44
votes
Accepted
Are longer kayaks faster than shorter ones?
Executive summary: All else equal, a longer boat will have a greater hull speed. A greater hull speed means less drag and hence greater speed for a given amount of "paddling effort". Hence, longer ...
- 9,648
28
votes
Are longer kayaks faster than shorter ones?
The narrower the beam, the less paddling resistance the boat will have.
For any given weight capacity, the longer boat will have a narrower beam. (The widest part of the boat, where the paddler ...
- 768
27
votes
What is the difference between a Canoe and a Kayak?
The general answer is: A canoe is a boat designed or refitted to be paddled with a one sided paddle, usually while sitting on either a raised bench or one or both of your knees. A kayak is a boat ...
- 1,913
26
votes
Why are we moving in circles with a tandem kayak?
Common paddling problems
Most people are strongly right handed
You'll get more power on your stronger side
It's really common for the weaker hand to slip closer to the blade as a result of wanting to ...
- 8,097
19
votes
Accepted
What safety equipment should I carry for sea-touring by kayak?
Here's what I normally take with me on these trips at the moment. I can
divide them into what's needed before, during and after an incident.
Avoiding trouble
clothing and food (including drink): as ...
- 4,799
18
votes
Volume of cargo area in a kayak
As noah says, there's no useful definition of an "average kayak". Different boats suit different purposes. You can't expect all of these boats to have similar capacity:
(Image from ...
- 4,799
16
votes
Accepted
Kayakers throwing their paddles when running waterfalls
The reasons for doing it include:
not breaking your paddles (this is the main one)
not breaking your face
it is (was) cool
it's fun
The last two are why it's being done in the linked video.
Re: ...
- 1,475
16
votes
Accepted
Can I use a Canoe Paddle with a Kayak?
Yes, but you might want to use a short paddle.
While the difference between a canoe and a kayak in practice is only the seat, and people do swap out kayak seats for canoe saddles in playboats, you'll ...
- 8,097
16
votes
What’s the best thing to wear on your hands when sea kayaking in very cold weather?
The best answer I’ve come up with so far is to combine neoprene paddling gloves such as those sold by NRS with an additional pair of waterproof or semi-waterproof mitten shells designed to be worn ...
- 3,476
16
votes
Why are we moving in circles with a tandem kayak?
Going in circles while in a paddled craft such as a kayak/canoe/raft means that there is more force being applied on one side than the other (this is also how you turn the craft).
If you notice that ...
- 69.4k
15
votes
Are longer kayaks faster than shorter ones?
As a general rule, yes
Consider a boat weighing 20kg, a paddler weighing 80kg.
You're now displacing 100litres of water, the way in which you displace that volume has a lot to do with how easily the ...
- 8,097
14
votes
Accepted
How to lock a kayak
Most solutions require threading one or two long lockable cables through some sort of “holes” in the kayak and onto the fixed rack. The locking cables can be elongated versions of standard bicycle ...
- 4,124
14
votes
What’s the best thing to wear on your hands when sea kayaking in very cold weather?
I haven't been paddling much for several years, but I used to go all winter with simple fleece gloves inside waterproof dishwashing rubber gloves. I tried a half dozen other alternatives, including ...
- 141
13
votes
Accepted
How do choices in design of a paddle-craft influence its handling characteristics?
Ay-yi-yi! This is a very broad question, a true answer to which would probably require a PhD in hydrodynamics or years of relevant engineering expertise. Note that the interplay between these design ...
- 4,242
12
votes
If you are kayaking on a lake when whitecaps start happening, what is the best direction to get off the lake?
Conditions in which you can handle the boat depend on the style of boat and the paddler
The range of what defines a "covered cockpit kayak" includes play boats from under 2 meters to over 5 ...
- 8,097
12
votes
Accepted
Is it likely to be my technique or my muscles that cause my arms and shoulders to ache so soon after I start kayaking?
Short of seeing a video of your technique, here is some general advice.
A very common but poor technique in the forward stroke is where you keep your torso relatively still and repeatedly push and ...
- 4,124
11
votes
Why should the heavier person sit in the back of a tandem kayak?
It's along the lines of @stijn's comment but worse: if the nose digs in, not only do you lose speed, but your control suffers (and not just because many steering strokes require water speed). In even ...
- 26.9k
10
votes
How to make my kayak Eskimo roll reliable in rough water?
Summary:
Develop muscle memory for the basic move through instruction and repetition, develop robustness against external water conditions, and address the internal panic response.
Develop muscle ...
- 3,476
10
votes
Volume of cargo area in a kayak
I think the problem with your question is defining what the "average" sit in kayak is. How do you average across the many types of sit in kayaks while still maintaining meaning to the number....
- 4,073
9
votes
Accepted
"Unsinkable" sit-on-top kayaks
The boat itself is effectively unsinkable, it's a sealed plastic box. The hatches normally have bulkheads separating them from the rest of the boat. If the hatch sections become swamped it's not going ...
- 8,097
9
votes
Accepted
Kayaking with a shotgun
Kayaking with a shotgun isn't an original concept, in fact it seems to be increasingly popular with water fowl hunters:
All you need to do is buy some kayak gun mounts:
As far as transporting your ...
- 53.7k
9
votes
Cargo capacity of a kayak
There's no specific rule for how much cargo a single kayak can take, but there is a general rule that says a two man kayak of a given model has the same cargo capacity as a one man kayak of the same ...
- 8,097
8
votes
Accepted
Where should a person who can't hold a paddle sit in a tandem kayak?
When paddling solo with a passenger, the passenger sits in the bow. Whoever is in control of the kayak should almost always sit in the rear (exceptions being when paddling into a current or into a ...
- 53.7k
8
votes
What’s the best thing to wear on your hands when sea kayaking in very cold weather?
Sometimes known as paddle mitts, pogies are your friends here, you can choose to wear gloves in them as well or not, depending on how cold it's got, but most importantly they allow you full contact ...
- 8,097
8
votes
What can I do to be more visible to other ships’ radar when traveling in a sea kayak?
It looks like radar reflectors will not hurt but they aren't great either. The bigger and higher they are the better, which is easier to do on a sailboat than a sea kayak. According to one study, a ...
- 69.4k
7
votes
How does one steer a two-person kayak?
In response to this: John- it may not be a control issue- it may be that your wife enjoys exercising competency just as you possibly do and if you are always steering then she is relegated to being a ...
7
votes
Are longer kayaks faster than shorter ones?
My understanding is that with any boat the maximum hull speed possible is equal to 1.4 X square root of the waterline length. This is for powered craft but as you are supplying the power it should ...
- 71
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