When I moved from New Bern to Wilmington a few months ago, I brought with me a sleek, long, narrow ocean-going kayak named a Nigel Dennis Romney Excel, made in England. It was used, extensively renovated and sold to me by my good friend Bill Webb. It is 16 1/2 feet long and 23 inches wide. Janet likes to paddle as much as I do, and often initiates the trips. She has a Perception fishing kayak which is short, wide, slow and not good tracking.
When we paddled together, I would take two strokes and glide 15 feet. She would take five strokes and fall behind. I made it my goal to get her a higher class, seagoing kayak like mine. But it would have the trade-offs of being narrower and more tippy. Janet did not warm up to that idea well, because she had never fallen out of her kayak, and she sternly wanted to keep it that way.
It took several months of me wheedling and debating to get her to agree to me buying her a sea kayak. We bought from Bill Webb a new Wilderness Systems Tsunami 135 Pro, which Is 13 1/2 feet long and 23 inches wide, which is about a foot narrower than her Perception and my canoe. This boat is considered to be at the small end of sea-going kayaks. After several more months of Bill’s work outfitting and renovations, including giving Janet a very plush and comfy seat, we took delivery a few days ago.
Janet and I were both nervous about how she would fare with the sleek boat. Over the last few months, Janet made several comments throwing cold water on using the boat. She wanted to know my plans to sell the boat if she did not like it. My concern was that she would capsize several times quickly, get frustrated, get mad and not want to use the boat again.
But after we took delivery, she became more excited about paddling, so we planned a trip that day to Smith Creek park, which has a small lake and a convenient dock with a boat ramp. We made detailed plans for me to be standing about thigh-deep in the water while she was paddling. I was supposed to stay close enough to keep a hand on her arm or deck safety line.
With considerable enthusiasm, Janet helped me get the boat afloat in a few inches of water. When she got into the boat, which is a somewhat technical, multi-step process, I changed our plans and did not hold her arm or the boat She methodically eased into the boat with no trouble. I expected her to paddle around me in a little circle and not get more than about 10 feet away. After a few minutes of circling, and doing a few low and high braces, she surprised me by pointing the bow towards the other end of the lake about three-quarters of a mile away and started paddling. As she moved there was no boat wobbling, no errant paddle splashes and no hesitancy. Just smooth, strong progress across the lake.
After a while she returned and said she was doing fine and really liked the boat. I asked her if she was ready to get out and head home, and she said “no.” Instead, she pointed the bow to the other end of the lake and took off again. This time she went out of sight several times behind some stretches of land surrounding some small coves. When she returned again, she expressed no problem with balance or any other insecurity. She was tired enough to head home, but wanted to go paddling again soon.
So, three days later on May 16 we went back to Smith Creek Park lake and this time she paddled the full circumference of the lake, going around the outside and into and out of all the coves. I estimate it was about 2 miles. This trip may not sound like a large escapade, but I remember my first half a dozen paddles in my Romney Excel being paranoid and feeling unbalanced the whole time. I needed about six trips under my belt before I felt confident that I could stay in the boat without capsizing.
I have learned from experience in my later paddles this past winter and spring that these low-slung, narrow boats actually do better in difficult conditions, like wind, waves, currents and tides. The next step in Janet's development will be to try some of these stronger conditions sometime soon.
