvering the boat, and a seat with a
backrest allows comfortable all-day paddling.
Storage is in separate compartments under the bow and stern decks, plus whatever you
can strap down on top. There’s not a lot of space below decks for storage because much of
it is filled with flotation materials.
Small molded-plastic kayaks, from 9 to 12 feet long, are great car-toppers thanks to
weights under 50 pounds, and are also favored by wildlife photographers who like to slip
silently into weedy marshes where larger boats can’t pass. The smaller models are also the
choice for white water or for taking on the surf because they turn quickly.
Kayaks that are 12 to 14 feet long are the usual choice for general recreational paddling,
fishing, and wildlife watching. Some of the open models have enough space to bring along
a child or a dog in the cockpit, and weights of no more than 60 pounds make them easy to
handle.
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Boater-ese
Volume, as it’s applied
to kayaks, refers to the total
space enclosed by the outer hull.
It’s a way of measuring the buoyancy
of one kayak design
against another.