Answer: Reggae... Initial thoughts on the Dagger Green Boat

After much soul searching, my answer was reggae.  I am referencing one of my blog posts from February 5th, 2014 in which I was trying to decide between getting a Dagger Green Boat or a Liquid Logic Stinger.  They are both creek boats built for racing, but I had equated the more slalom-like look of the Stinger to techno while the fatter ends of the Green Boat made me think of reggae. 

So I pick up my shiny new red Green Boat (yes, it's a red Green Boat, it has a personality conflict) in Santa Fe on my way to ski Taos for a long weekend and an hour after I unwrapped the plastic I was making sure it floated on the Racecourse of the Rio Grande.  For the next three days it was getting snowed on atop my car up at the Taos Ski Valley.  I always wonder what all the other skiers think when they see a kayak way up at the mountain....  At any rate, since then I have gotten the outfitting dialed in and I've taken her down many runs of the Arkansas from Pine Creek and the Numbers to the Royal Gorge.

I know that this boat has been out there for some years now and there have been many excellent reviews written about it by paddlers with way more challenging river miles than I have been able to see it on yet.  Here are my thoughts all the same.  Maybe you will find something insightful.

First impressions... She is fast out of gate!  So much so that, being used to a regular creek boat, I kept overshooting my mark when making a cut across current.  One or two paddle strokes combined with the tracking provided by the extra length and you'll accelerate pretty much right where you are pointing.  However, I noticed that a sustained cruising top speed across calm water, while way faster than a regular creeker, is not quite as fast as I had expected.  One reason for this of course is that the design is more similar to a stretched creek boat as opposed to that of a sprinter.  Also, there is no drop skeg which would help with tracking.  Some people are into that for river-tripping.

Down river handling...  A good way to describe the real handling difference between the Green Boat and a regular creeker is that a shorter boat will run a drop, say "That was fun!  What next?" and then kind of be ready for whichever new direction you wanted to go.  The GB will fly through the drop, then wants to keep accelerating straight into the bank on the other side.  As the paddler, you must be ready for this.  But that's what I love about it, because once you expect it, you can compensate and use it to your advantage.  Similarly with boofing.  The GB, while pretty flat in the middle, has big well rockered ends and does a surprisingly good job of getting on top of and sailing over rocks.  It does this so well that the boof into eddy turn is really quite difficult as the boat seems inclined to land back out on the eddyline and continue down stream.

Speaking of eddy turns, I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised when I had to go back to the basics of the old school long-boat turn.  First off, know that there are edges, they are just kind of soft and high so you have to really heal the boat over to go searching for them.  Personally, I like soft edges on a creek boat as it makes for softer landings and a more stable ride when bumping over rocks.  That being said, the GB will really sail into an eddy and carry it's speed back up stream.  In tighter situations, being ready with a good backstroke to arrest that momentum and aid in the turn becomes a necessity.

Another tip to success with this long boat would be to really use pressure through your feet on the bulkhead for control.  While that's a good thing to remember all the time, the GB seems to be particularly more responsive when this is remembered.

Thoughts on fit and outfitting...  No, Dagger is not paying me to write this, but I love their system.  The 2014 outfitting is highly adjustable very secure.  It's a snap to move the seat forward or back and all the included foam shims for the bulkhead, hip pads, and under the seat make it so you can dial in the fit without ever shaving foam or breathing glue fumes.  I even like the ratcheted front seat riser to help snug up the legs.  Some people say that it's flimsy, but it's not made to be load-bearing, just as a support.  Plus, I find it is nice to be able to adjust that feature though out the day to help with leg cramping.  As for the fit, I'm 5''10, 140 lbs, 31" inseam and this boat fits like a glove; probably the most comfortable "out of the box" fit ever.  To that end though, I did move the seat forward a little bit along with the thigh braces, which are actually the one piece of the outfitting that I wasn't super impressed with.  While they are comfortable, the part of the brace that attaches to the kayak looks like it hasn't been updated in years.  I bet they could shave some weight there and make it easier to line up the little screw holes.

Often the actual shape of the kayak itself gets over looked when people think of fit.  The GB is narrow, but it's length gives it stability.  This also allows it to roll incredibly fast and easily.  And that narrowness plays into the fit as well; as with my Pyranha Shiva, the front deck is not as high and wide as many other modern creekers.  I find that not being as big and tall as most other kayakers out there I quite appreciate the comfort of the lower and narrower front deck.  If the cockpit is too large I know that I'll never get the fit just right.

In the end, the Green Boat is making me a better paddler and making me return to some of my river running basics.  She demands to be driven or she'll take you for a ride. 

Escalante Creek (4/21-22/14) Trip Report

A reproduction of my journal entry from 4/21/14:

Monday, 21 April 2014 ~ 1845

I should have gone...

As I write this I am sitting on a BLM park table near the takeout for the Lower Gorge of Escalante Creek.  Sensing my opportunity finally at hand, I left not as early as I had hoped from Salida this morning and made the mad-dash west.  There is no gauge on this little creek, so the catching of it always has to be a mission.  The drive to here along the Gunnison is just gorgeous and this remote canyon is like a small slice of Utah and the Canyonlands.

