Great Kayaks SA
Your Kayaking   "Insider"

Great Kayaks "Insider" - Vol 7/2011 
In This Issue
USED AND DEMO KAYAKS FOR SALE
THE NEW CHUMANI KAYAK NOW AVAILABLE. SEE THE "ANGLER" MODEL.
TIPS FOR TAKING YOUR KAYAK INTO THE SURF ZONE
BAMBA KAYAK - UPDATE
Quick Links
SEE PREVIOUS NEWSLETTERS  HERE

SMART WEBSITE DESIGN @ R2 450.00

Want to use an e-Mail template like this from Constant Contacts?

GREAT WHITE JUMPS ONTO RESEARCH BOAT
Join Our Mailing List
Hi   

Summer is creeping up and it's time to hit the rowing machines in the gym and dust off those kayaks again!  Great Kayaks has opened a "coastal" branch on the web which you can see HERE.   I always wanted a little place by the sea...lol.

  

Rumor has it that the UK riots was started by a lad in Manchester.  See a 10 second clip HERE. (humour) 

I was also saddened by an ad in the Sunday Times classified section on Sunday. It read........."IN MEMORIAM - Nations,T- sadly passed away in NZ on 30 July. Sorely missed by Div, John & the boys".

 

bokke
Rugby World Cup - Official Web Site

Go Bokke!

 

Enjoy! 
This newsletter was send to 1 225 subscribers.
 
Used and Demo Kayaks for sale

buddy
green/yellow buddy
bamba
yellow/red with new fish bag/seat/paddle

Click HERE  for more information on these boats.  

 

Chumani Kayak back in production and now also available in an "Angler" version.

 

 

The Fluid Chumani has been out of production for a while, and I'm happy to report that it is back in production. With a facelift! Check the pictures (showing the Angler version of the Chumani) and info below.

 

The Chumani is a one seater family sit-on-top based on the very successful Synergy design, featuring a soft tri-hull that is very stable. The mellow keel helps tracking in a straight line, while the hull has ample rocker to make it manoeuvrable when needed.

  

 

CHUMANI STANDARD
CHUMANI  "STANDARD"

 

CHUMANI SIDE 

  

 

chumani
CHUMANI  "ANGLER" - Fitted with 3 rod holders and bungee forward and aft.
 

 

chumani angler side
CHUMANI "ANGLER" SIDE VIEW - Standard fitted anchor trolley
 

  

The boat is just as home on the ocean and easy rivers as on flat water. The lifted bow punches through waves with ease, while the unique stern design creates stability when surfing.  The Chumani seats one paddler, with hassle free moulded-in footholds that can accommodate a large range of paddler sizes.  Four drain holes get rid of water that splashes in the boat, preventing the boat from turning into a bathtub. The boat features four handles positioned conveniently that makes it easy to manhandle.

 

 A sealed hatch behind the paddler keeps little items perfectly safe and dry. A second sealed hatch has now been added between the paddler's legs, plus a water bottle holder in front of the hatch.  The compartment on the stern is designed to hold most regularly used cooler boxes as well as a range of dry bags. The recess on the bow can also accommodate a variety of dry bags and also serve as a seat for a kid facing the paddler.  The outfitting is finished off with a drain plug for the unlikely event of water leaking into the boat, and a range of closed hooks where optional thigh straps or backrest can be attached.  See more on the Chumani HERE.

 

 

stern

bow

Taking your kayak into the surf-zone?  Here are a few pointers for better results.

 

On any beach, the waves will change as the tide rises, turns and falls. Surf is usually better to negotiate when the tide is coming in. In kayak speak, when the tide's on the push.

 

.

Punching out through surf

 

punching-surf
Punching through a wave

While you're walking down the beach, have a look at the waves and find the easiest place to launch. Take 10 to 15 minutes to assess the wave action before you decide on a launch spot. To get afloat, do a seal launch..... Place your kayak at the water's edge, pointing out to sea, using your arms to slide it into the water and hop on. Keep your kayak pointing straight into the waves. If you are not at 90 degrees to the waves, they will grab the front of your kayak, turn you sideways and shove you back up the beach.

All the waves near the beach are breaking. A breaking wave consists of a large amount of water rushing towards the beach. When a big one hits you in the chest and face, it will stop you and push you some distance backwards. It may reverse-loop a short kayak.

