Paddle Report - FINALLY!!!
Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 7:42 pm
Ok, the old timers around here might remember the WYE 13-6 that I built for my daughter out of pink DOW foam. We finally got a chance to paddle it for real today. Took my kid to Martin Dies Jr. State Park for a little campout. At 13 she and I have little in common anymore but I'm blessed that she still wants to hunt, fish and camp with her ol' Dad
Our screen shelter was only 20 yards from the water, facing directly into the wind. After a freezing night, I found a suitable slide in near our shelter.
Unfortunately I broke one of the plastic folding seats while trying to remove it from the industrial Velcro fastening that I had installed temporarily in order to properly assess seating position. Let me tell you that stuff is STRONG. The seat broke before the Velcro would give.
So, kiddo sat up front and I ended up all the way rear so that I had something to lean against. This turned out to not affect the trim of the boat at all as far as I could tell and left us plenty of space so we would not be near bumping paddles if we wanted to both paddle. But my kid still thinks she's 5 so I got to paddle her all over today. I am so out of paddling shape that I may not be able to get out of bed tomorrow.
We had a good time and the boat was everything I expected. I'm 250 right now and my kid is about 130 but I think our draft was minimal.
I have not paddled it solo yet but here is my assessment so far:
Stability - Second to none. I can stand up and paddle/pole or she can stand in front and cast. No worries at all here.
Speed - Well, did I mention I'm out of paddling shape? Paddling for two is not easy but we were not in a hurry. I would not plan a distance paddle in this boat but if she had been paddling, perhaps I would think differently. Time shall tell.
Turning/tracking - Obviously this type of hull lends to straight tracking but it turned more easily than I expected. We were not fighting strong winds today but for now I have no plans to add a rudder.
I paddled with both double and single blade. My preference was with single in a kneeling position. I will work on a better seating arrangement that gets me up higher so I don't bang my knuckles when using the double blade. All in all I am very happy with the boat and looking forward to some solo marsh fishing where I can stand and cast at will!
Our screen shelter was only 20 yards from the water, facing directly into the wind. After a freezing night, I found a suitable slide in near our shelter.
Unfortunately I broke one of the plastic folding seats while trying to remove it from the industrial Velcro fastening that I had installed temporarily in order to properly assess seating position. Let me tell you that stuff is STRONG. The seat broke before the Velcro would give.
So, kiddo sat up front and I ended up all the way rear so that I had something to lean against. This turned out to not affect the trim of the boat at all as far as I could tell and left us plenty of space so we would not be near bumping paddles if we wanted to both paddle. But my kid still thinks she's 5 so I got to paddle her all over today. I am so out of paddling shape that I may not be able to get out of bed tomorrow.
We had a good time and the boat was everything I expected. I'm 250 right now and my kid is about 130 but I think our draft was minimal.
I have not paddled it solo yet but here is my assessment so far:
Stability - Second to none. I can stand up and paddle/pole or she can stand in front and cast. No worries at all here.
Speed - Well, did I mention I'm out of paddling shape? Paddling for two is not easy but we were not in a hurry. I would not plan a distance paddle in this boat but if she had been paddling, perhaps I would think differently. Time shall tell.
Turning/tracking - Obviously this type of hull lends to straight tracking but it turned more easily than I expected. We were not fighting strong winds today but for now I have no plans to add a rudder.
I paddled with both double and single blade. My preference was with single in a kneeling position. I will work on a better seating arrangement that gets me up higher so I don't bang my knuckles when using the double blade. All in all I am very happy with the boat and looking forward to some solo marsh fishing where I can stand and cast at will!