Life experience enhances you. Opens your mind, expands your horizons, makes you a better person. Well, that’s a possibility anyway. You can also face life’s experiences with through a fixed lens. Old people are not always wiser, well traveled folks are not always open minded. Growth and change go hand in hand. Some fear change and thus stagnate and in the end turn to stone.

Some people can paddle all day and never notice the reflections in the water as anything other than an excuse to put on sunglasses. Some will see rain as a reason to wait, cold as an excuse to stay in.

Some mornings I have to remind myself of these things. It seems silly for sure. To let one side of your brain lecture the other before heading out for the day. The voice of the internal guru asks; “Are you ready to soak in the world today? Can you see past your own reflection? Is your mind open? Are your opinions locked away? Are you going to learn something from someone else? Are you going to see something in a new way? Will you try something different? Are you going to be. . . good?” I pause for a moment before answering my other self. . . “I think so. But on the other hand, my coffee’s cold and I’m feeling a bit stubborn!”

Well, I’ve got to run. I’ve got a class to teach!

So I got a package from Reed Chillcheater. I have to tell you the warm shirt came just in time! But the cool part is the way it’s stitched. When I was in Wales I talked to Chris Reed about how I always got nasty rashes in salt water. (yeah fun conversations lol) Even when I wore “rashies”. Chris explained to me then that the major culprit was the seems. A good rash guard, he told me would be stitched inside-out so the seams don’t rub against your skin. Especially under the arms where I personally get some really nasty rashes. The problem of course is your average paddler doesn’t want shirts that look inside-out. So you can use cloth that causes the least friction, but you still have the nasty seams. Thus “rash guard” is not always “rash guard”.

In Puerto Rico it took me a couple days to remember to turn my shirt inside out. So I started off with a bit of a rash. Even with the fancy anti-friction roll-on. But it was true, after a few days with inside out shirts the rash went away and did not return. Now THAT is good information. Much better than when I did my BCU 4* with duct tape over bloody painful wounds under each arm! Ewww!

Which brings me back to my nice warm shirt. The stitching is of course all on the outside. You can request your Reed gear sewn this way if you have problems with that like I do. Just let them know you want the stitching on the outside. If you do, all the little tags and logos etc will still be on the outside like normal, you’ll just get the reverse stitch and the blessing of paddling miles on end without pain.

Thanks Chris!!

Yesterday I mentioned sort of off-the-cuff those “libertarian types” as a sort of silly way to talk about people who have pretty strong anti-social views. Of course that’s really stretching the libertarian mantra a bit!. . . so. . . let’s do that some more shall we?

I’ve been following along with a discussion recently with some reactions to the death of a kayaker in Lake Superior. In Truth it could have been anywhere. The following posts are always the same. First someone shows up and says, “What an Idiot”. Next someone chides commenter number one and offers condolences to a family that will never actually see those condolences, then goes on to state what they would do. . . . you know the drill. . . but what interested me was the discussion of safety and regulations that were spawned out of one post.

We all know after a tragic accident many people, usually non-kayakers start thinking something should be done. “There should be a rule!” More laws, more oversight, more training. Yeah, I do think they go a bit overboard. (pardon the choice of words) Then others will quickly jump in to say, “Don’t tell me what to do.” Regulations of course are nothing but government interference in our paddling liberty.

On the other hand. . . If we are all responsible paddlers do community regulations or rules, or laws really impose anything on us? It seems they would only effect those who need guidance. Here’s an example. There is a paddling club here in Wisconsin that has always been, well libertarian in it’s organization. So no one took a role to do all those silly things like check for water pumps, proper clothing, flairs and the rest when groups went out. Taking leadership roles in some clubs is a quick way to become unpopular and who wants that?? So no one wanted to step into the mine field. Which of course means that everyone is on the ‘honor’ system for safety. Well that worked out fine until something went south. Suddenly it becomes apparent how one accident or one uneducated or stupid individual can effect the whole group. Things are changing fast with this paddling group these days. Better leadership, better focus, better group education. . It’s all good. Of course there are those who don’t like it. Don’t paddle with the organization then. Ok, that’s their choice.

So I wonder is regulation really bad? Why not have paddlers get ahead of the game and push for regulations that are appropriate before some knee-jerk reaction to some accident? Good regulations would not effect most of us. But every time someone does something foolish we risk paying all sorts of costs as a society. Just imagine the costs behind one rescue or recovery or the loss of a major “bread winner”, or someone without insurance, etc.. . What tab would society pick up in the end for one poorly educated paddler? As much as we want to think so, we do not live in a vacuum.