 

 

Punching out through even quite small waves takes some strength and determination. Try this..... As a wave hits you, lean forward as far as you can, with your forehead close to the foredeck. Reach forwards and plunge your paddle almost vertically down into the back of the wave.  Hold on so that the paddle "anchors" you in position while the wave roars past. Then paddle as fast as you can towards the open sea before the next breaking crest hits you.  Beginners will find it a lot easier if somebody gives them a push into deeper water.

 

Getting back to the beach

 

how-about-this
Know when to stay at home

 

It is not generally a good idea to plan a sea kayak trip which finishes on a surf beach. Just because you launched there does not mean you have to beach there!  By the time you get there, you may find big waves breaking all the way along. Even an experienced kayaker may have a rough ride.  But there you are, in your kayak at sea, looking towards the beach, and in between is the back of a surf line that you don't really want to get involved with. You can see monster waves crashing down and thundering clouds of spray....... Stay well back from the surf line when observing as occasional bigger waves can break 20 to 30 meters further seaward.

 

You have several options. Do not rush! ....study the waves for a while before you enter the surf zone.  First, look for a quiet part of the beach. Even if surf is breaking all the way along the beach, chances are the waves are smaller at one end. There may be a gap where waves lose power, slow down and hit the beach more gently. If a river enters the sea at that beach, there may be a wave-free zone in the river channel but this is not guaranteed.

 

At beaches where there are no rivers, there is very often a wave-free zone at a rip current. A breaking wave consists of a lot of water rushing up the beach, and that water has to get back out to sea somehow. On many beaches it moves sideways along the beach at walking pace until it can go no further, and then it flows back out to sea in a narrow, intense current like a river. Waves there are usually smaller and often don't break at all.

 

If there is no quiet place on the beach, look for a quiet time. If you watch for +- ten minutes you will start to notice a pattern. Usually, a set of three or four big waves comes in every five minutes or so. The surf may be milder between sets.

 

It may be easier to go to a different location to get out with your kayaks. There is possibly another beach just round the headland which faces the waves less directly and so has much less surf. There may be a little protected bay nearby.  If you really, really don't like the look of the surf and you have no other choice, you could try waiting a few hours. Under normal conditions, big surf seldom lasts more than a few hours. The most common thing for one kayaker to say to another is "you should have been here earlier". Either the swell dies away or the rising or falling tide changes the profile of the beach so that waves break more gently.

  

 

When approaching a surf beach from seaward, you often can't see what's inshore of you until the last minute. If you find there is a surfer, swimmer or child in your way, it's your duty to avoid them. If you're in a sea kayak you have three choices. You can: 

Try to steer to one side or the other. Works well unless it makes you broach because then you'll still be heading unstoppably towards the beach but now clearing a swath 5 meters wide. Then again, you're not going to cause any real damage if you run somebody over while going sideways. 

Try an emergency stop by paddling backwards, digging your blade deep and hard into the wave. Works well on very small waves.

Hold your breath and capsize on purpose. Works well on small and medium waves.

 

Paddle strokes for the surf zone

To steer during a surf run, you can exaggerate a "stern rudder" so that the rear blade of your paddle is far out to the side of the kayak and has a powerful turning effect. While in motion down a wave you can also angle the blade so that it skims over the surface like a water ski and gives you solid support while you lean on it and press down.

 

Paddle towards the stern of the boat
Paddle towards the stern of the boat

Everybody often capsizes in surf. Remember to always roll with the wave, so that you come up on the sea side of your kayak, not the beach side. If you try to roll against the rotational forces within the wave, you will probably fail. Rolling with the wave is easy.  When the wave breaks, your kayak may be caught sideways and carried towards the beach.

 

Do a low brace - just reach out and put your paddle blade flat on top of the wave. Unless the wave is very small you need to lean into it. The wave will do the work, giving a surprising amount of support to your paddle blade. You can often lean the full weight of your upper body onto it.  You must certainly edge your kayak towards the wave. A set of thigh straps is ideal for sit-on-top kayaks and gives you full control of the kayak.

