Saturday in the Park

Okay, nobody else is willing to expose their idiotsyncrasies <sic> for others benefit (amusement) so I guess that gives me license to blather on. Well gather round childrens, once again I've been out doing "Don't Asks" so you don't have to.

I did not go fishing Saturday (which was a sin on such a magnificent day) because there were tooo many stinkpots out.  I stopped at Sellwood and it looked like a hogline without the line. There had to be 30 boats parked on the "island" (shallow spot) just up from the bridge, anchored or not, and pointed in any direction. That is not an exaggeration and they could not have been 30' apart. I counted 3 catching each other while I was standing there for maybe 15 minutes (that's 6 boats!). The military has a very good term for it with the initials "C.F."

  I decided to pass on that and went up to George Rodgers to see if it was any better. It was, but only marginally. I had Bsteves' Cobra Navigator that I'm planning to add to the southern flotilla and it was not rigged for anchoring. In addition, I'm not familiar with how it handles so I took a pass again and decided to take care of some other business. That done, I could not possibly go home without getting the boat wet. I had to at least check the fit and see how it handled before I gave Brian the equivalent of a down-payment on a new car*
(hey,he said it had good mojo). So I took it over to the Tualatin.

 In the past, Cobra has been a leader in kayak fishing. My first boat was an XL (their first SOT), Polepole's first kayak fishing experience was in a Cobra Triple and the Fish n Dive is a southern California standard (still good boats). Can't complain about their hull guarantee (lifetime).  But I commented to Brian that I'd not heard or seen much from them lately. Now I know why.

 Let me preface the following by saying I have not had a clear water huli or unintentional boat bottom inspection in the last 10 of the 15 or so years I've been fishing from a kayak. That does not count surf practice or the time I sank the boat,,,,,ok, there was that one at Clackamette Park (ahhh, twice). Whatever   Lets just say it does not happen often and I have full confidence in my ability to recover and keep on fishing.....
....until Saturday.

I put in at Cook Park and planned to paddle upstream a couple of bends. I understand that "Tualatin" is a Native American word that translates as "Dead", as in really slow. It normally is, but that day it had a bit of flow (maybe 2kt ?). No big problem, I'd have a better trial to see how the Navigator handles, so I launched.

 The first thing I noticed was how good the initial stability is. Man, it felt rock solid! I felt like I could stand up, but the cockpit is a tad narrow. I liked that because a close fit feels better in surf. I paddled out and it moved pretty well and the seat is bone dry with really good initial stability. It took a bit of effort to get it moving, but then again I was paddling against a good current.

 If you've paddle the Tualatin, you'd know that there is a bend that shallows just upstream from the launch at Cook Park. In the late summer, it can get pretty skinny and the water speeds up as it shoals, but that day it had plenty of water and a good bit of speed to go with it. No problem, the Navigator handled it with aplomb. Note: The tree on the inside of that first bend that used to just overhang the water is now in it forming a good strainer. You might want to avoid it.

 The boat parked nose-to in the current and held its position with very little effort and it has really good initial stability. I put my feet overboard and straddled the boat to see how my favorite fishing position felt. Not bad, a bit wide, but not too much. Then the boat fell off immediately, the drag of my feet changed whatever the relationship the hull was having with the current and the boat drifted quickly downstream. I put my feet back on board, paddled a couple of strokes and it parked again. Lovely! (and such nice initial stability)

 I swept a couple of strokes and it turned eventually, so that means it should track well and edging it just a bit would get it turning a bit sooner. But its got that great stability. So I edged it a bit more and (whups) find that its a bit touchy when it gets over on its ear. Hmmm, I'll have to watch that. I kept paddling.

 It was a bit strange as it did not feel like I was moving, but I was making good headway. I finally got around the bend (18th hole?) and into some deeper water and the current slowed to "Tualatin", so I decided to try to check out that "touchy" secondary stability.

 So, what is this initial stability that I keep going on about? I'm glad I asked
For our purposes stability comes in two flavors: Initial and Secondary.

