Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board

Re: DISTANCE TO PADDLE- Loaded or Unloaded Boats?

Posted By: David
Date: Friday, 27 October 2000, at 12:07 a.m.

: I read all of these posts and one thing not mentioned was time.

: Most group paddles are limited by time.

: Schedule what you want for a day and paddle half in the morning. Use your
: time for that half to estimate when to start for the second half.

: I can paddle at 4mph for 8 hours for several days at a time but ... I spread
: that 8 hours over 12 or 14 if I can. Breaks every hour help everyone.

Hey Folks

I just don't accept these 4.0 knot figures. You must be paddling with unloaded boats. In a loaded kayak, with 150-200 lb of gear, you will not paddle at this speed. It is very hard to sustain this for many hours, if you do it the first day, you will pay for it the following one. You need to allow for slow and fast paddling speeds, as our energy waxes and wanes throughout a typical day. After a good breakfast, you might well get a good 4 knot clip going, but by 2:00 in the afternoon, you might be dragging your butt, and just plain feeling tired. It is better to estimate lower and be pleasantly surprised, then to plan to cover 30 miles a day.

David

Messages In This Thread

Re: DISTANCE TO PADDLE- Loaded or Unloaded Boats?
David -- Friday, 27 October 2000, at 12:07 a.m.

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