markstephens Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 John Leonard and I put in at Hull Gut this morning in a borrowed 22-foot Seaward Passat for a run over to Nahant and back. We were trying out the tandem with an eye to possibly taking it around Martha’s Vineyard later this summer in a one-day 50 nautical mile circumnavigation. First, we needed to see if we could stand paddling together in the same boat all day and/or if we could prevent collapsing in apathy while tooling along in a 25”-wide barge on flat water all day. John took the stern seat, since he is an excellent driver. Before I could get in, he started drifting out with the outgoing tide. It was kind of fun watching him filibuster with his paddle and the rudder trying to control this beast with about fifteen feet of it out in front of where he was situated, while drifting backward in current. Eventually, he got it back within my reach, I clambered in, and then we sweep-stroked for about half a mile to get it turned bow to the sea. It must have been John’s first day with his new feet, because his consistent right-ruddering all morning had me futilely adding extra strokes on my right side in an attempt to correct course. Lifting a knee to try to put the boat on edge had absolutely no effect either. Occasionally, I would nonchalantly point out where Nahant was relative to our heading, and we would come back on course for all of a minute or two before veering off again. We also quickly found out how mismatched our cadences were. John’s “racer’s” pace is somewhat faster than my lazy touring stroke, so he kept having to skip strokes to stay in some kind of synch. The cockpits in the Passat are pretty close together, so the occasional paddle clash confirmed our fumblings. We both had nightmarish flashbacks to our respective tandem canoeing days, but eventually we got things worked out pretty well. By giving me the shorter paddle and John a longer one, our cadences pretty well evened out. Speed-junkies that we both are, we decided to see what she could do in a flat-water sprint with no wind. We got nine miles an hour out of her before the caffeine in my bloodstream started giving me palpitations and severe shortness of breath. Within an hour, John and I both agreed that the seats in this thing had to go. Two bad backs plus two pathetically uncomfortable nylon-covered picnic table cushions equaled two grunting, groaning paddlers very ready to stand up by the time we hit the beach at Nahant. We did the eight-mile crossing in a bit under 90 minutes for a respectable 4 ¾ knot pace. John had no interest in the latest fad of rolling tandem kayaks. As he knows just how bad my roll is, it’s probably just as well. We briefly discussed extending the trip up to Deveraux Beach in Marblehead and then shooting straight across to Hull from there. As this was the first official trip of the season for Sick Puppy Expeditions, it needed to be painful, but this would have pushed the outing up toward the 30-mile range and John’s back wasn’t up for it given the picnic-table seat. Ultimately, I wasn’t up for it either. We headed for the Graves instead. Throughout the day, John needled me about my recent forays over to the “Dark Side”. In his best Yoda voice, he instructed, “It is danger you seek, hmmm? An adrenaline junkie you have become. To control these inward desires you must. Desire leads to ambition, ambition to lust, and lust to – whitewater. The Emperor himself paddles whitewater.” As we approached the Graves, we openly questioned when this trip would start to become fun. Then, as we crossed the ledges at low tide, the answer appeared – WAVES! Water actually started to reach the spraydecks, and then even into our faces. Pathetic junkies that we are, we tried to surf this 500-pound aircraft carrier in the two-foot waves and ten-knot breeze. At 22-feet long, the boat was usually on two crests at a time, and we needed to surf diagonally to get any ride at all. Paddling like crazed windmills, we managed about two seconds at 9.7 MPH before the boat broached. Exhausting ourselves in multiple vain sprinting attempts to catch the feeble rides that the light breeze afforded, we limped into Hull Gut just after low tide. Overall, I think John was disappointed with the speeds we were able to achieve. We did just under 18 miles, half of it in a headwind and/or beam sea, with a cruising speed of about 5 MPH. I think for this early in the season, I would not have done so well in my single. We’ll probably paddle the Passat some more and see if our speeds improve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glad Posted May 7, 2005 Share Posted May 7, 2005 Great report. I know that feeling associated with clashing blades. It's a primary reason for divorce or the desire to rip someone's face off...maybe that's a little too strong, but you know what I mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin B (RPS Coach) Posted May 7, 2005 Share Posted May 7, 2005 It is sycronization seek you must. One, two, three should both you count. Only then will truly tandem you be. Obvious advice of course. I just wanted try out my own Yoda speak. Believe it or not, there are just so few chances to do so nowadays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markstephens Posted May 7, 2005 Author Share Posted May 7, 2005 I paddled it again yesterday with my brother, this time with me in the driver seat. I now know what John went through. My brother was using a longer paddle and had a slower cadence, but again, the solution was to give him my 215cm paddle and I took his 230-240cm sculling oar and our cadences evened out. I think counting out loud would really take the fun out of it pretty quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin B (RPS Coach) Posted May 7, 2005 Share Posted May 7, 2005 ">I think counting out loud would really take the fun out of >it pretty quickly." I didn't mean the entire trip--that would not only take the fun out of it, but probably drive all concerned insane. It might work for the first five minutes or so until you get the rhythem down. I would guess, however, that the responsibility does lie with the backseat driver, since s/he has at least the visual advantage regarding timing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glad Posted May 7, 2005 Share Posted May 7, 2005 I've tried singing -"Volga boat men" and many things imaginable including rhythmic scat. It can be silly (isn't that part of the the point?)but effective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chpaton Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 My first kayak was a tandem. One paddler has to set the pace, the other has to match it. Since the bow paddler can't see the stern paddler, the bow paddler is the "stroke" s/he sets the pace. The stern paddle needs to match it and be content with the pace set by the bow. It doesn't work very well otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B Posted June 2, 2005 Share Posted June 2, 2005 JL used a rudder? That's a first! That's why you couldn't go straight. Never let John be in control of anything! You all should know better by now. B Bob Burnett Seattle Puget Sound Paddlers Network "Whatever it takes" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 Mark after reading Ken's post I found this boat: http://www.westsideboatshop.com/html/Kayak...ing/Bullitt.htm This boat could get your Martha’s Vineyard circumnavigation done in a day. The bigest issue I see whith that boat is only 20" wide so I can't fit in the boat. -Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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