My daughter and I went up to close the camp today. Wasn't a whole lot of wind but got up on plane a few times while buzzing around for a couple hours. Figured out what the annoying clunking was when we pulled the boat out...ice in the amas.
Sacandaga and boy was it. However, it was 20 degrees colder when I left there at 6 then when I got home at 8.
It's a Windrider 17. Its built like and takes the abuse of a kayak but planes and will pick 2 hulls up out of the water. Picked it up on Craigslist earlier this year and found it is the perfect way to spend some quality time with my daughters http://www.windrider.com/windrider-17/
Nice but could get wet and cold, I bet. Shifting your body around could really affect the trim. Have you ever dumped it?
When it's cold, you spend all your time in the cockpits and the boat is remarkably dry for the speed it attains. The boat is also remarkably stable and relatively simple to sail for the speeds it hits. I may be biased by windsurfing experience but it accelerates instead of heels and when you are poorly trimmed in high winds it tends to bury the leeward ama and stall the boat as opposed to rolling it. I was looking for a laser when I came across this and glad I did. My daughter went to sailing camp later in the summer knowing how to sail upwind and deal with wind shifts....then swept every single race This is one of the better Youtube videos (warning music that accompanies it is some kind of country with profanity in it)
Awesome. Do they all come with a furling jib? Is the main put up before you put it in the water or after. As Campinspecter has often said, I am no ballerina on decks. We miss our sailboat but Campinspecter has neck problems from the vibration of running machine for 35 years. Looking up is quite difficult and the unceasing motion is a problem. This Windrider is sure tempting though.
The 17 comes with a furling jib and the optional furling screacher (on my santa's list). They make a couple smaller models but I think the 17 would be right right given the pictures I've seen of the water near you. In water that is just approaching whities, there is very little motion as it planes from wave top to wave top. Once they are cresting it turns into a surfing game on the way down and then kind of a snowboarding carve up the backside of the next wave. The 17 is very comfortable for all day rides as you sit in a seat facing forward and foot steer (unless you are lounging in the tramps). It has floorboards with a bilge and pump so you stay dry in the boat, then a large cuddy for its size forward easily big enough for beach camping. Some folks mount the optional outboard bracket on but I find a kayak paddle is more than adequate auxilary propulsion. If you'd like, you can PM your email address and I'll send you a bunch of pics and videos.
Because of the tidal currents, we would have to look at an outboard auxilary as paddling against a 2 - 4 kt current is no fun and you don't get anywhere but backwards. Your offer of more info is sooooooo tempting but I think our sailing days are over. It is so easy to get caught up in the wishing part though.
If you find yourselves out my way any time, feel free to give me a shout and I'll take you for a ride. My daughter and I are scheming a run from Niagara Falls around the Canadian side of Lake Ontario through Toronto and Kingston to Brockville for next summer.