'57 Chevy

So I get here by 1300 or so and the guy I knew would be here from the Buzz had already put on 45 prior, according to is friend who had run shuttle and was hanging around the takout.  So heck, I missed my possible run.  I explored around.  Took some photos and actually saw Josh and his two friends come through '57 Chevy.

It sure looked low, but it went.  Then later, after they all had changed, this other solo kayaker (Tyler) just appeared out of nowhere and walked up.  He had just taken out above the Lower Gorge and was contemplating running it... which he did eventually....

Tyler entering the Lower Gorge

I should have run it with him.  Instead, I opted to watch because at the time I felt the need to warm up on the Upper Section before just hopping in the mank of it; but then, of course I watch this fellow run down and I immediately regretted that decision.

That is certainly not a decision or feeling I enjoy and I do not want ever to live my life that way.

Now, after walking down to the water for a bit and taking some photos, I do feel a bit better about not boating at all.  I know it's good to listen to that cautious instinct, but I must remember to keep it in check!  Now I am even more psyched on having a solid run tomorrow.  And if Wednesday is even better, I can still stay the extra night...

~ end of entry ~

And the next day did indeed see a glorious run.  In the end there were four of us and we managed to get a fairly early start.  As it turns out, the fellow who showed up Tuesday morning and I had actually run Browns Canyon of the Arkansas many many year earlier.  He was a bit older and I and certainly put my memory to shame!

Looking into the Lower Gorge with Esca Falls

I wish it ran more often because Escalante Creek is really one of my favorite runs ever.  It has a pool drop character as the larger rapids are distinct, but between them is a lot of Class III & IV fun.  On this day we guess that the flow was about 300 or 400 cfs or so... That's kind of on the low side of medium, but I have no qualms with getting friendly with rocks.  Unless you're running with someone who knows the creek, my advice would be to scout every drop you can not see.  It isn't that the lines are particularly difficult, but many drops consist of picking the correct kayak wide slot and having the correct angle when you leave the lip.  If not, you're staring at a very steep piton situation.

On this day we did not run the main Escalante waterfall.  It is broken jumble of a falls and would need a bit more water to feel at all clean.  That is personal preference.  It was run that day by another group, but the line was very manky and could have gone very wrong.

The Lower Gorge consists of the Teacups, '57 Chevy, Escalante Falls, S Turn, and Magnetic Wall.  The Teacups and S Turn are pretty straight forward.  '57 Chevy is fun as you drive up and over the pillow above a rock fin that makes the drop and in doing so get surprisingly close to the wall.  Then lastly is Magnetic Wall.  It is basically a drop leading into a boil on river right that you charge into and then manage to not get pushed hard against the left well immediately thereafter.  Super fun stuff.

In the end, the only run I got in was this one on Tuesday.  There was weather coming in that evening and temps were dropping.  So was the creek.


Thanks to everyone who became a part of this adventure.  I can't wait to try and get back next weekend!

The author in the Lower Gorge.  Thanks to Brian Bank for this great photo!

Techno or Reggae?

It is amazing how distracting life can be.

I haven't written anything here since last summer!  Here it is in the mountains of Colorado.  It has been snowing like like mad just lately and more is on it's way.  Last I heard the drainage area for the Upper Arkansas River is at something like 114% snow pack.  I have been skiing the last two days on some great snow and will back up there tomorrow too... and yet all I can think about is kayaking.

I am obsessing over gear and boats.  Should I get a new Astral Green Jacket, or roll on with the one I have for another season?  How about a new boat?  Right now I'm on the fence about if I will get a Liquid Logic Stinger or a Dagger Green Boat.  They are both built for creek racing, but do I get one that's more techie, and faster... or do I go with a boat that's still a racer, but more of a go-anywhere racer?  Techno or Reggae?

Another problem I struggle with is fit.  I am not large: 145 with all my gear, skinny, 32" inseam.  I have noticed that Liquid Logic kayaks that are appropriate for my overall size and weight are way too roomy in the knees with too high sidewalls.  I have also heard that as it compares to the Remix 79 (the large one), the Stinger's cockpit area is a bit taller, but much more narrow.  So it remains to be seen if that means I will be swimming in it or not. 

Any readers with experience here who want to chime in are welcome!

In the Field Plastic Welding

"So what we're going to do is, we're going to take some sticks.... and light them on fire."

And that we did, though not in exactly the way I had initially conceived.  But I'm getting ahead of myself...

Crack!

Just recently, the Spice and I were on a 5 day Salt river trip in Arizona when, on day one, I hit a not very large rock in not very fast current which punched a fist sized hole through the hull just where my heels rest. I've seen plenty of straight line cracks, but this is a full half moon shape that literally flaps open.  If a kayak could be said to have a serious avulsion, this would be it.

"I have some terrible news..."

Fortunately, the only other person on the trip, my better half (let me tell you, a great way to spend 5 days on the water) was rowing a 14 foot gear boat, so my broken kayak and I had a ride... But, it was day one and I still had yet to run the big fun rapids that lasted for the next two days!

Elisha going to town!

