I'll take your advice, Dave. I can do a roll in calm waters but have a heck
of a time in rough conditions. A river kayak is so much easier to do a roll
with than my rather wide ocean kayak. However, I love paddling in the
ocean. There's a feeling of serenity and solitude that I find appealing at
this point in my life. I am also drawn to the strength and vitality of the
ocean. It appeals to me...but I have a healthy respect for its strength. I
live in a great area for ocean kayaking...at least in terms of the beauty of
the coastline. However, it's a treacherous coastline as well...one that has
taken the lives of a number of persons in more stable craft than an ocean
kayak.

Barry


"Dave Van" wrote in message
...
in article . net, Barry at
wrote on 8/7/04 12:13 AM:

....guess I should become more confident in my roll....not just for the
sake
of keeping cool but for safety reasons...and I'd feel more secure as
well.
Right now, I go out with a couple of guys that have more experience than
I
do and they are helping me along. I suppose in the mean time, I'll
swelter
in the sun while they enjoy a roll in the cool water g.

Barry

If you're paddling with a couple of experienced chaperones, have one of
them
spot you while you roll so you can grab their bow if you blow it. You'll
get to cool off, practice your roll in conditions that you actually paddle
in and you'll likely receive tons of free advice on improving that roll
from
them while your at it. I have yet to meet a kayaker that wasn't willing
to
help another paddler improve... or cool off for that matter.

Cheers

DV




"Brian Nystrom" wrote in message
...
Barry wrote:
How can I deal with the sauna that is created below my skirt when out
in
ocean waters and the air temps are high? I know there must me a way
to
deal
with it. I suspect that I can have someone make a custom skirt out of
Gortex or similar material but it would probably be expensive.

Opening it periodically helps. Rolling or sculling periodically to wet
the skirt and deck will help keep the temp down. For summer use, we had
Brooks make us a couple of white neoprene skirts. They work quite well.

The problem with using any kind of fabric skirt is that they leak
around
the coaming and at the top. If you don't consider that a problem, there
are waterproof/breathable skirts on the market.

I've got a paddle float (in fact, I have two now...one for rescue and one as
a support for my thighs while paddling. As to the "hip snap and coming back
up", I'm working on that g.

Barry


"John Fereira" wrote in message
.. .
"Barry" wrote in
link.net:

....guess I should become more confident in my roll....not just for the
sake of keeping cool but for safety reasons...and I'd feel more secure
as well. Right now, I go out with a couple of guys that have more
experience than I do and they are helping me along. I suppose in the
mean time, I'll swelter in the sun while they enjoy a roll in the cool
water g.

If you're paddling with someone else you can use the bow of their boat to
tip over, put your body in the water, and hip snap back up. It's good
practice for your hip snap so will help with your roll too. You can also
use a paddle float. Just put it on, hold the paddle perpendicular to the
boat, and lean toward it until your body is in the water, then do a hip
snap
to come back up.

Barry wrote:
I'll take your advice, Dave. I can do a roll in calm waters but have a heck
of a time in rough conditions. A river kayak is so much easier to do a roll
with than my rather wide ocean kayak. However, I love paddling in the
ocean. There's a feeling of serenity and solitude that I find appealing at
this point in my life. I am also drawn to the strength and vitality of the
ocean. It appeals to me...but I have a healthy respect for its strength. I
live in a great area for ocean kayaking...at least in terms of the beauty of
the coastline. However, it's a treacherous coastline as well...one that has
taken the lives of a number of persons in more stable craft than an ocean
kayak.

Stability doesn't equal safety. In fact, narrower kayaks are better
suited to rough conditions than wide ones, in the hands of a skilled
paddler. They're also much easier to roll. That's one reason why high
performance sea kayaks are typically 22" wide or less. If your boat is
more than 23"-24" wide, it will definitely hamper your ability to edge,
lean and roll. Such boats fall more into the "recreational" class than
in the "sea kayak" class.

Brian....

You've not seen me. I am a BIG guy who just doesn't fit into a narrow
kayak. At least I've not found one that I fit it yet. When I'm ready to
move up in quality of kayak, I'll do so more shopping. However, for now,
the Old Town Adventurer 139XT is a great boat for me....although it's
certainly not in the "high performance" boat category, I suspect.

Barry

"Brian Nystrom" wrote in message
...
Barry wrote:
I'll take your advice, Dave. I can do a roll in calm waters but have a
heck
of a time in rough conditions. A river kayak is so much easier to do a
roll
with than my rather wide ocean kayak. However, I love paddling in the
ocean. There's a feeling of serenity and solitude that I find appealing
at
this point in my life. I am also drawn to the strength and vitality of
the
ocean. It appeals to me...but I have a healthy respect for its
strength. I
live in a great area for ocean kayaking...at least in terms of the
beauty of
the coastline. However, it's a treacherous coastline as well...one that
has
taken the lives of a number of persons in more stable craft than an
ocean
kayak.

