what is Cleopatra's Needle/

was talking to a co worker today and she said she won't paddle because she's scared of getting caught in a Cleopatra's Needle situation, but she couldn't explain what it is.

not much i could find doing an abbreviated search before the "search engine" faulted out to sewing and quilting sites.

anyone ever heard of this?

I didn't know either but here's what I found:

This is the position of the kayak when one end fills with water and the other end sticks up in the air.

Here's a video:


You can get a t-shirt! lol!

With proper preparation and common sense, it's easily avoidable.

Here's a description:  "Once upon a time before bulkheads and proper floatation, if you capsized in your kayak and had to do a wet exit you would be lucky if your kayak didn't sink. Sometimes there would be enough air in the bow or stern to cause the kayak to float pointing straight up. I asked Derek Hutchinson why this was called Cleopatra's Needle. He replied "with the kayak's bow pointing to the sky just above the surface of the water, it reminded him of the obelisk (named Cleopatra's Needle) that stands on the River Thames Embankment in London. Also, with all the water in the kayak it probably weighs just as much."

http://www.useakayak.org/recoveries_rescues/cleos_needle2.html

Thanx Guys,

interestingly it makes a good case for internal bulkheads and floatation bags

Been there, done that in a double yak with a friend. It was our fault for being stupid teenagers.  We were about 150 yards from shore.  We were just happy the end with the rope was sticking out.  It made it easier to pull back to shore while swimming.    Cool , now  I know what it is called.

Ohhh! That's what you call it!
That's waaay more elegant than calling it the DiCaprio Titanic thing (and I really wish I didn't know what you're talking about) 
(see "how I know you should wear a pfd")

interestingly it makes a good case for internal bulkheads and floatation bags

Say it with me now: "POOOOL NoOODles"

Actually, I think our boats are still slightly positively buoyant even completely swamped. But if you load it with a battery, anchor, and other miscellaneous fishin crap, it quickly goes from slightly positive to negative and that ain't fun.

When my boat swamped (see previously mentioned DAMHIK), it did the needle thingy, then kept going. It really was just past neutral buoyancy, but supporting the boat and myself would not have lasted much longer than it did.

That damn boat still leaked the last time I took it out. But because it is filled with pool noodles, the boat just felt a bit sluggish until I tried to take it out of the water and realized I was paddling around with a couple hundred extra pounds.

Moral of that story was that moving scuppers is not a very good idea.

That's what I call a fat dude paddling a tandem canoe solo