Cue the flaming sticks!  Going off some vague notion that to me had always been some kind of kayaker's urban legend, we set about to patch my boat at camp.  To forage for plastic bits, Elisha and I cut strips off of the inside of the cockpit rim.  She proved much more adept at this task than I... personally, I think Elisha (an admitted lifetime rafter) found some joy in hacking away at a plastic boat... but I digress.

About an hour later we had a small pile of plastic cork-screws and a few larger candlesticks.  To our amazement, the plastic sticks could be lit on fire and drip like ptex.  After applying a good layer to both the inside and outside, I let the thing cool and went back to enjoying my beer and the multitudes of brilliant starts over our heads.

A plastic candle

Fantastically, the patched boat did not sink right away the next day.  I was thrilled to be able to paddle my own boat down my first time in the Salt River canyon!

However, even though I was being a gentle with her as I could, the inevitable little rock bounces and stresses on the plastic from just negotiating wave trains eventually began to reopen the wound.  By lunch, I was slowly sinking again.  Fortunately, we were taking 4 nights to go 50 miles and so could stop relatively early for the next camp.

At Camp Two, this process was repeated.  The next day saw the same results, but with more whitewater, I began sinking quite a bit earlier in the day.  For days 4 and 5, I was happy to take the oars for a while and spend more time on the raft with my best friend, and my camera.

All and all, this made for a rather fun project at camp and only added to the wonderful experience that was the Salt River of 2013.  I did learn some things though:  next time, I would try harder to heat the area around the crack so the area would be more pliable and could form a more integrated weld.

So yes, it can be done!  I'm sure that if this crack had been a normal little straight-line crack, this patch would have been much more effective.  But hey... she got me through.

In the Springtime of our Stress

Spring time is a stressful time in the mountains of Colorado.

We wait all winter, just skiing to pass the time, then we wait a bit more for the waters to start flowing.  Then everything runs... several all at once.

I have spent hours upon hours studying gauges and books, stressing myself out.  Obsessing over every cfs fluctuation, imagining rivulets of melting snow flowing together, getting held up behind some fallen wood until rushing forth once again.  I feel I'm almost willing it to flow to where we can float in the new waters.

Then there is the coordinating.  Calling, texting, messaging via any of half a dozen social media sites.  Waiting to hear back.  Trying to rally a crew that's scattered over many hundreds of miles of Colorado.  What to paddle?  When? Who with?  Who has what kind of a car for a shuttle?  Do I need to have the dogs looked after while I go camp for a weekend, or can they come with me?

We all know it won't last for long once it starts.  Even sooner, at least for me, work will start up in earnest once the commercial rafting starts up on the Ark and I won't have the luxury of taking off any three of the best days.

Yesterday I was hiking low water laps on the Pine Creek rapid, now today it's snowing.

Spring is stressful in the mountains Colorado....

More Thoughts on Paddle Wrap

Never happy with most factory specks, I am forever playing with additions and small modifications to my kayaking gear.  My latest obsession has been paddle grips and wraps.

Last year I wrote about my experiment using bike handlebar wrap on my AT2 paddle.  Since then I have been very happy with how that has performed; it has proven to be more robust than I had first expected and it hasn't gotten slicker or degraded with oils from my hands.  The complaints that I have with it is that it's the more expensive option (though only at about $15) and that I ended up adding too much bulk to the grip.  There are some slimmer handlebar tapes that I found out there, but they are much more of an open weave (a lot like medical tape) and so would absorb and retain water.  At any rate, this wrap is still on my AT2 and going strong and I plan on leaving it on until it needs to be replaced.

Electrical tape looks nice.

In the meantime, I just got myself a shiny new paddle!  I had entirely too much free time over the winter to day dream about paddles and ended up wanting something longer for creeking and river running than the 188 I have been using for years.  So... I jumped with both feet (hands?) into a Werner Sho-Gun, straight shaft, 197.  I have used it only a couple of times, so I'll write a review of my feelings on transitioning from years with a bent shaft to the longer straight shaft after I take it down a few more runs.  Even still, with it all new, I felt like experimenting with some kind of grip wrap. 

Electrical tape wrap

The hard, cold carbon just didn't feel right in my hands.  First I tried using just electrical tape.  While I thought that looked really nice and clean, and it did give me a little bit of added texture,  it just didn't give me as much of a substantive change as I was looking for.  It was still hard and cold and not particularly "grippy."

Tennis racket wrap

Pondering on sports tape, I finally landed on tennis racket tape.  I found this to actually be pretty neat stuff.  It's not as bulky or squishy as the bike handlebar wrap, and it is actually tackier than I had expected to find.  I would say the texture has that "sticky rubber" feel.  It's not sticky on the inside, but when you wrap it tight and overlap the tape it kind of sticks to itself.  The only end I had to tape down was the tale end as I could overlap the start.  I used standard duct tape and wasn't really able to get it to lay flat from the tape to the shaft, but that's not a huge issue.  My only worry is that it isn't cut as long as I had hoped and so it didn't span very much distance on the paddle shaft... about the length of t a tennis racket handle... go figure.

One advantage to this option is that it will be easy to take off if I change my mind and it only cost about $4 after tax for a packet of three.

Happy experimenting!

