28 September 2014
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| Sea Flea for another first paddle |
The water was warm and murky but still great fun for old and young. The Sea Flea had another outing and proved itself as an excellent design for young novice kayakers. My daughter was quite happy controlling it in a F3-F4 breeze, the boat and her are both so light I expected her to be more affected by the wind. Our friends son had his first kayaking experience and after using it with and without the outriggers decided kayaking is fun. Plenty of smiles and requests for more time on the water in the future.
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| Sea Flea with outriggers fitted |
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| Easky left, Kodiak right |
The Easky 15 is a boat often recommended to new entrants to kayaking. I have paddled one on flat water only and found it well behaved and easy to control. It responds to edging well and feels very predictable. I can only just fit in the boat with the seat set as far back as it goes and with the foot rests at their longest setting, and then I have to be wearing thin soled shoes. I'm 6'2" and have unusually long legs with an inside leg measurement of 37" from ground to groin standing in bare feet. At 113 kg I'm just under 18 stone and within the design load of the boat. My wife is 5'4" and significantly lighter (apparently its not possible for me to know her actual weight) and she was very happy in the Easky. She has very little experience in kayaks but has used open canoes on rivers quite a bit, so I think its fair to say the stability of the Easky is suited to novice kayakers.
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| From this angle they don't look too different |
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| Easky 15 left - Kodiak right |
The Easky 15 has a skeg, the Kodiak has an optional rudder. The camera angle above hides the difference in boat lengths. While the photo below shows how different the lengths are (Easky 15 4.75 metres, Kodiak 5.18 metres including the rudder), both pictures were taken without moving the boats.
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| Kodiak left - Easky 15 right |
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