Kayak Love

[ysu]

"A bit" is putting in mildly. But it's not too bad. I went and tried the Stellar SR before buying this (that's one level up) and went swimming...and even that is only an intermediate ski. This one is the entry level, and a lot more stable But when you sit on it, there's no feeling of stability, hehe.

[smithcorp]

Yep, i used to paddle K1s - knowing how to do brace strokes is essential. And the difference with position in a tippy ski or kayak compared with a sea kayak or similar, keeping knees together rather than apart. So much easier to paddle though.

[ysu]

K1's, now that's nice! Were you racing, too?

[smithcorp]

K1's, now that's nice! Were you racing, too?

I had a lovely timber K1 from Denmark. I was never competitive in it, but it was a pleasure to paddle. I'll see if I can find any old photos of it. Pre digital...

I raced in the marathon series in the 80s in K1, TK1, TK2 and C2.

https://paddlensw.org.au/paddlesports/marathon

Not sure if the results from then are digitised but in mixed TK2 my paddling partner and I represented NSW at the Australian champs on the gold coast (can't remember the year).

It was a great sport and events were all around the state on rivers and lakes, lots of different conditions.

For me the gloss went off when I got hypothermia after getting blown out of my K1 on Lake Keepit. The water was very cold (there had been a snow melt and when we launched it was through a carpet of small fish that had been killed by the temperature change) and there was a 30 knot wind.

I got blown into some drowned trees, couldn't get back in the boat and was only wearing bike knicks and a singlet. It was warmer in the water out of the wind and I was pretty far gone when the rescue boat got to me (lots of people ended up in the drink and I was shivering away for what must have been hours. After a while I stopped shivering and just felt warm). Went into more comfortable boats after that.

I didn't use to wear a pdf when I was racing. I always wore one after that.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[ysu]

That's properly scary, mate. Sounds like you were lucky they picked you up in time.
Congrats on the achievements!

I'm just happily putting away on the creek & lake here, no plans for sea nor cold climate.