Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board

Re: in trouble...in sponson trouble

Posted By: Brian Nystrom
Date: Wednesday, 20 December 2000, at 12:01 p.m.

In Response To: in trouble...in sponson trouble (tom)

: OK, SO I GOT SUCKED IN
: Went to Tim’s www to see what he had to say. A LOT!
: He has A LOT TO SAY. Some of it is true but this tends to
: get lost in all he has to say and he has A LOT TO SAY.

Unfortunately, most of it is based on half-truths, incomplete information and misinterpretations of the basic physics of waves and boats.

: I wish I was as sure of myself as Tim is. Enough of that.

Repeating something that is incorrect will never make it true, no matter how sure you are of yourself. Tim hasn't learned that yet.

: A few points. I think the sponsons may have some useful
: applications. I don’t know what exactly because I have never
: used them. However, it does seem to be something I will try.

The primary uses that I can see are when fishing or diving/snorkelling from your boat, in relatively calm water. Sponsons would allow you to relax while landing a fish and easily re-enter the boat after a dive.

They would also have some utility for stabilizing the boat of a sick or injured paddler who is not capable of doing so on their own. Unfortunately, for this to be of use, you must be in a group and all of the boats must be equipped with sponson rigging, if not carrying their own sponsons. With Sea Wings, you MUST have your own sponsons, since they cannot be readily adjusted to a boat when you're on the water. If someone were to make sponsons that could be easily attached to any boat with fore and aft deck rigging and could be adjusted while on the water, they could be a valuable rescue aid. Sea Wings are NOT the solution.

: My primary problem with his view is that he has accepted the
: premise that one gets something for nothing. That one can be
: a good paddler without practice. He finds much fault with the
: idea that one should spend time practicing self and assisted
: rescues - including how to roll. He states that if one must practice
: rescues so much the rescue(s) must not be very good. That they must have
: some built in faults that are very great and so they are not useful.
: He makes the argument that the sponson rescue is so easy that
: very little practice is needed. In fact many people do it the first time.
: To take that to the next logical step would be to say that bow rudders,
: low and high braces, edging and leaning, balance, draws, draws
: on the move, hanging draws, etc must not be good to use in a kayak
: because they all take work to learn and they all need to be practiced
: on a regular basis if one is to use them when needed.
: I might be wrong but if one does not put in time learning how to
: move their boat where they want it to go, how to keep it upright, and
: how to stay in it or get back in if it does not stay upright I would
: assume they would not be able to do a sponson rescue in rough
: water. The conditions he shows on his web site are very mild. He states
: that “even a child can do it the first time”. It is my experience, limited as
: it is, that if one is not comfortable with the basics most rescues will
: not work. Including a sponson rescue. Someone that is not comfortable
: with how to use a kayak may in fact be able to do a sponson rescue in
: calm seas. Even in very mild spilling waves as shown on his site.
: If this same individual goes over in 20 knot plus winds a sponson
: rescue will probably not work because they will not have the boat
: any more. They will do a poorly executed wet exit and will not stay
: in contact with their kayak. It is all part of the something for nothing.
: If you use sponsons you can have a rescue procedure that will work with
: little or no practice? I think it would be prudent of him to also mention
: that people that do not develop, and yes work over and over on basic
: skills, will probably not be able to use a sponson rescue in rough
: conditions because they will not be able to keep in contact with their kayak.
: tom
: sorry so wordy just got caught up with tim’s style

Using Tim's premise, none of us would have ever learned to walk or talk, let alone paddle a kayak. He is completely illogical and irrational in his arguments. While there is some wheat among the chaff on his web site, do not forget that his motivation is to MAKE MONEY. Don't be taken in by his feigned concern for safety. If he was really such a safety evangelist, he'd be selling sponsons at his cost, rather than at such a horribly inflated price. He also wouldn't be using the deaths of children for self promotion. It's pretty obvious to me that he couldn't care less about any of us, beyond getting his fingers into our wallets.

If you come up with any interesting ideas for sponsons, I'd like to hear them. I'm planning on doing some kayak fishing next year and I'll probably construct a set for myself. If I come up with anything worthwhile, I'll post it here. Regardless, one thing is certain; I won't be buying anything from Tim Ingram.

Messages In This Thread

in trouble...in sponson trouble
tom -- Tuesday, 19 December 2000, at 7:55 p.m.

Re: in trouble...in sponson trouble
Brian Nystrom -- Wednesday, 20 December 2000, at 12:01 p.m.

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