Tashi

After much deliberation, I have settled on the name for my boat.

Tashi

Firstly, it is Tibetan in origin and the name translates roughly as " a blessing or good luck" As part of a longer phrase, Tashi Delak, it is used as a greeting to fellow persons around.

It is a unique name. Suitably female for the naming of a sea going vessel, conforming to the traditions of old. And applicable to any seafaring activity in a kayak, "a blessing" would mean a good and safe journey to anyone who takes this boat to sea and from another angle, it is a blessing to be able to use the craft to take us to where we so desire.

And so we have it.... my feathercraft..... Tashi

It Floats! The Kayak Test Run

Today is test kayak day! After its arrival last week, today we officially get the Wisper wet.

So Fran and I brought the boat to MacRitchie Reservoir after Mass. I figured that a controlled water environment and fresh water would be a better choice for the first run. We had some time from 1400 hours to dusk to do the boat tests. So here is how it went.

Setting up the boat in the afternoon heat is not a simple task. I was drenched in sweat by the time I got the boat ready for the water. It was a highly anticipated moment when I lowered the boat slowly and gently into the water. The silence was only broken by Fran's exclamation, " IT FLOATS!"

Me: ...

So after about 2 hours of paddling, I have one thing to say....SUPERB! The comments on the Feathercraft that I have read prior to the purchase were true. The boat felt comfortable even when sitting into it for the first time. The sponsoons offered great stability to the boat yet the boat was nimble enough for you to execute a mean edge. The boat sits quite high on the water but probably due to the fact it is unloaded at point in time. It was a fast boat, maintaining a reasonable speed with a minimal of effort. Tracking was good. This was a concern as the skins of the Feathercraft are hand-made and some variations occur between every piece of boat they ship out. I am fortunate that the boat tracks pretty well under mild conditions today.

The sea sock works well in preventing flooding of the boat during a capsize. Which I did, in the interest of testing every aspect of the boat's handling. The boat did take in some water, though minimal, but this was likely through a not so thorough securing of the bow hatch. A combination of the sea sock and the spray skirt did make paddling a little warm in our kind of weather.

The skin proved to be really watertight and water repellent. Water dripping off the paddle just beaded up on the deck and rolled off.

The other piece of equipment that was a real good buy was the paddle. The 4 piece carbon paddle from Aquabound was, in my opinion, a real performer. The Eagle Ray is designed for touring and for a low paddling angle. The feathering angle can be adjusted as desired. Entry of the blade into the water is effortless and silent. Turbulence is minimal and as you exert pressure on the blade in the water, the blade moves smoothly all the way until it exits the water. It does not have the little wobble that I so often feel in other paddles when you pull hard on the blade.

I brought the boat back strapped onto the roof rack. This was easily done with a couple of ratchet straps and another from the stern to the spare wheel. It would be a challenge to bring the boat around on my own, because I had the help of Fran today, and it took putting the boat onto the bonnet before I pulled it up onto the rack.

See the pictures at this Flickr set Kayak Test Paddle

Now.....I need a name for her.....

Setting up the Wisper

The weekend was spent trying to set up the kayak and practising how to do it smoothly and with as little pain as possible.

I find no fault with the instructions or manual and the DVD included was just invaluable in making life a little easier. So blame it all on my ineptness, but my inaugural attempt in setting up the kayak took about an hour. I tried to be meticulous in making sure I do not do anything wrong that may damage the boat even before it hits the water.

On day 2 of practice, on my second try, the time taken to set the boat up was 37 min from the opening of the pack to completion. Dismantling took just slightly shorter at just about 30 mins. The bulk of time went to packing it properly into the pack.

Setting up the frame of the boat is easy, and planting the frame into the skin is also a relative;y easy. The most difficult areas are actually,
1. Making sure the frame is centred in the skin.
2. Tensioning the frame with the extension bars
3. And placing of the crossribs especially crossrib 2

But all in all, the kayak feels solid so far on dry land. The component pieces are well made and there was never a situation where the pieces did not fit one another. Design of the frame was well thought of with every piece having its role and doubling up in function sometimes.