Now, let me be straight here. I’m not pro-regulation either. But I’ve never heard a convincing argument for anarchy either. Thing is “liberty” is an emotional issue and not always a thought out one. Personally I know in today’s society “freedom, privacy and liberty” are just a veneer. Unless of course you want to live “off the grid” in Montana. Then there is the “it won’t work” argument. Ok, well that does not seem to justify not trying. But maybe regulations or laws won’t work. Do rules work in your club? Maybe, maybe not. Still maybe society should just not interfere. Maybe clubs should not have safety requirements either. I’m not the one who’s going to say either way. But putting emotions aside, I’d love to here arguments against regulation that actually make sense.

Ok, so I doubt anyone remembers the band Kingdom Come. They were like a Led Zeppelin replicant band. The running joke was listening to Led Zeppelin singing “We come from the land of the ice and snow. . ” and flipping over to the lead singer of Kingdom Come saying, “Yeah, me too”. Well, maybe you had to be there!

Remember the South Georgia expedition? The guys from the UK were preparing for that trip for quite some time. Then the guys from down south had a chance to move up their trip and beat ‘em to the punch. Well, at some level sea kayaking is, yes, a sport. . and in sports someone wants to be first. In the end, you had to give them their due. Team Adventure Philosophy got the “First” and the British team did it in record time of course. So everyone got something from a competitive sort of view.

Then of course there is Iceland that stood out for so long as sort of a “K2″ of paddling. But before you knew it, it had been done multiple times. Shawna, Leon, & Chris Duff, then the amazing solo trip by Rotem Ron, then the lightning version by Greg Stamer and Freya Hoffmeister. In fact I may have left someone out there too but I was never quite able to nail that down.

Recently there have been a few of these top destinations that have seen multiple expeditions in fairly short periods of time. You can certainly imagine how one well presented expedition can inspire the other or how a bit of chit-chat from one person can inspire the other to do it bigger, better and faster. Heck sometimes multiple paddlers may have the same thought about the same time. Sometimes they team up. Sometimes not.

Funny thing about expedition kayaking. I don’t think it was ever thought of as “competitive” sport on the same level as many other sports. I mean back with Paul Caffyn was tearing it up around the world, few others were even really on the map. The idea of multiple magazines writing about it and commercial sponsorships was still years off. Nigel Dennis, Derrick Hutchinson and all the rest were blazing trails. Not many paddlers out there were even thinking of putting on the big woolly green sweater and paddling out into the wild sea. In many ways expedition kayaking was in a vacuum. Of course today that’s changed.

The sport of expedition sea kayaking grew more organically than others. It’s not racing after all. You could not gather people in grandstands to watch paddles fly and sweat dripping from every pore. Yet through the media those “grandstands” for expedition paddlers were eventually filled with interested eyes around coffee tables and curled up by warm fires. It’s exciting, interesting, awakening, exhilarating & inspiring. Of course we want to be in the audience. Of course! I still love reading about great trips in far off places and I’m far from alone.

These days like all other sports, there is a commercial level. Magazines are bought each month by the thousands, gear is advertised in big glossy images all over the place. There are faces and names we all recognize. Kayaks are major props in all sorts of advertising from SUVs to insurance. The sport has grown up. (For the rebel, libertarian types out there you just have to cope. )

Which got me thinking again. . . . (I know, I know) These days there are constant attempts at Everest. One in 10 of those people die trying. Unless we watch closely we don’t know who, what and when of the attempts. Now we’re keeping averages. What a change from the days of Edmund Hillary! Of course the challenge has not changed, and for those people doing it, the challenge and risk is not all that different. It’s just not the news it used to be. Funding is harder to come by and write ups are few and far between. Moving Everest attempts off the radar does have it’s good side in that no one questions the motivation of the climbers, and yet there are amazing people out there that the rest of us will never hear about.

I think we are in an interesting time in sea kayaking as well. More and more people are striking out on expeditions. The big wild challenges are being taken on from every angle. These paddlers are amazingly skilled, brave, tough people and yet, “Everest” is not the mountain it used to be. In time it will become much harder to get “support” for a big expedition. Writers won’t be quite so inspired to follow up on the 25th person to paddle round Easter Island. The photos will start looking like all the others. It’s the evolution of the sport. I’m glad there are still new horizons left out there. Stories still to be told. I’m glad I’ll have the chance to follow along. Even if it is curled up on the couch through a cold winter night.