 

 

 

Do not lean away from the wave
Do not lean away from the wave

The kayaker in this image did not lean into the wave so when the wave shoved him sideways the bottom of his kayak caught the water. He's going to capsize. It's a bit like tripping over a rock while trying to take a step sideways.  If you're sideways on to a big breaking wave, a low brace won't cut it so you need a high brace. If you are surfing down the face of a steep wave and the front end of your boat starts to dig into the water, lean your body backwards otherwise you are going to do a "pearl dive" and forward loop. (see 'pearl dive" below.  

 

low-brace

Surfing a sea kayak

Sea kayaks surf beautifully on fast waves with a shallow gradient. Out at sea, if you are travelling in the same direction as the waves and your kayak is not heavily loaded, you can catch one wave after another and reach your destination much faster.

In beach surf it may be a different story. If you are surfing a playboat or a surf kayak you can retain control, choose your direction of travel, make rapid course changes like a skier, loop round an obstacle, or travel diagonally along the wave until you reach a low point where you can paddle back out to sea. In a 4.5 metre traditional sea kayak or fishing kayak these maneuvers become a lot more challenging.  

 

Some  sea kayaks are very fast so you may outrun the wave. Then when it breaks you are a few metres ahead of the "washing-machine" turbulence of the break, you stay dry and upright, and you get a jet fighter boost to your speed when the foam reaches your stern.

 

However in big and steep surf there is a good chance you will lose all control on the way to the beach. There are three main ways for that to happen. Each of them is really good fun as long as the beach is sand, the waves are spilling and not dumping, you are experienced and can roll, there is nobody between you and the beach, and you have a strong unladen kayak, with no expensive equipment tucked loosely under your deck-lines:

 

1. Inability to change course

If you're in a traditional sea kayak or longer fishing kayak and running down a steep wave and veer off course, you probably won't be able to straighten up.  In a playboat or surf kayak you could easily change course. In a traditional sea kayak you can stern rudder, bow rudder and stern brace all you like but the deep, v-shaped bow of your kayak has now taken over. Chances are you will end up parallel to the wave, which will catch up and break on top of you.  There are some modern sea kayak designs which have a flattened underwater shape instead of the traditional deep, v-shaped bow. The idea is that you keep control when surfing steep waves. It really does work very nicely in surf, being both fast and manoeuvrable. 

 

colloisionIn the image, both the kayakers are doing a stern brace on the side nearest the wave. Which seems strange since that tends to turn them towards the wave when probably they would both prefer to turn the other way for a straight run to the beach. The thing is, they are halfway down a steep ramp of water, and they are stern bracing at least partly to keep stable and upright. It is a bad idea to catch the same wave as another kayaker. If you and your friend are twenty to thirty meters apart on the same wave when each of you start a sweeping high-speed turn towards the other, you will soon be closing with a combined speed of 60 km/h and it is quite likely one of you will end up as a kebab.

 

2. Sidesurfing

surfing-broached
Sideways Surfing

On a breaking wave, any boat has a strong tendency to rotate until it is parallel to the wave (broach) and the kayak will then bounce towards the beach sideways, in the grip of the wave. This is called a side-surf, broached run or bongo slide.  In a short play-boat or surf kayak you can quickly regain control. In a sea kayak you may be unable to regain control until the wave lets you go near the beach.

  

A low brace is enough to keep you upright when a small wave hits you from the side, but in surf you will need to do a continuous high brace as in this image. It's much easier than it sounds, because the wave will support your paddle blade and you can rest your entire body weight on it.  Lean into the wave, plant your paddle blade horizontally into the wave with the power face downwards, raise the edge of the kayak which is away from the wave, and hang on because for the next 15 seconds things are going to be rough. However big the wave, don't let your hands go much above shoulder level or you risk getting a dislocated shoulder.  You must raise the down-wave edge of your kayak as far as you can. If you don't raise it enough, the bottom of your kayak will catch the water and you will capsize down-wave.

 

3. Pearl diving

When a traditional sea kayak is running on a steep wave, the v-shaped front of the boat often starts to bury itself under the surface. Sometimes you can prevent this by leaning hard backwards in your seat. If not, you will slow down sharply and the back of the kayak will start to rise out of the water.  On a medium to large wave the kayak will often go vertical in a pearl dive and then topple over in a forward loop or pitch-pole.  If your kayak goes vertical on a wave you can sometimes do a quick paddle stroke to twist your kayak 180 degrees on its long axis and land the right way up but now going backwards. That's a pirouette or dry loop. It's actually easier to do in a sea kayak than anything else because shorter boats loop so fast that you don't have much time to react.