Sweet Protection Rocker HC Helmet

It had been a few years in the coming, but I finally acquired for myself a new helmet.  This is the twofold problem that I have: that CKS is my local kayak shop and that I work one door down the street.

So I caught them on a day when they were holding an end of summer sale, and thought what the hell, I'll go all in and came out with a new Sweet Rocker HC.  While I don't have any other Sweet helmet experience to compare it to I haven't been disappointed.

Sweet Rocker HC

Two main impressions on this item: it's massive and it's quite possibly the most comfortable out-of-box helmet I've ever tried on my head.  The bulk comes from the fact that this helmet is constructed around a hard compressed foam body not unlike a bike helmet, then layered with a full coverage Kevlar shell, and then that is covered by a durable hard plastic shell coating.  From all that' I've read, this is generally considered to be one of the most protective pieces of head gear on the market, but it's not small.  My perspective is probably a bit skewed being as the helmet I had been wearing for about five years was just a Kevlar shell with a little bit of foam padding on the inside, so quite the change.  The coverage over the brow, temples, and occiput is all cut quite low too, adding to the fact that there is just a lot of very useful material on your head.  I also keep attached the removable sun vizor which definitely increases the relative size of what is attached to your head.  It's pretty smart though in that it's easy to adjust up or down so as not to interfere too much with your view.  It has taken me a while to get used to it so I stopped banging it with my forearm when going for a bow draw.

As for a word on fit... as I mentioned this one was very comfortable straight out of the box.  That being said, I still had to get creative with some foam pads to get it perfect.  I don't think any helmet will ever be a perfect fit without some customization.  Sweet was quite generous with the handily cut peel and stick foam pads.  All I had to do was meticulously test the position of each one to build out a pattern and it was a done deal.  Now it feels uniformly snug and I can bend over to touch my toes without it strapped on my head and it actually stays in place.

The sizing, though, was initially the most curious thing...  When trying them on in the store, the Medium was way too small.  Mostly it was too narrow.  Then the Large is almost too large for me.  I have it fitting very well, but still I had to use most of the foam that came with it and generally have to keep the adjustment system that goes across the back cranked down nearly as tight as it will go... not all the way, but almost.  The one system of the helmet that I find overly complex is the chin strap.  It's a double slider type of system that is very secure, but next to impossible to adjust while it's being worn.

Another nice feature is that with all the extra coverage, this helmet is actually quite warm.  It even came with insulated ear guards that can be snapped into place.  I haven't needed them yet, but I expect I will be breaking them out now that winter boating is upon us.

This helmet comes in a Full Face version as well.  I seriously considered getting it like this, but I couldn't reconcile myself with having the extra bulk around my face all the time just for the relatively few situations when I think it's actually warranted.  That being said, on one of my first runs out with my shiny new head gear, I was yards a away from another paddler when she did a most impressive face grind on a rock at the end of Trashcan in Bailey.  Thankfully, she DID have the full face version of this helmet and definitely saved her chin and a few teeth.

The Rocker HC is not the cheapest helmet on the market to be sure, but I don't think the protection of my head is where I want to cut any corners.  This helmet is large and in charge and is probably not for everyone.  Honestly, if you are sticking to Class III (for example), I think this particular helmet would be overkill and you would find it hot and bulky... But for steeper water, I really wouldn't want to be wearing anything else.

Just for grins, here's a shot of me looking like a total goof... but there's the helmet.

And yeah, I still keep it in the nifty carrying bag that it came in...

Shiva End of Season Review

Tragically low water aside in my part of the Great State of Colorado, this has been a pretty good kayaking year for a few of us here.  For 2012 I have a record of at least 818 river miles (thus far!), probably about 750 of which were from the seat of my Pyranha Shiva.

Back in  April I wrote a review of my then new to me Medium Shiva.  Naturally, I had only had it out a hand full of times then... so a followup is due.

My end of season verdict: I am still enamored with this boat.  Like anything however, there are some characteristics that I have given me some trouble.

Speed

Long Nose

Pro:  The Shiva is fast!  At 8'6", give her two or three strokes, the bow raises up a tad and you can be at top speed, which is not a bad clip.  Also, the front is very tapered making it easy to get good vertical strokes without feeling like you're reaching around the boat.  For a comparison, I was running the Baily section of the North Fork of the South Platte one day when the fellow I was paddling with commented that I was outpacing his Stomper by a fair margin.  He was counting that we were taking the same number of strokes while in the Class II paddle out.  Personally, I usually really appreciate a fast boat.  I find it really helps when negotiating larger rapids, or when accelerating to punch that hole or to square up to a boof.  Basically, there are lots of situations when I think speed will keep you out of trouble.

Con:  The Shiva is fast!  There have been a few instances when I have overshot my approach to a boof or some such and ended up biting off too much rock.  This usually just leads to a bunch of ungraceful floundering.  I'll fully admit, though, that this is really more paddler error than any issue with the boat.

Stability

Extra Volume Stern

Pro:  There's a lot of it.  The Shiva is built around a subtle Suede design which puts its widest point around the back of the cockpit.  It is this feature, I feel, that most contributes to the boat's stability, especially when it is moving through the water.  Also, the back deck is very high volume and nicely rounded with quite high side walls giving the Shiva excellent secondary stability.  The front deck is pitched too allowing for a quick and predictable resurface after a drop or through a hole.  At 80 gallons, there's enough volume to keep you happily on the surface.

