Congratulations! It feels good doesn't it! Your boat sounds nice (strip deck), good going.

Now, go paddling!

Paul

> My 13' MillCreek cut water for the first time last night. It's
> just about everything I wanted it to be.

> Not as much initial stability as I expected, but a whole lot
> more secondary then I'd expected too. I could lean it right over until
> the calm water was lapping at the cockpit rim and she'd flip back
> upright. I even tried standing on the sides to see how it'd react.
> Without a hitch, she'd flip back upright. I was against the pier of
> course, I can't balance standing on the edge of a kayak in the middle
> of the river of course. No, I didn't try rolling it yet.

> I'll never win a speed race with it either. But with the barest
> of paddle strokes it scoots along at a nice leisurely pace. That parts
> interesting. A very relaxed stroking gets you up to a silent wakeless
> slow walking speed. It just strolls along. Paddling as hard as possible
> produces a noisy wake, a standing bow wave, and a speed only slightly
> above a normal walking speed.

> Tracks like a locomotive on rails. Has the inertia of one too.
> While it's very easy to set things in motion, it stays in motion.
> And stays...and stays...and stays. I *like* that! I sat there letting
> it drift back and forth across the river from the slight speed of
> half a paddle stroke. Perfect for patiently sneaking up on turtles,
> beaver and otter. Which I did several times last night.

> The tracking is harder then I'd like, but then it does make casual
> paddling easier. I didn't try flipping it onto it's sides very steeply
> for making turns sharper. Though the little I did, did surprisingly
> little to help. Only about a 10-20% increase in turn result. I expected
> more. What the heck though, I can live with it. Used to hate taking
> whitewater kayaks out on large water because I'd spend most of my
> time attempting to correct my mistakes, and my path would look like
> a staggering drunk.

> So after about an hour of filling the boat with my sweat (love
> Maryland, 90+ degrees, 90+percent humidity), I figured I should go
> back home. After all, sitting on the pier like my wife was doing isn't
> exactly exciting.

> All in all, a rousing success! Looks pretty with a strip built
> deck. Nothing as exciting as what others have recently posted, but
> hey, *my* hands did this one! Where's my jr High shop teacher, want
> to have a word with him about flunking me for my birdhouses.

> The MillCreek below isn't mine, but it's the same color! Mine
> looks *much* better of course! :-)

>