I took the 191cm SideKick out for the first time today.

45 works for me. After the obligatory few air braces (coming from zero
offset), I settled right in.

Got properly drilled once going over the falls upside down. A foot less water
and it would have been ugly. *Really* gotta train myself to stay away from
those shallow tube breaks. That Jersey quartz sand is like concrete when you
hit it - unlike coral sand, which just sort of goes "pooosh" and lets you sink
in as long as there aren't any coral heads or lava boulders hiding underneath.

I found the SideKick tb a *huge* improvement over the Camano 2-piece: a quantum
leap stiffer, the big blades grab a lot better in whitewater, and my hands are
down within a couple inches of the blade for that low gear going out.

I am *sooooo* glad I didn't let the rep talk me into a longer paddle. 191
seems about right. If anything, I'd like to try a 185 for a couple hours
sometime.

Only regret was not spending another fifty bucks for the foam-sandwich blade
model. Reason: the foam blades - with their 1/4" round edges were much, much
more hand-friendly. I imagine they'd also be marginally better as outriggers
when sitting in the chop.... but the suspected hand-friendliness would be the
main factor.
--
PeteCresswell