Here are the photos of the kayak during the weekend.

My Boat is Here!!!

Today has been a long anticipated day. The order for my kayak made almost 2-3 weeks back has finally been delivered. See here for write up on the wisper and the order.

Brimming with excitement, I went together with Fran to collect the boat. It was also the first time I was meeting the guy who brought in the kayak for me, Huey. He has a rather colourful history with regard to kayaking and is now in the business of bringing in kayaking equipment, particularly folding kayaks. Check out the website: kayakasia

Now back to the boat. The backpack in which the foldable kayak was packed into was larger than I thought it would be. The other accessories were packed into the backpack with the foam blocks and buoyancy vest in a separate box. All in all, everything as in good order except for my neoprene spray skirt which was inadvertently left out in the order. This will have to be rectified in the coming weeks.

Therefore, this is my kayaking purchase and equipment thus far, my FIRST kayak plan.

1. Feathercraft Foldable Kayak: Wisper with front and rear hatches
2. Aquabound Eagleray Full-carbon 4 piece paddle
3. Feathercraft Klatwa 2 piece Greenland paddle (spare)
4. Astral Tempo 300 Personal Flotation Device
5. Feathercraft Neoprene spray skirt
6. Feathercraft Deckbag
7. NRS Bilge pump
8. NRS universal kayak blocks

Other pieces of good news include the approval from PUB to allow foldable kayaks into the reservoirs to paddle. Although the only open reservoirs so far are MacRitchie and Marina Bay, others in the pipeline include Lower and Upper Seletar Reservoirs. Once again, Huey has made arrangement for all foldable owners to have a tag to indicate registration with an organisation.
I have chose the number tag 7 for my boat.

All I have to do now is decide on a name and then will have to christian the boat during our first trip to the water. I cannot wait....

C to C Roll

I started off my rolls with this particular version. The C-C action made me feel it was easier to get myself up. However, I personally found that I was using a little too much force to get myself righted up in the kayak.

However, this is relatively easy to grasp and learn as someone starting out to learn your rolls.

An Overview of the Kayak Roll

I stumbled upon a few very instructive videos with regards to the kayak roll or 'Eskimo' roll as most people would know it by.

In my opinion here, the explanation is lucid and demonstration effective. The theory presented is sound and it makes you feel the need to jump into a pool to try what has just been presented.

For those who are into paddle sports... just a teaser for you all. Enjoy!

Wisper

Sounds like an advertisement for women's sanitary napkins. Rest assured, this is not about it!

I have decided on my kayak. After making tentative inquiries with dealers and evaluating both the features of the kayak as well as the depth of my pocket. I have finally come to a conclusion.

Having said that, it was by no means easy coming to the decision. The main difficulties were with the kayak itself. A host of questions had to be answered: hard shell vs foldable; length; model/brand were all considerations. The one which caught my eye the most were the Feathercraft boats, due to their portability and consistent reviews of seaworthiness. Fears of tracking and speed compared to their hard shell counterparts were slowly but surely dispelled by the many favourable reports for the foldables. After all, the physics was sound. The oft cited weakness in the foldable structure may actually act to absorb more of the wave energy thrown at the boat, allowing it to cope better with choppy sea states.

Feathercraft has a few models available. Earlier one, I had my eye on the Khatsalano, a greenland styled kayak. However, the price made the boat quite out of reach and if you noticed, it has been a while since I've revisited the issue of owning my own boat.

Here is where the Wisper comes in. It is a cross between the Khat and one of their other models. It maintains the Greenland style characteristics but in a slightly shorter package with a wider beam.

The most important thing...is the freedom the craft will allow. Paddling anytime, anywhere and being to camp out to explore the remote reaches of our island home. The possibilities are endless. I just cannot wait. Await the next post when I announce its arrival. Now I need a name for her....suggestions?

Ramunia

Four days of kayaking, eating and sleeping. Priority was in the same order too. The title of the post tells of the location of the most exciting kayaking course attended so far. From the 18-21 Jan, the 4 star kayaking training course was conducted by Outward Bound Singapore and Changi Sea Sports Club.

