White water boats

[T.Low]

I remember when Dancers were the new "short" boat! Damn I'm getting old...

Graham

Ha! Then the really rad Corsica came along and the white water world changed forever!

White water in an Otter?!! Oh dear. Thats like a '75 Ford LTD wagon for an Expo rig.

I guess I should atleast try to add value to my post, so let me agree with all the above posters; Take Lessons. Buy a used package if you can and put the saved money toward lessons.

 

[Black Dog]

White water in an Otter?!! Oh dear. Thats like a '75 Ford LTD wagon for an Expo rig.

We're not doing huge white water, just little short runs of class 3 rapids with plenty of space before the next rapid to recover if you would happen to dump. My uncle and his friends are running stuff like the Kootenai River (link, not the falls in the back ground though) and I stay on the rocks above and enjoy the entertainment and keep a throw bag close at hand. I'd like to work my way up to shooting these rapids and playboating and whatnot but for now I'm still getting the hang of basic maneuvers and stuff. My uncle is a pretty good teacher and he knows my mom would kill him if he put me in any real danger.

 

[T.Low]

... any real danger.

I know exactly what you are talking about. I used to take my mom's '68 Cutlas wagon on fs roads and back into the woods to the moto cross tracks when I was 15 yrs old. The only problem I really had was that the headlights would pop out after you got the car airborne.

And I'm not knocking you at all, and I certainly don't want to be the ww boating Nazi. You're not letting the fact that you don't have access to a ww boat stop from paddleing; your making the most out of what's available and your researching better alternatives. Half the reason I chuckle is because of thinking back to the stuff I started with. Your learning to read the water. You're living life, enjoying good times with good freinds and family, and having a blast doing it. Totally my kind a guy,dude, no doubt.

I'm not thinking about danger in a class three, rather the fact that a rec boat such as the Otter can certainly retard your growth as a ww paddler. You won't help but to pick up some bad habits and bad stroke technique etc etc. Paddling is all about the symbiotic relationship between body, boat, and blade. A rec boat does not allow you to athletically use your lower body; it relegates you to almost dead weight status in the boat. But seriously, whatever, it is what it is.

Not to mention you could be rolling and bracing by now.

Its a humonguosly wide boat that really won't allow access to a decent vertical power stroke.

There are no rails to speak of; it's ...LOL...I'm just picturing the shape of the bow and stearn... and the flat, (yet not planeing, hull), and the cockpit that fits like a...o Jeebus.

Oh well, I mean of course you gotta admit it's a frikin chuckle that you're on class III in an Otter, thats all. If you don't chuckle about it now, then you certainly will this time next year.:ylsmoke:

 

[Black Dog]

The otter is fun but I want to upgrade to a real white water boat. The people I've been paddling with have white water boats and you can tell that they have to work a lot less to maneuver, when they catch eddies they just snap in but I have to put more effort to it. The otter is big enough that I'm more sitting inside it rather than attaching it to my body like a properly sized white water boat. I did try rolling it in the lake behind my house but with no way to brace myself inside it and the flimsy universal fit skirt pops off on its own.

Being so close to Missoula and other white water hot spots there are a lot of kayaks on craigslist and elsewhere but they're all playboats with a real hard chine and not enough capacity to hold my bulky body.

 

[vanderpooch]

My suggestion: go to boatertalk.com and find a used RPM MAX. That is a killer boat to learn in. has good volume and VERY soft chines. I handrolled that boat something like 22 times in a row one day just playin around

Or I have a Jackson Super Hero and a Super Fun and BOTH are REALLY easy to roll and "SUPER" easy to paddle

John

 

[grahamfitter]

...I'm just picturing the shape of the bow and stearn... and the flat, (yet not planeing, hull), and the cockpit that fits like a...o Jeebus.

Oh well, I mean of course you gotta admit it's a frikin chuckle that you're on class III in an Otter, thats all. If you don't chuckle about it now, then you certainly will this time next year.:ylsmoke:

Look for standing (breaking) waves to surf. Besides being one of the most enjoyable things you can do in a kayak, surfing will teach you a huge amount about boat control, weight distribution, etc. Surfing in an Otter (we need photographic evidence) will quickly give you hero status!

Likewise pirouettes and loops which only look good in long kayaks where the pilot looks down at the water and thinks "that's going to hurt if I hit it from here", several seconds beforehand. Also if the boat is vertical and only the stern is visible.

My off-topic opinionated commentary: The new generation of short whitewater playboats suck for crowd pleasing. Sure you may be able to do a McTwist or whatever its called but however hard it is they all look the same to most people, even other paddlers. On the other hand, if you can get a 4 meter kayak vertical and completely out of the water and do an air guitar with your paddle for several seconds then everybody will love it! Damn, I'm getting old. I remember when Dancers were short...

Cheers,
Graham

 

[T.Low]

Look for standing (breaking) waves to surf. Besides being one of the most enjoyable things you can do in a kayak, surfing will teach you a huge amount about boat control, weight distribution, etc. Surfing in an Otter (we need photographic evidence) will quickly give you hero status!

Likewise pirouettes and loops which only look good in long kayaks where the pilot looks down at the water and thinks "that's going to hurt if I hit it from here", several seconds beforehand. Also if the boat is vertical and only the stern is visible.

My off-topic opinionated commentary: The new generation of short whitewater playboats suck for crowd pleasing. Sure you may be able to do a McTwist or whatever its called but however hard it is they all look the same to most people, even other paddlers. On the other hand, if you can get a 4 meter kayak vertical and completely out of the water and do an air guitar with your paddle for several seconds then everybody will love it! Damn, I'm getting old. I remember when Dancers were short...

Cheers,
Graham

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Cheers,
Graham

Dancers are still short, I just tipped a short one the other night!

And I hear ya. A few years back I paddled the Thompson in BC with the western contingent of the Canadian Slalom team and some American slalom boaters from Wa., and my buddy Sal who is himself Team Malasia It was great seeing slalom boats linking ends.

 

[BigAl]

. On the other hand, if you can get a 4 meter kayak vertical and completely out of the water and do an air guitar with your paddle for several seconds then everybody will love it!

I'd like to see that too:sombrero:

I understand where the poster is coming from. I just got my first kayak, a giant rec boat. I'm a terrible kayaker but a pretty strong swimmer, so I try to hit every hole/wave I see just to see what will happen.

 

[T.Low]

I'd like to see that too:sombrero:

I understand where the poster is coming from. I just got my first kayak, a giant rec boat. I'm a terrible kayaker but a pretty strong swimmer, so I try to hit every hole/wave I see just to see what will happen.

Just as long as you know the difference between a smiling hole and a frowning hole...and a pour over for that matter. :ylsmoke:

 

[Black Dog]

I still haven't found the perfect used boat yet, but even if I did we are kind of tapped for cash right now with bills and jeep repairs. But tomorrow evening we are meeting at a nice calm pond and I'm going to get some practice flipping a white water boat upside down a reaching forward to pop the skirt, and maybe I'll even see if I can accidentally eskimo roll.