Still, there are places I want to paddle that have been done many times before. Thing is, those adventures will be just between me and the sea. And that’s OK too.

Well, it certainly took effort to get a couple Skim kayaks over to Wisconsin. Thanks to Goran Pehrson & Darren at Rutabaga for making it happen. Oh and of course thanks to Rockpool and Trak for understanding me trying other boats and writing about them here.

Of course the Dex was sold before I ever had a chance to try it. Actually I’ve found a leaning toward smaller boats in the last year and really wanted the opportunity to try the Dex. Well, be that as it may, I did get to take the Distance out for a day in the lakes around Madison, Wisconsin. Rene’ and Sea Kayaker Magazine have already done intensive reviews and big water tests so let me just talk a bit about some impressions. Heck I couldn’t draw a Righting/Heeling curve if my life depended on it!

So when choosing a kayak the first thing you should be thinking about is what am I going to do with it? Way too many people in my opinion are buying big expedition boats that in the end they will never need. Certainly there is some argument that the extra length is worth it, but if you’re going to paddle an empty boat most of the time I’m not sure that length really makes up for the extra weight and windage. Just my opinion of course. So keep in mind that the Distance is designed as a fast “long-range” expedition kayak. It’s not really intended for noodling around rock gardens or freestyle finesse.

On the grass. . .

After we hauled the Skim Distance out on the grass, I of course started taking pictures and looking around the kayak. The Distance is a long, sleek, low slung kayak that looks like a high-tech torpedo. It’s built very well and nicely augmented with all the little features you’d want in an expedition boat. I really loved the recessed towing system. I’ve had enough of crawling over cleats in the past.

There were only a couple “negatives” that stood out to me. The first issue for me was closing the oval hatch covers. You can’t just push them down and wait for the “snap”. In fact, I would have to thread my fingers around them and push the rubber in under the lip to be sure they sealed. You have to be sure to follow the rim all the way around as well since the cover will not just pop in place. It would be way to easy to miss a spot or not get the cover down right. Being someone who has made a mistake with a hatch cover before, these ones from Kajak-Sport just seem too complicated to deal with. I can imagine with cold, wet fingers they would be even more problematic.

Now I know there is a real fascination with outriggers for paddle floats. Skim did a great job creating their system. The straps are easy to connect and release. Good Job there. The thing is, what if I don’t use an outrigger system? Of course we can get into the debate over paddle floats and I’m not doing that here. Still, If I am going to use a paddle float it’s a hundred times faster to put the paddle shaft up to the cockpit combing and jump or swim up on the back deck and in. In most kayaks, even with outrigger systems you can still do this. However I noticed on the Distance that the recess around the combing was too small and curved to allow a paddle shaft to brace against the combing rim while going straight out into an outrigger position. Sure, there are a hundred ways to do a self-rescue and a paddle float is the last thing on my list. In fact if you don’t do that combing thing during a paddle float recovery, you’ll never notice.

The peddles on the Distance are interesting in that they are flexible. I imagine this is for a rudder system which is optional on the Distance. Personally I’d rather have a fixed peddle but that’s just a personal preference I’m sure.

So on dry land the Distance is a beautiful, well-built, sleek looking craft. I enjoy the 1969 Camero paint job too. You’ll be impressed by the workmanship and attention to detail. But you might find those hatches a bit annoying.

In the Pond

Ok, so the kayak is not too heavy for a big kayak. Only 57lbs or so and is easy to carry to the water. However this is also the first place you notice there is a lot of boat in front of the cockpit! Still it does balance fairly well. I launched the kayak out into the glassy pond and jumped right up on the back deck. The kayak is very, very stable. Keep in mind of course that I spend a lot of time ON kayaks in addition to being IN kayaks. LOL! But I could see that it would be easy for most people to get out and crawl around on the deck. It’s surprisingly stable for a boat with a 20.5 inch beam. Nice. After jumping in I had good connection with the boat and it was easy to put it up on edge and hold it there. I can tell the nice secondary would come in handy in bigger conditions as well.

One thing that surprised me in the pond was how nimble the Distance actually is for its size. I could turn the boat quickly with just an edge, no paddle needed. It responded to all those little moves; draws, rudders, side-slips and the rest perfectly without any resistance. I’ve had kayaks in the past that demanded perfect execution by the paddler to perform. The Distance will let you get away with a few half-hearted maneuvers in flat water. It seems to know what you want it to do and just does it. LOL!