The Author in Middle Tampax on Bailey

Con:  Until you get used to it, primary stability is rather touchy.  The Shiva does an excellent job of being able to switch from edge to edge when, say, flying off the back side of a rock boof... but I suspect this would make it feel initially less stable if you're not one who feels comfortable being in a kayak.



  Edge Control & Maneuverability

Pro:  For technically a displacement hull boat, the Shiva has fairly well defined edge control.  The edge on the Shiva is nothing like the edge on a Burn, but it's there.  The edges are placed kind of high up on the hull curvature, so there is still a rounded underside to make for generally softer landings.  Also, the rolled edges make it very predictable and stable when bouncing over rocks.  Don't let the softer chines fool you, this boat still whips into micro eddies like a champ.

Launch Pad right under the Seat.

As for overall maneuverability, I think an important aspect is a boat's rocker.  The Shiva has what I've always called a progressive rocker.  When sitting on the living room floor, the stern of the boat is off the carpet starting at the back of the seat, and the front of the boat rises off somewhere around the knees.  For me, this seems to make it handle as if it was shorter than it actually is.  The center of the boat makes for a nice spin disc and launch pad.  You can see exactly where that pad is by the abrasion pattern.  This progressive rocker also allows the bow to easily ride up, helping the boat maintain its stance on top of the water.  Combined with the high tapering around the nose, the front half of the boat tends to ride up and out over the water when you hit a rock, as opposed to being deflected to the side.  Result: auto-boof.

Fat Bob Styles the Lower Drop of Tampax

Con:  It is essentially a displacement hull and not a planing hull.  There are pros and cons to both to be sure; for me, when creeking I'd rather a displacement hull, it's softer over rocks and on landings.  However, I have noticed that the displacement hull does not do as well in big water.  Even with the Shiva's moderate chines, getting the boat to hold a solid line in big pushy water has been my biggest challenge. Plus, it wants to be heeled far over to the side to get an edge to fully engage.



Outfitting

Pro:  Pyranha has their Connect 30 outfitting in this boat.  There is an updated outfitting that can come in the later 2012 models, but I haven't played with that yet.  I like it, not everyone does, but I do.  It's simple, comfortable, and easy to work with.  What I really appreciate about how this outfitting works with this boat is that I don't feel like the front deck is too massive and in my way and my knees don't feel too splayed out.  Honestly, one of my chief complaints about the Liquidlogic creekers is that my knees feel way to wide for comfort. For storage in the ckockpit area, the water bottle is held vertically against the front column by a shock cord.  Between that and the seat there is a handy area on top of the rail to hold a throw bag, but I had to add a simple webbing and clip around that rail to clip it in.  I have written anther post about my outfitting additions and what I came up with to secure my Watershed camera bag.

Knee Brace

Lateral Knee Stability

Con:  Like any boat, at lest for me, a decent amount of work has to go into the outfitting to get it really dialed in.  It always feels more comfortable to me to raise my seat, and the Shiva has been no exception.  The NRS Hot Seat is peal and stick and had been every comfortable, raising the seat by about an inch.  Usually, I prefer to move my seat forward, but that hasn't been the case here.  It has felt great to me in its factory neutral position.  The most amount of work I have had to put into the outfitting has been for my knees.  The Connect 30 knee braces are just that, braces... not full wrap around knee cups.... so I had to make my own.  I had to cut foam blocks into scoops and glue them to the hull to the outside of the knee brace.  Now it holds my knee from both sides, but I definitely had to put in the work.  Another troubling observation here: the ratchet for the back band connects to the knee braces and puts more torquing stress on that plastic than I would like to see when the back band is really loaded.  In fact, I've seen this piece fail after some heavy use and the whole knee brace had to be replaced.

Conclusion

In summation I really like the Shiva and fully expect to get another one when or if I ever wear this one out.  It's fast, stable, predictable, rolls easily and is highly responsive.  I have no issue with staying in this boat all day and I can scramble in and out quickly.  For big water situations I might like to have a bit more of the chine, but for steep creeks or shallower environments it's a machine.  The stern is high volume and easily accessible; I can easily get a full drybag, med kit, pin kit, and breakdown paddle without really noticing a change in the handling characteristics.  Fair warning, this boat is rather heavy.  It is constructed with a double thick hull and really it's just a lot of plastic and boat.  At 48 pounds, plus all your gear, it can feel like a lot to lug around on the steeper hikes to be sure.... But on water it's a tank!

 

So yeah, I'm a proud member of Team Shiva.

I Love Photography

It's true, I do love photography,  It's such a wonderful excuse to go slow and really take in what's around you... especially when floating down a river.

SO..... I have just made another blog (yes, I know) that is my new gallery.  To avoid confusion, it's called RiverVibe Photography.  I will be updating it often with new work, so please take a look and tell me what you think.

Yay Photography!  Thanks!

Dagger Crossfire is New to Me!

