Demoing Tampico and Tracer

In the search for a new boat for Kathleen, we drove into Charlotte, Great Outdoor Provision Company, today hoping to demo two boats from Hurricane Kayaks. We were able take out a Tampico 140S and a Tracer 165. I had looked for nearby spots to paddle and picked a launch point at McDowell Park which borders Lake Wylie/Catawba River. We arrived at 1pm when the store opened, loaded up the two boats and headed out. Here they are - all pretty in their trylon plastic colors.

Now, actually, I should have known that Sunday afternoons on a big lake were not ideal kayaking conditions. Well, I did, but I thought we'd be able to scoot up to one of the feeder creeks or rivers without much trouble. Unfortunately, the wind and waves proved to be a limiting factor so we didn't end up getting far upstream. All in all though, we weren't there to see the scenary so much as to try out the kayaks. Two demo lessons learned in the process:

1. It's better to paddle someplace you already know.
2. If you're trying a stretch boat, pick someplace calm.
   

I'd been kinda psyched that the Tampico would be a good replacement boat for Kathleen. I was real curious about the Tracer for whenever we decide to get second pair of kayaks. I'm still happy with my Necky Manitou. We may even keep it as a newbie boat in case we ever have guests. Here is Kathleen in each boat. Note the shape differences here and in the picture above.


Net-net: both of us liked the Tampico, even if we could not figure out the back band adjustment. Kathleen felt smooth in it and powerful. I had the foot pegs in as far as I dared and it still wasn't enough for Kathleen to brace properly. It's looking like we'll be asking for a specialized foot peg track placement with our next purchase (of whatever boat) for her. While the Tracer was tippier, I didn't notice it too much. What I did notice was it's tendency to keep turning once I started the turn. It looks like there are some techniques that we would need to learn to use this high-rocker boat effortlessly.

As we were puttering about in the cove area, we came across this unusual heron. It's rather small in the middle of the frame - my picture using the digitizal zoom on the camera didn't come out very well. The coloring looks like a Little Blue Heron, but the shape and legs are like a Green Heron. My bird books say the Little Blue stays on the coast. I look forward to a proper identification.

First Moonlight Paddle

Various paddling groups in the area organize full moon trips at night. They inspired me to monitor the weather to do the same on our own lake. It seemed like a really good idea to try this on water we knew instead of water we didn't. After throwing in a late night long drive to some other place, the local option became a no-brainer.

Saturday, after church, looked best for us. We made it down to the access ramp around 8:30pm while there was still light. And we were out on open water before it started getting really dark. Armed with our nifty Petzl headlamps, we were night boating compliant. Errrr, not armed; headed, actually. These LED-based doodads are on a headband. Ours have several brightness levels and a flash mode. So, we're sure to catch anyone's attention, except for the bass boaters hellbent on getting to their next fishing hole. There were mostly pontoon boaters enjoying the night just as we were. We saw our next door neighbors on the water before it got completely dark.

We wore our long-sleeved summer weight shirts to try them out and reduce surface area for mosquitos. I brought bug spray but, surprisingly enough, didn't need it. The only thing that attracted bugs were the headlamps when in a cove. The temperatures were pleasantly cool so the long sleeves were perfect.

We headed up the cove to Kathleen's parent's house. She called them on the cell phone when we were coming around to their view of the water. I just know Bill was muttering "blankety-blank kids" then hollering "you look great, kid!" We continued on up their cove. It was near the end of this one where a pontoon boat nearly snuck up right behind us.

The moon was pretty. However, not having nearby objects on the horizon, it looked small the whole time. The lake surface had mesmerizing undulations. I think these are the longer wavelength waves, caused by boat wakes that reflect off the shores. Not being able to see them coming, we would just sit in the water and experience them going past us.

We puttered about for 3 hours total, not getting back to the ramp until 11:30pm. A very pleasant night out on the water. We'll be doing this again soon.