Initial stability is how stable a boat is sitting flat. A sheet of plywood laying on the water would have very good initial stability. It would take a bit of effort for it to turn over or go on edge. If you are in the middle of that sheet of plywood, you'd feel pretty stable.

 Secondary stability is how a boat feels when it starts to heel or lay over on its side.  A straddled log has poor secondary stability. If you leaned over at all, the log would roll over. As you move away from the center, you'd quickly find that same sheet of plywood has pretty poor secondary stability too. In a kayak, you experience the boats secondary stability when it holds its position as you roll to one side or the other. But only to a point.

Did I mention the fact that this boat has really good initial stability? Well, it completely makes up for it in its lack of secondary stability. I leaned over just a touch more and was suddenly up to my neck in water and the boat was upside down. Hmmf, that's never happened before (well, almost). Good thing I was dressed for the water not the air! Right?

Well,
When I launched, it was pretty warm so I left off my drytop besides, this is just the Tualatin and I'm not even fishing.  

 The water was cold (it did freeze Friday night) and went straight past my polypro tee-shirt down into my neoprene waders (but my hat didn't fall off). It really was not that bad and the combination of the neoprene up to my chest and the "new" pfd was quite comfortable. But enough of this swimming in a superfund site, it was time to get back in (especially before somebody comes around the bend to my rescue).

 Re-boardng my boat has become a reflex and not even much of a thought.

Ohhh, but that's right, this is not my boat.

So I righted it and reached over the cockpit to find that, because of the boats geometry, the other gunwale is almost out of reach. The edge of this boat looks like "<" with the point just below the surface at the cockpit, and from point to point "<>"is a bit of a stretch, and there is no grab rail in between. Hmmf, no biggy, I just have to grab it and pull it over on edge a bit.....

Ohhh, but that's right, it has no secondary stability
and (clunk!) it hit me in the head as a reminder as it rolled over again.
Okay, on to plan B. (you do have a plan B for re-boarding your boat right?)

Actually, I did.

From the first and only formal paddle lesson I'd taken, I remembered that you can get back on by moving to the ends and scooting onto the boat with your legs dangling on each side, then rolling over when you get to the cockpit. I also remembered after practicing it once, that this method was much more of a PITA than laying over the cockpit. But I did remember it and made use of it (and that was 15 years ago).

I righted the boat again and moved toward the narrower ends. In this case the bow is a bit narrower and lower to the water than the stern. I reached over, grabbed on, heaved and I was on. Success!
(short lived).

 While scooting towards the cockpit, my paddle almost got away from me and I leaned over on the edge to catch it (where is my damn leash?) and again I found myself looking up at the bottom of my boat, treading in yucky water. Did I mention that this boat seems to have crappy secondary stability? (But I did not lose my hat)

Back into the superfund river, I righted the boat (again) and move towards the end (again) and kinda had to giggle at myself. (Did I mention there is a big azz strainer just downsteam of me?) I stopped giggling.

 I eventually clambered back on board and noticed a few things. This boat feels a lot less stable from the bow, managing the paddle while recovering is a PITA (I like leashes), and I was winded.

 So what'd I learn? Not all boats are created equal. Just because your adept at re-boarding your boat does not mean you can do it as easily on any boat. It took me waaay longer than I thought to get back on the "new" kayak. In other words, re-boarding practice does not end after you've mastered it on you 4th attempt in your boat. New boat, more practice.
Finally, a good paddle lesson pays BIG dividends, and don't underestimate water.... period!
Ok, enough blathering.



*Brian's price is actually quite reasonable.

I know, right?!?

-Allen

Wali

As a newbie. I feel i have learned alot from your posts of what not to do. Or what i should do. Thank you for your practice and wise words.

Marilyn

Yeah, the Tualatin has been downright cold lately.  Glad to hear you made it out alive and safe.  She can be fun at high flows, but dangerous at well.....

So, you buyin the boat?


Glad everything turned out ok.

So, you buyin the boat?

  yep

I just love your stories Wali!