I think I have a problem....  This low water year in Colorado has inspired me to get yet another kayak

 Early this spring I got my hands on a shiny new Pyranha Shiva creeker and have absolutely loved dialing it in, but the rocks have been so high this year that I've been very troubled by how much nice new plastic I've had to leave behind.  So I got it into my head to find an old creek or downriver boat that was long and old-school and made the winter Numbers and Pine Creek a little more challenging.  Well, last week I found it!  The Dagger Crossfire is a 1991 design, 11 feet long,  66 gallons, and a radical design in its day.

In the past week I've only been able to get it into the water once in the Salida town river park.  I can tell already that this boat is stable and accelerates like a dream.  If it was a little bit more rockered and had little higher deck, it would be a fantastic creek racer.  This week provided a beautiful evening with kids and dogs playing in the water and trees in the height of their Fall turning. 

I feel as though I really lucked out with the condition that this boat is still in, even the outfitting was in great shape.  That said, it did need a little work... screws needed tightening, hip-pads needed installing, and a backrest needed to be created.  It was the backrest that needed the most work and turned into quite the little artistic system made out of minicell foam!  I had wanted to keep whatever I came up with to be generally in keeping with the period of the kayak and I looked to the old Perception foam block for inspiration.

Backrest System

Here's what I came up with:

What I'm really happy with is that it is adjustable.  The wedge (resting between the stern center column and the backrest block) can be positioned up or down, thus moving the whole block forward or back.  Holding it all together is a simple strap of flat webbing and a buckle.  The webbing runs from one gear loop that is part of the outfitting forward though the block by a slit, across the front of the block to the other side, back through another slit, back through the other gear loop and back over the top of the wedge to buckle back on itself.  The angles that the webbing makes across these interlocking pieces of foam hold them both equally down and back against the stern column.... so... if the backrest block is positioned forward or back, the tension on the webbing will always equalize, thus holding the whole thing at the desired setting.  It might sound confusing, but a picture is worth a thousand words....

Far back (loose) position

Far forward (tight) position

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to spending a lot of time in this classic kayak for years to come.

Watershed Drybag System

Lots of people take cameras in their kayaks down river and so I know I'm not the first to come up with their own little system for keeping it all together and dry, but I quite like what I have working now.  It's simple and secure.

Equal to the camera itself, the most important element is my lovely red Watershed Ocoee Drybag.  In my opinion, Watershed is by far the best drybag on the market.  It's zip-lock style closure and rugged construction make it one of the only products I would trust to keep my camera or laptop dry.  Also, the Ocoee is the smallest bag they make which when closed, rolled, and clipped shut makes a tube shape that fits just perfectly between my legs in my kayak.  Recently, I invested in an upgrade to this bag when I got the newly re-deigned padded liner.  Another bag in itself, this liner is made to fit whichever size of Watershed you have and can be removed and zippered closed if you wished to use it that way, but in truth, it fits so perfectly into it's waterproof home that it takes some effort to get it in and out.

Padded liner with camera, 2 lenses, large and small microfiber towel, pouch for extra battery and film, etc.

Gear loop through center column

But those are all other people's great ideas that I'm just using.  What really dialed my system in for me was how I devised to secure it into my Shiva creek boat.  Like most modern creekers, the Shiva has a plastic center column just afore the cockpit rim to which a water bottle can be affixed by a bungee.  This bungee cord is kept in place by passing through a little hole made into the center column.  I realized that there was just enough room to pass a small bit of cordage through this hole as well... in fact, it's the perfect size to just accommodate the type of cord I used to make my typical Prussic Loops and indeed, that is what I tied to create a gear loop.  Using a locking carabiner of course, I can now secure the drybag to this loop using any one of it's six built in attachment points.  I prefer to use one on the end as this fits better between my legs.  And the best parts are that the water bottle still has it's home (inside the gear loop) and I made the loop just long enough so that the bag can be flipped out onto the front deck, making it much easier to get in and out of the boat without unclipping and removing the bag! 

Bag can flip up and rest on deck without being unclipped.

Ocoee Watershed fits perfectly and comfortably in the creek boat!

Ta-Da!  A simple, secure and safe system for keeping my gear in my boat.  Should my boat and I ever go on our own unexpected whitewater adventures the gear loop is long enough to let the bag safely swing out of the way as I swim past and yet the loop is small enough that there is nothing on which I could get caught on my way out... though I hope I hope I don't end up using this safety feature anytime soon!

GearHeads Unite!

Back in April I read an interesting article from the Matador Notebook about the gear that technical photographers and film makers take with them into the field.  It's true, even if you're not a professional film maker, you still end up spending a good deal of time thinking about what gear you want with you.  Your gear is like you support system, especially when we venture out to explore the planet in a kayak.  No matter how fantastic your companions are... what makes or breaks your day really comes down to you and your equipment.  At least... I obsess about it...

Paddle Wrap

Something I have struggled with from time to time is what to do with my hands on my paddle.  Specifically what, if anything, to do about modifying the grip.

