More crickets chirping!

SWriverstone

SWriverstone

Established Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2021
Messages
544
Location
Eugene, OR
Only hearing crickets around here, LOL. What's everyone doing?? Hiding indoors, warm and dry, out of the rain? Nah—you're kayakers!! You love being cold and wet! :p

I took my new-to-me Tsunami 175 (rotomolded) for a long paddle the other day...and it increased my appreciation for the ultra-rockerless design. I found out that even without the rudder in the water, that thing tracks like it's on rails. I paddled 6 miles each way and barely ever had to do even a hint of a steering stroke. That's perfect if you're paddling long distances from point A to point B—especially with its whopping 400lb carrying capacity (paddler weight included). :)

Still haven't had the chance to paddle it a good distance in wind and waves/chop...so i'm looking forward to that.

Scott
 
I changed a rudder line today. Which means I added a few items to the to-do list. I'll make a post about it somewhere else. That bit of work gets me all ready for a 24 hour paddle this weekend. I'll write a report on that. It should be entirely below freezing, which should make it a bit interesting even though I'm just doing laps of a lake. After this I won't have too long before paddling has to be in the ocean.

I have also started adding notes to another chart, in the very intitial stages of another long trip. That and a few courses booked for the spring has given me something to look forward to.
 
SWriverstone said:
Only hearing crickets around here, LOL. What's everyone doing?? Hiding indoors, warm and dry, out of the rain? Nah—you're kayakers!! You love being cold and wet! :p

I took my new-to-me Tsunami 175 (rotomolded) for a long paddle the other day...and it increased my appreciation for the ultra-rockerless design. I found out that even without the rudder in the water, that thing tracks like it's on rails. I paddled 6 miles each way and barely ever had to do even a hint of a steering stroke. That's perfect if you're paddling long distances from point A to point B—especially with its whopping 400lb carrying capacity (paddler weight included). :)

Still haven't had the chance to paddle it a good distance in wind and waves/chop...so i'm looking forward to that.

Scott
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Congratulations on the new boat. Always exciting. And the joy of rudderless paddling ;)
 
Despite my Tsunami 175 tracking like it's on rails, I still think I'm going to replace the rudder with a SmartTrack foil rudder and probably Toe Pilot pedals/footbraces. The current rudder is kinda wonky, and is also very stiff (e.g. I sort of have to stomp on the pegs to get the rudder to move—which I know isn't right because the rudder in my smaller Tsunami (165) is very responsive. Maybe the rudder cable tubing is gunked up by salt? I'm not sure.

I've never used the Toe Pilot pedals/braces...but it seems people who use them say they're great, so...
 
CPS said:
I changed a rudder line today. Which means I added a few items to the to-do list. I'll make a post about it somewhere else. That bit of work gets me all ready for a 24 hour paddle this weekend. I'll write a report on that. It should be entirely below freezing, which should make it a bit interesting even though I'm just doing laps of a lake. After this I won't have too long before paddling has to be in the ocean.

I have also started adding notes to another chart, in the very intitial stages of another long trip. That and a few courses booked for the spring has given me something to look forward to.
Click to expand...

Wow, 24hrs nonstop—and coated in ice too!

I've been thinking for a while now that I'd really love to attempt the MR340 race—a 340-mile nonstop race on the Missouri River. That's typically in the 40-50 hour range in terms of time. And sleeping is optional. Top finishers usually don't sleep and suffer hallucinations...which sounds interesting. :p
 
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CPS said:
I changed a rudder line today. Which means I added a few items to the to-do list. I'll make a post about it somewhere else. That bit of work gets me all ready for a 24 hour paddle this weekend. I'll write a report on that. It should be entirely below freezing, which should make it a bit interesting even though I'm just doing laps of a lake. After this I won't have too long before paddling has to be in the ocean.

I have also started adding notes to another chart, in the very intitial stages of another long trip. That and a few courses booked for the spring has given me something to look forward to.
Click to expand...
I've just booked a six-day guided trip, close to (relatively speaking) your neck of the woods. Gwaii Haanas, next August.
 
Twempie said:
I've just booked a six-day guided trip, close to (relatively speaking) your neck of the woods. Gwaii Haanas, next August.
Click to expand...

