May 24, 2002
Lilac arrived on top of Bob Stuart's car yesterday afternoon. Lilac, a Current Designs kayak contructed to accommodate a pedaling pilot, was being lent to me for testing through the good graces of Bob and his friend Mark.
We decided to go for a spin the next day at Lake Sammamish State Park, near Issaquah, WA. The forecast was for possibly rainy weather, but we had our hopes that the weather would continue to be warm and sunny.
Sure enough, it was.
On the way to the park we managed to not stop at Krispy Kreme for some additional ballast. The temptation was there, however.
Prior to unloading the boat Bob showed me how to service the SpinFin drive unit. It was time to change the oil, so he replaced the old stuff with some new 0W30 weight stuff. He then described how one changes the propeller, and showed me that various ones he had modified for this unit. They all were of the model airplane variety, made by APC.
We then proceeded to unload the boat and its related paraphernalia, and carried it to the nearest dock. Bob instructed me in how it all went together. He also showed how to disassemble the propeller section, and discussed the various propellers that he had available for me to test.
I got in the boat. After a few false starts which were very instructive in learning how large the turning radius of the boat was, I was off!
The sound of the SpinFin was reminiscent of the Cadence, but a bit more muted. This was to be expected. They both used similar chain drives and while the Cadence drive is completely exposed the SpinFin drive is completely encased in a fiberglass shell. Unlike the adjustable positioning of the pedal unit in the Cadence, the seat of Lilac slides fore and aft. Also, while the Cadence positions the rider several inches above the bottom of the hull, in Lilac one sits almost directly on the bottom. Bob thoughtfully bought along a thin foam cushion, and the use of a wrap around life jacket provided cushioning for my back as well.
After a short warmup cruise I made a couple of speed runs past the dock so Bob could get some photos. As Bob predicted, with the Current Designs hull form at high speed a large bow wave forms close to the front of the cockpit. A more efficient hull, such as a rowing shell, would probably go much faster with the same power.
The wake formed at the stern is much smaller.
I found that when pedaling at high speeds my pedaling cadence was about the same as that of the Cadence; i.e., about 75 rpm. As I did not have any speed indicators on board I could not be certain, but it seemed that the boat was moving somewhat faster than the Cadence when using the same amount of effort. When I start the long distance trials (this weekend, hopefully!), I'll see how Lilac fares!
Lilac's "flying amas" seemed to work quite well. For the most part they stayed above water and caused no drag. When I leaned or turned the boat one ama would be in the water, but appeared to create very little drag. At any rate, I had no sensation of instability at any time.
One other thing I noticed was that at speed it was possible for water to fairly easily splash into the cockpit from fairly small waves. This is definitely a wetter ride than any other cockpit-style boat I have tried. Hmmm, I'll have to figure out some waterproof means of carrying my digital camera...
While out in the water I experimented with the removal of the SpinFin from the well in which it sits during operation. This can be done if/when one needs to access the propeller section for weed removal, propeller replacement, or just approaching very shallow water where a paddle is a more appropriate means of locomotion.
I took a short cruise out towards the mouth of Issaquah Creek. It was quite an eye opener as how different it felt pedaling this boat over that distance from how it was to pedal my Escapade. "A completely different paradigm" is the term I used to describe it to Bob upon my return to the dock. The amount of effort to travel a given distance in Lilac was about the same as would be used to travel half (or less) that distance in the Escapade. With a strong rider Lilac definitely could be a reasonable competitor in local races against sea kayaks, OC-1's and the slower single person racing shells.
As it was a beautiful day, and we had the time for additional
photos, I returned to the dock and had Bob take Lilac out for a spin.
I think Bob wanted to show me how it was done, too. :-)
As it turned out, this was Bob's first time on the water this year.
I had Bob make a couple of speed runs past the dock as I was unable to properly focus my camera for the closeup shot as he passed the dock. He simply was too fast for my camera to zoom from telephoto to wide angle!
After Bob's return to the dock we loaded Lilac back onto the car and drove back to my house. Bob had other errands, and it was time for me to get back to work!
To see all the pictures, in larger and better formats, visit this link.