  

If a long kayak stays vertical for several seconds, long enough for the crest of the wave to catch up, the front end of the kayak will find itself deep underwater. Water pressure will squeeze the end of the kayak and make it rise vertically in an ender. For about three seconds you get an unrivalled aerial view of the surf. A kayak can rise so fast that it leaves the water completely in a skyrocket.

pearl-dive
Pearl Diving ie: Gat oor Kop diving

It may have occurred to you that a sea kayak is about 5 metres long, so if it's vertical in the water the front may be 2 metres under the surface. Is there usually that much depth of water in surf? Well no, there often isn't. The bottom end of a vertical sea kayak may land gently on the sandy sea bed in such a way that you gently polevault over it as in this image. 

  

The risk in big steep surf is that it may slam into the sea bed with spine-jarring force and, if you have a composite or fibreglass, snap it in half just in front of the footrest. If you feel like a surf session you can take a plastic kayak or a surf kayak and go play somewhere waves form up, give you a fast run and then fade away again into deep water; or visit a deep water playwave.

 

 Surfing a surf kayak

surfing
White water surfing action

White-water kayakers are used to surfing standing waves on the river and most of them occasionally take their playboats and go surfing at the beach. They catch a green wave and go straight towards the beach, using their paddle in a stern brace for support and to steer at a slight angle to right or left. When the wave breaks, they often do a forward loop, land upside down, roll and go back out to do it again. Playboats loop much faster than sea kayaks but you may have time to turn a loop into a pirouette.

These are old-school moves. They're fun but only a fraction of what a surf kayaker can do in a surf kayak or waveski. At the very least, (s)he can steer right and left, stay in control whether the wave is still green or has started breaking, and not loop the kayak unless (s)he wants to. Surfing today means being able to carve turns so that having accelerated down to the bottom of the wave, you can turn and go back up to the top. With practice and a suitable kayak you can catch a wave, go down to the bottom of its steep front face, then turn and cut back up the face of the wave, turn again and come back down, and keep on doing that all the way to the beach. Or go airborne for a moment at the crest. Or do a 360 degree flat spin.

 

Rescue in the surf zone

If somebody goes for an accidental swim, another kayaker can sometimes tow or push the casualty out to sea for a deep-water rescue or do a lightning-fast rescue within the surf zone.

 

It is usually best if the casualty swims to the beach. If that's you, keep hold of your paddle and one end of your kayak. Each breaking wave will push you in that direction. If you don't seem to be making much progress you are probably in a rip current heading directly out to sea. Swim parallel to the beach until you are out of the rip, then swim to the beach.

Stay on the seaward side of your kayak, especially when the water is only knee deep. Let the wave hit you first and then the kayak, not the wave hitting the kayak onto you.

 

Article by Wesley Kisting (edited)

 
BAMBA FISHING KAYAK 

From an initial weight of 31 kgs, the Bamba hull has been reduced to a weight of 29kgs. This was achieved by the engineers at the Fluid factory in Parys by applying smart engineering techniques. Fluid Kayaks are world leaders in plastic molding technology and one of the top 3 kayaking brands in the world. Similar kayak models like the Tarpon and Ocean Kayak Trident weigh in at over 34 kgs.

 

bamba fishing
Bamba Fishing
 
  
Bamba Tpouring
Bamba Touring

fluid kayaks
Fluid Kayaks - sailing and DIY motorized options


What we do at Great Kayaks SA!
  • deliver your new kayak & accessories to your home or holiday home Free
    at no additional cost!
  • answer any questions you may have on kayaking. If we do not know the answer, we will find it for you.
  • advise on fitting and rigging of kayaks.
  • give you advice or an honest opinion on any make or kayak model you may have interest in.
  • put you in touch with any club, group, association or body if you need help
  • source any accessory you may want if we cannot supply you immediately.
  • give you the best price on our range of products.
  • provide you with after sale service as quick as possible and do whatever it takes to keep you kayaking safely. 

Sincerely,

Nick Davel