Siiiiick. It's definitely on the list. In fact, it might just be on the chart I'm making notes on ;)
 
SWriverstone said:
The current rudder is kinda wonky, and is also very stiff (e.g. I sort of have to stomp on the pegs to get the rudder to move—which I know isn't right because the rudder in my smaller Tsunami (165) is very responsive. Maybe the rudder cable tubing is gunked up by salt? I'm not sure.
Click to expand...

Does your big Tsunami have the smooth and somewhat shiny grey spectra rudder cord? I have found it somewhat susceptible to being fluffed up by grit that gets inside the tubing, which can cause the line to swell up a bit and cause extra friction. Same deal with some of the Hobie rudder line, but that's a different beast.

Another cause could be the tubing being kinked or pinched under the P clips which hold it below deck. I've seen that where the tightening of the through hull bolt causes the P clip to spin.
 
SWriverstone said:
I've never used the Toe Pilot pedals/braces...but it seems people who use them say they're great, so...
Click to expand...
The people who don't like them may have replaced them with something else. :)

The endowment effect is a cognitive bias where people tend to value items they own more highly than identical items they do not own This elevated valuation can lead owners to rate their item more favorably (saying it is "great") than a non-owner might .
Another related concept that contributes to this behavior is the mere ownership effect, which is the tendency for people who own an object to evaluate it more favorably than people who do not, often simply because of the connection formed through ownership.
Click to expand...
 
SWriverstone said:
I still think I'm going to replace the rudder with a SmartTrack foil rudder
Click to expand...
I like the Smart Track rudders on my boats, but they are the '180 degree' style which stick straight up when not in the water- creating extra windage. My boats are 'rudder boats' so that's not a problem- the rudder blades are in the water when I'm on the move. However, you mentioned paddling your Tsunami without using the rudder, so a '270 degree' style where the rudder blade flops down on the deck might be better. I'm not sure how well the SmartTrack version like that works. Another possibility is a rudder which slides out of the water up on to the deck when the retract cord is pulled.
 
Here's a picture of what John is describing if you're unfamiliar with the vertical stowing rudder. I had another Smart track rudder on another kayak that stowed straight out. That was more annoying.

I have my rudder deployed 100% of the time. This kayak is meant to cover distance, not be agile. There's theoretically increased drag, but that's easily offset by more efficient paddling.


1000004943.jpg
 
I have to wonder how big of a difference a vertical stow vs horizontal stow on the deck would actually be in regards to windage.

I swapped for the big blade so that it would reach into the water better when I find myself on a wave. Even still, it's smaller in cross sectional area than the brim of my ugliest hat...
 
CPS said:
Does your big Tsunami have the smooth and somewhat shiny grey spectra rudder cord? I have found it somewhat susceptible to being fluffed up by grit that gets inside the tubing, which can cause the line to swell up a bit and cause extra friction. Same deal with some of the Hobie rudder line, but that's a different beast.

Another cause could be the tubing being kinked or pinched under the P clips which hold it below deck. I've seen that where the tightening of the through hull bolt causes the P clip to spin.
Click to expand...
No spectra cord, it’s got the steel cables (which I think are the norm on all Wilderness Systems boats?). I’ll definitely check the cable tubing and clips.

This is a 2014 boat and the rudder is just kinda crappy—seems cheaply made, with a plastic blade. My Tsunami 165 (2008) has a much better metal-blade rudder which works fine.
 
JohnAbercrombie said:
The people who don't like them may have replaced them with something else. :)
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What else is there? Actually, I think I remember someone talking about pedals where the entire pedal rotates for steering? (Like gas pedal style?)

Though my Tsunami does paddle well without the rudder, I think like you (and Pascal) I’d use it 100% of the time so the vertical-stowing SmartTrack foil wouldn’t bother me.
 
I think they switched to spectra in 2015. I'm any event, the same kind of issues would cause it to misbehave. It's a bit more annoying taking a steel cable out and reinstalling it, best to just replace it if you did take it out.

Soapy water and a syringe can sometimes help dislodge gunk. I'd be tempted to replace rudder lines on any used boat. Easy to do and then I know what condition of they're in.
 
SWriverstone said:
What else is there?
Click to expand...
The SeaLect pedals like @CPS uses - the whole pedal rotates.
The BigFoot pedals which are like a surfski pedal with a fixed bottom bar and upper hinged sections.
And @Mac50L may drop in with his recommendation for a DIY full-foot version.
The SeaLects (like the ToePilots) don't block the stowage area fwd of your feet.
 
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