The Distance was easy to roll. The good connection I had with the boat and low back deck made it easy to do standard rolls and the various Greenland rolls I know. I could hand roll it easily as well. Yeah, the flexible peddles could be weird for some people but I don’t really press on them when I roll so I didn’t have any issues there.

One the lake

Well, on the way out of the pond and into the channel I dug in to see how fast this baby could go. It took a bit for me to get it going but once there, we were flying. In fact I could tell I was not able to get it up to full speed. I just couldn’t paddle any faster or get any more dig on the water. I knew this kayak needed a Wing paddle. Yeah as advertised, it’s a quick boat.

In the lake there was a good bit of wind and small chop. I paddled out to a spot where two lakes came together and the flow was funneled under a small bridge. Here there was a good bit of current where I could play with the kayak a bit. It responded well. It was easy to get in and break out of the current. The nice fit and solid secondary made it easy to ferry across without too much effort. Of course with all longer kayaks they want to turn straight up and not hold the angle as well as a smaller kayak. Still in the current the Distance responded better than I imagined it might. I was happily impressed given the length of the boat.

Leecocking?

Here is where I hate to try to review something. It seems I often have unique experiences that don’t follow the norm. As I mentioned I had a bit of wind. Maybe 10-12knts. Now taking into consideration that I was on a small lake that was easily effected by wind, the wind, wave and surface current was all pushing me in one direction. The waves were less than a foot and mostly just cat’s paws. Yet I’ve noticed that in those “small wave” conditions kayaks can respond in new ways. Instead of having the leecocking experience everyone else seems to have had on the sea, I had just the opposite! Even looking at the kayak I would have expected it to leecock. Which reminds us to test boats ourselves in many different conditions and not depend on reviews. LOL!

Note that the kayak was empty, however I’m not a light boy either. Paddling back with the wind on my left the big nose seemed to anchor and the back would slide right around effectively turning me right up into the wind, known in the vernacular as “weathercocking”. Now, I learned a long time ago not to depend on a skeg. But in this case, I just could not easily control it with paddle strokes. You needed a lot of muscle to overcome the wind and if you relaxed at all you’d be turning right back up into the wind again. Of course as soon as I put just a bit of skeg on the problem stopped. With the skeg it tracked fine again. However I still felt this sensation of getting blown down wind and needed to correct to stay on course, which is normal for any kayak. However, with the skeg down, It was very hard to put the kayak on a slight angle into the wind. Maybe it’s just an issue of skill, but I’d never had this experience before. Without being able to keep the bow at an angle I continued to slip down wind. Now, when I was ready to turn up wind, with the skeg down a bit, a bow rudder was useless. I just stayed right on track. LOL! I had to lift the skeg to turn. Of course with the skeg up the kayak practically turned itself.

Now because I knew this seemed odd compared to what I read, I went back and got another kayak and paddled the same conditions right away. Of course I was in a much shorter boat with a lot more rocker, but that did confirm what I was feeling was not really a fluke. Even the smaller kayak wanted to weathercock a bit in the same conditions however I could compensate and keep the boat on the angle to go from point a to point b across the wind without slipping downwind. In the Distance you just have to expect that a 19+ ft boat wants to go one direction in certain conditions. The skeg just reinforces it. I’m sure with more time in the boat I would figure out how to get it to play nice in those conditions. Again, everyone’s experiences can be quite different and I’m more than willing to accept that maybe I just lack some skill. LOL!

Final Word

The Distance is a nice sleek, fast kayak. It’s built well, looks cool, very nimble for it’s length, very stable, and yet easy to roll. It’s certainly worth being on the sort list of expedition kayaks. It seems there is a consensus that the Skim Distance is for intermediate to advanced paddlers. I’m going to agree with that only because in wind you’re going to need to know how to control a kayak whether it leecocks or weathercocks. In the end it’s just an issue of knowing how your boat reacts and how to control it. To give a boat a fair review I think you have to paddle it over time, not just have it out for a day. (I’d still like to get the Distance out on some big water and surf) So with that in mind I think it will be fun to watch René Seindal who is sponsored by Skim as he along with Wendy Killoran Circumnavigate Sicily and Sardinia. By the end of the trip he will know the Distance better than almost anyone.

More On The Skim Distance

Official Website

My Distance Photos at Flickr

Rene’s Reivew

So you may notice by the orange stripe that I finally got to go out and test paddle the Skim Distance yesterday. Interesting. But we’ll talk about that more tomorrow. I’m still sort of organizing my thoughts into something coherent.