: Crikey Ken , give me a break. I think I corrected myself in my second post
: and gave a description of where i usually paddlein my last. Just read my
: last post. It sounds like we paddle in similar situations. Also If I
: wanted to get picky I said in the first post I wanted a boat that could
: cope with those conditions not that I would be out in them.
: The pic isnt Andrew , He was the photograper. No I wouldn't like to be out in
: that but I would want to be able to cope with it when being faced with it
: at the end of a long crossing as these guys were. A 50 k crossing from 1
: island to another in Bass Straight takes a while and conditions change. If
: this is what your faced with at your destination then what are you going
: to do??
: Getting back to Andrew if you want to have a read have a look at his site.
: Amazing Guy. Imagine being out in 30 foot seas weeks from land. I can't
: even begin.
: Thanks ken
: Tim

Hi Tim,
It sounds like the swell and wind waves are at 90 degrees to each other? That sounds interesting, kind of. If it's anything like the North Atlantic, the swell has a fairly long period which can make them fast and powerful but not too steep. Wind waves are wind waves, size and frequency all over the place.
I wouldn't GO OUT in what you described, but have been out when conditions got worse once or twice. My SoF baidarka handled the conditions nicely. A bit better than I did.
I listen more closely to the shipping forecast. And listen more closely to that little voice that says "don't be daft".

Having a well-founded kayak for hard conditions is a good thing, having a well-founded paddler is better.

Mike Savage
South West Cork