The paddle that I have used for a long time is the AT2.  I love this paddle and have no real complaints about it, but sometimes my hands would slip at inopportune times.  I have tried the paddle wax, but never really liked how it felt on my hands.  Also, I was never keen on having to re-apply.  Earlier this summer I wrapped the grips of one of my paddles with medical tape.  This I found to be a huge improvement.  The texture really addressed the grip problem, but in the end I wasn't as happy as I knew I could be.  For one, the medical tape hasn't proving to be as resilient as I had hoped; and for another, the cloth tape absorbed water and actually made my hands colder in the wind.

So I went all in and conducted  a $16 experiment: bike handlebar wrap.  I walked down to Subculture Cyclery, one of the local bike shops here in Salida.  They have a really neat new building by the way, and they are all super nice and helpful.  After some minutes fondling every variety of wrap they had on offer, I finally went with the Deda Elementi brand tape.  I like it because it' is nonabsorbent and has a nice high grip rubbery like texture.  At home that night I spent not quite an hour wrapping my grips.  Starting on the blade end, I affixed the wrap with red Duct Tape and coiled it around so the tape overlapped about a third of it's width.  After I wrapped passed the bend in the paddle, I finished it off with another stopper of tape.  If you are wondering, I picked this direction so it would have slightly more texture coming in from the blade as that is how my hands would usually slip.



Consensus so far is that I really dig it!  What I hadn't expected was how much fatter it would make the hold on the paddle.  This threw me off right at first, but very soon I wasn't even noticing the change.  The very next day I took my improved paddle to Gore Canyon to really try it out, I figured I could always take it off if I didn't like it, but on it stayed.  It had been pointed out to me that the bike wrap might get a slippery or slimy texture when wet, but this turns out not to be the case, at least not with this brand.  Also, I took great care to wrap it tightly and evenly and it has so far been rock solid and shows no sign of slippage.

If you want to customize the feel of your paddle, I highly recommend giving this a try.  If, however, you have smaller hands or the paddle feels large in your hands already, I might advise against this alteration.  There probably are some skinnier tapes out there that I would love to learn about.  After a couple weeks of paddling almost every day, I still feel like I have greatly improved my dexterity and control over my paddle.

Molan vs. Vision

Recently, I responded to the thread on the Mountain Buzz about new boats with edge.  The poster described his experience in a Liquid Logic Vision 44.  While sitting on the edge of the river awaiting rafts to come by to photograph, I wrote out a response that I thought was a nice brief summation of my thoughts on the Vision and Pyranha Molan, my last two freestyle boats.  What follows is a lightly edited copy of that response.

Well I like them both, but they are very different. The Molan I feel has a bit tighter control when it's surfing on its hull, and it feels looser across the wave or pile, spins very well... The Vision has more rocker and lower volume ends and so it was for me much more predictable when engaging the bow or stern. The Molan is so bulbous that I find it more challenging to initiate and then it tends to cork out in random directions. When you do nail it, the loop goes huge though. The rocker of the Vision helped with surfing too. 

As far as weight, I'm about 140 and feel almost too light for the Medium Molan. The length is good, but there is a bit too much air down around my feet. On the other hand, it's a very comfortable boat.

When I look at the bow of the new Pyranha Jed, it looks like they were trying to address that overly bulbous bow. 

There is a huge amount of personal preference and style that goes into what you are going to like in a playboat.

I hope this helps!

Immersion Research Klingon Empire Sprayskirt

I stay continually amazed by the advances in materials, R & D, and attention to detail that have become standard in the world of high-end outdoor pursuit gear.

After I got in my Shiva, it became clear that I would need to invest in a new skirt as well.  My favorite IR Suparman skirt just did not fit on the boat's XL cockpit, so I had to resort to using an old BomberGear EZ -Fit that I still had.  This worked well enough, but the stitching was fraying and a couple of holes were getting worse each time I stretched it on the boat.  Then, I was happy I had gone ahead and ordered a new one, because my slide under the MJ rock on the Embudo ripped yet another hole clear through at the rim.

So anyway, after some research I decided on the new IR Klingon Empire.  Originally I had wanted to find a skirt with an implosion bar, but learned that many manufacturers are getting away from this feature. And here's what sold me on the Klingon: (apart from me being an old Treky) the wrapped bungee rand is coated right in the middle with an extra-sticky rubber to really lock onto the cockpit rim.

The Shiva (all three sizes) have a keyhole that measures 93 inches in circumference.  Skirtfit.com is a fantastic resource where you can find almost any boat's cockpit dimensions.  Use that info to dial in your next skirt size.  For IR, that equates to an XL keyhole.

First thing, I tried and succeeded in getting this skirt on the boat dry... a huge improvement and a real time saver in some situations.  I noticed also that it was actually a looser fit than I had expected.  I guess I was used to having to give myself a hernia getting my old skirts on.  On the other hand, I'm more confident I could release it with one hand if I was in a tricky spot.  When it's on though, it is rock solid.  I tried to push it in and pull it from all directions and I never could get the rim to budge.  I am completely confidant in this skirt's ability to stay on the boat.

IR makes both a Klingon, and the new Klingon Empire.  They both include the same principal of the sticky rubber on the rand, but the Empire includes a Kevlar abrasion resistant zone in the front.  The tunnel is very comfortable as well.  The neoprene there somehow seams stretchier than what was used in older skirts.  It makes for a good fit up in my drytop, but it doesn't feel tight.