Weather was initially disappointing. Seeing how it was storming the past 2 weeks before we arrived, I thought that the rain and wind would make the sea a little more challenging. But it worked out pretty well as the wind did pick up over the next few days and the waves did get bigger. By the end of the course, I was humbled by the raw power that mother nature can harness and hurl at us.

So we spent the few days, soaking wet, jumping in and out of the boats and attempting to garner what little control we can to impress the instructors enough to pass us. Under the watchful eyes of our 'spotters' on the beach, we made sure we did not stray and collide against other kayakists, who similarly were tossed about by the waves.

Occasionally, actually quite often, after getting dunked by the waves and rolling ourselves into an upright position, we were often confronted with the big "L" sign by our spotters (Read LOSER) It was good fun!

So officially, I am glad to say that I have made it through the 4 star course. Just have a couple more expeditons to go in order to qualify for the award. That should be anytime soon.



A shot of our group of three

Four Star Kayaking ****

I have officially signed up for the 4 star kayaking award course to be conducted in Jan 07. This will be held in Ramunia, Johor during the monsoon season. This 4 star award is the standard adopted by the Singapore Canoe Federation and is based largely on the British Canoe Union (BCU) standards.

Having come a long way through the various kayaking awards, the 4 star is divided into two categories, sea and river. This course covers the sea and open water component, where advanced skills are taught to the paddler to evaluate and tackle more difficult sea conditions. This is a precious opportunity to be exposed to difficult waves and seas, This will definitely stand me in good stead as I continue to acquire and refine skills that will enable me to go further and safer.

Look at the course syllabus under the following link:
SCF 4-Star Award Syllabus



Just as an end to this entry, I share with you all the picture shown above of incredible wave conditions. If this is what the skills can enable me to do... awesome!

The Khatsalano

I received local information about the kayak today. I have been eyeing this craft for quite some time now.

How did I come to this decision on what kayak I would like to have? For a start, I had to decide if I could live with renting kayaks from the sea sports clubs for the rest of my life. My conclusion is I can't, for the simple reason that the rental rules are too restrictive. No overnight rentals for the PA sea sports clubs and with the other commercial entities, cost becomes a real issue for a prolonged or overnight rentals.

So then I had to decide if I wanted a hard shell or a foldable. Let's not even go into the differences in quality of the different materials of the hard shell kayaks. Storage for one would be a problem with the fibre glass kayaks and I suppose where I stay, storing it in my flat will pose certain challenges. That will also mean that storage of the kayak at a certain locality will predispose her owner to launch off on trips from the same site. What a boring scenario. Might as well rent a kayak then yes?

The ability and freedom to bring the kayak to paddle and launch from anywhere then becomes an important factor. Yes, in the spirit of adventure and exploration, I want to explore the waterways around the island and be able to paddle anywhere I want around the region. And I want to do it having confidence in my own gear rather than having to rent sub-standard crappy gear elsewhere.

So as of now, I have homed in on a foldable. A Feathercraft. The Khatsalano.

This picture is from the feathercraft website. I place it here because the photo exemplifies the dreams of every sea kayaker. To stand at the shore and look out to the waters before setting off on an expedition of a lifetime.


This greenland style kayak stays true to its roots to provide an 'on the edge' experience while paddling. Sleek, fast and edgy. I am excited that this very type of craft was used for transport and work. The package comes with travel-style backpack, large bow and stern flotation bags, small diameter sponsons, adjustable padded seat, perimeter deck-lines and cross-deck rigging, adjustable neoprene spray skirt, sea sock, repair kit, assembly video. Quite a neat complete package.

Check out the craft at Feathercraft

The premium you pay for such a craft is daunting. It costs a princely $7500 for the khatsalano. Not a small sum of money but considering that a craft well taken care of is reported to be able to last 20-30 years. That is a depreciation of $250 a year over thirty years. One might argue that you will spend more than that sum a year on boat rentals alone.

What a temptation. I shall lay back on my bed and dream about faraway land that this boat can take me to....