Stability doesn't equal safety. In fact, narrower kayaks are better
suited to rough conditions than wide ones, in the hands of a skilled
paddler. They're also much easier to roll. That's one reason why high
performance sea kayaks are typically 22" wide or less. If your boat is
more than 23"-24" wide, it will definitely hamper your ability to edge,
lean and roll. Such boats fall more into the "recreational" class than
in the "sea kayak" class.

"Barry" wrote in message
hlink.net...
Brian....

You've not seen me. I am a BIG guy who just doesn't fit into a narrow
kayak. At least I've not found one that I fit it yet. When I'm ready to
move up in quality of kayak, I'll do so more shopping. However, for now,
the Old Town Adventurer 139XT is a great boat for me....although it's
certainly not in the "high performance" boat category, I suspect.

You're right. It's not in the high performance category.

When you are ready to move to a different boat, check out Wes Boyd's
website. It's a place dedicated to kayaks for big guys and gals with specs
and reviews of many kayaks for many purposes: Whitewater, recreational,
plastic sea kayaks and composite sea kayaks.

Link:

http://my.dmci.net/~wesboyd/bigboat.htm

Cheers

DV



Barry

"Brian Nystrom" wrote in message
...
Barry wrote:
I'll take your advice, Dave. I can do a roll in calm waters but have
a
heck
of a time in rough conditions. A river kayak is so much easier to do
a
roll
with than my rather wide ocean kayak. However, I love paddling in the
ocean. There's a feeling of serenity and solitude that I find
appealing
at
this point in my life. I am also drawn to the strength and vitality
of
the
ocean. It appeals to me...but I have a healthy respect for its
strength. I
live in a great area for ocean kayaking...at least in terms of the
beauty of
the coastline. However, it's a treacherous coastline as well...one
that
has
taken the lives of a number of persons in more stable craft than an
ocean
kayak.

Stability doesn't equal safety. In fact, narrower kayaks are better
suited to rough conditions than wide ones, in the hands of a skilled
paddler. They're also much easier to roll. That's one reason why high
performance sea kayaks are typically 22" wide or less. If your boat is
more than 23"-24" wide, it will definitely hamper your ability to edge,
lean and roll. Such boats fall more into the "recreational" class than
in the "sea kayak" class.

in article .net, Barry at
wrote on 8/10/04 6:55 PM:

Brian....

You've not seen me. I am a BIG guy who just doesn't fit into a narrow
kayak. At least I've not found one that I fit it yet. When I'm ready to
move up in quality of kayak, I'll do so more shopping. However, for now,
the Old Town Adventurer 139XT is a great boat for me....although it's
certainly not in the "high performance" boat category, I suspect.

Barry

I missed the start of this, so these comments may be way of track, but I
went on an extensive search for "big guy" kayaks and the CD Storm (plastic)
and Seaward Navigator (glass) were the only two that worked for me. I ended
up with the Seaward. It's a pretty good sea kayak but facts are facts...it's
wide, so it has disadvantages over more narrow boats. But in terms of having
something that fits (I was 6'4" about 240 at the time, now down to 215 and
dreaming of one day have something narrow like my wife paddles) the
Navigator is a good choice, I think.

Keenan
gokayaking.ca


"Brian Nystrom" wrote in message
...
Barry wrote:
I'll take your advice, Dave. I can do a roll in calm waters but have a
heck
of a time in rough conditions. A river kayak is so much easier to do a
roll
with than my rather wide ocean kayak. However, I love paddling in the
ocean. There's a feeling of serenity and solitude that I find appealing
at
this point in my life. I am also drawn to the strength and vitality of
the
ocean. It appeals to me...but I have a healthy respect for its
strength. I
live in a great area for ocean kayaking...at least in terms of the
beauty of
the coastline. However, it's a treacherous coastline as well...one that
has
taken the lives of a number of persons in more stable craft than an
ocean
kayak.

Stability doesn't equal safety. In fact, narrower kayaks are better
suited to rough conditions than wide ones, in the hands of a skilled
paddler. They're also much easier to roll. That's one reason why high
performance sea kayaks are typically 22" wide or less. If your boat is
more than 23"-24" wide, it will definitely hamper your ability to edge,
lean and roll. Such boats fall more into the "recreational" class than
in the "sea kayak" class.

Barry wrote:
Brian....

You've not seen me. I am a BIG guy who just doesn't fit into a narrow
kayak. At least I've not found one that I fit it yet.

Consider this: According to Old Town's specs, the cockpit on your
current boat is only 17" wide and you say you fit in it. That being the
case, you'll obviously fit into a boat that's much narrower than the 28"
beam boat you're in now. There's a woman in our club who's nearly 300#
and she paddles boats that are 20" wide. What specifically is your fit
issue?

When I'm ready to
move up in quality of kayak, I'll do so more shopping. However, for now,
the Old Town Adventurer 139XT is a great boat for me....although it's
certainly not in the "high performance" boat category, I suspect.

No, it's definitely not. When the time comes, try a Current Designs
Sirocco or Gulfstream. They're pretty roomy boats, but still perform
quite well.