So far, my new skirt has made it down Brown's Canyon, Pine Creek through Number 5.5, and the Bailey stretch of the N. F. of the South Platte.  I might walk MJ's next time I'm there just for concern of what that rock does to skirts...

Relativity & Undercuts

I had grazed a sieve or an undercut a few times, and felt that inexorable pull toward oblivion, but I had never actually been through an undercut... until... that is, last Saturday on the Rio Embudo.

The weather was chilly and I might not have been paddling my absolute best, but the crew I was with was solid.  We had automatically set safety earlier at Cheese Grater and the same was true for this rapid in question, MJ's Shoulder.  A little bit of history for me and MJ's... this rapid is most often an auto-portage for me.  Not that it is particularly difficult; it's one of those were the fun to hazard ratio is really not working out well in the paddler's favor.  It's short, fast, manky, and the only move to be made is to keep it straight and punch two holes at the bottom.  Compounding the hazard side of the equation is the fact that at the very end there is a wall of rock constricting the channel by half from the right.  The second and final hole is here... and this rock is undercut.  I've run this rapid twice before, each without incident.  One of those times I was chasing a swimmer's boat downstream and looked over to see that I had just missed the portage eddy.

One of the best ways to learn and improve in an endeavor like kayaking is to embrace your own narcissistic tendencies and watch videos of yourself.  A huge thanks to Mike for the footage and to Atom for doing me the huge favor of emailing it to me.  The first thing I noticed was that I was not nearly as aggressive as I needed to be as I came through this rapid.  While I had been on line, I didn't have enough momentum nor forward posture and got completely stopped by the first hole.  My brace pivoted me to the right as I came out of it and right into the undercut wall.

Here is where my memory and what is shown on the video really diverge.  What I remember vividly is my bow slamming into the rock and everything pausing for a split second.  Next the whole 80 gallon boat felt like it was sucked down and under the rock.  I even recall a slurping sound.  I could feel the boat appear to be pushed down along the rock as I was hoping it was going down river.  The rock was scraping along the top of the boat and my elbow pads as I was smashed on my back-deck with my arms raised in a high brace in front of me, trying to keep my face off the rock.  At one point, I think instinctually to preserve my right shoulder, I let go of the paddle with my right hand.

This all happened painfully slowly.  Slowly enough to consider pulling my skirt and swimming.  But then it was suddenly over.  Fortunately I found my paddle again with my right hand and back-deck rolled up and easily made it into the eddy.

In the video though, this whole rock situation only lasted a couple of seconds at best.  And it was only another couple before I rolled up too.

Is time compressing or expanding?  Was I speeding up?  Are there bizarre ripples in the relativistic flow of space-time that exist under undercut rocks in rivers... or just this particular undercut... or how about simply under rocks?  Between rocks?

I just know that I'm thankful that the only damage was the hole torn into my sprayskirt by the underside of that rock.  My elbow got a good hit, and my shoulder has felt a bit strained in the days since, but it's getting better.  Now I can't wait to see how I feel about running her again... eventually.

Kayak Sherpa Backpack System by NRS

Just recently I indulged a whim and bought myself the kayak backpack made by NRS.  I was hoping that this would turn out to be a nifty little bit of gear that I could keep rolled up in a dry bag in my boat, but now I'm not so sure.

I won't get into the mechanics of how it goes on the boat because you can see the whole video at the NRS page.

When I first tried this on in the backyard I was stoked.... but then on the river some issues developed.  First of all, it's heavy and doesn't pack down nearly as small as I had expected.  There is a surplus of heavy, reinforced padding making the back of the contraption.  This seems bulky and unnecessary because the hull of a boat is going to be smooth against your back, so the backpack really shouldn't need extra padding there.  The hip and shoulder harnesses are well padded though, and that's a good thing.  When I tried to pack it in the boat, I really had to work to fold and stuff it into a very reasonably sized dry bag.  It wasn't a very quick operation.

Once rigged, I knew getting a loaded creek boat up on my back was going to be tricky, but it's kind of ridiculous as to how much effort it takes to balance the thing on the nose, hunch down and get it all into position on your back.

After I passed that point without falling down, I was surprised as to how tippy and ungainly it was riding on my back.  Maybe this is because the Shiva has so much rocker, but I always felt like I was being pulled over backward.  I had to bend forward in this overly exaggerated way that really made my lower back hurt.  Also, as it's difficult to put it down and get it back on, there is really no way to rest on the trail. I was able to set the nose down and lean back on it in a rather precarious manner, but that did very little in the way of actual rest.  Tipping was also an issue.  Any little list to the side was cause for concern.

I tried to get the rig as synched down as tight to the boat as I could, but it didn't really seem to help much.
This afternoon I was experimenting with rigging it with the cockpit to my back, hoping that the curvature of the boat would work with me and not against me.  This was not an improvement.  While it was indeed more comfortable, as soon as I walked around it was clear that there was not enough support to stabilize the boat.

So yeah, I'm not hugely impressed.  Rather more work and weight than it is worth.  At least it will work well to walk my play boat across downtown to the river park.