boats sailing and paddling

Andrew Morton with kayak and motorboat in sunny Scotland

My other boat’s a canoe! More and more boat owners are using kayaks as tenders or for extra fun afloat. Ben Meakins meets PBO readers who’ve got the bug, and joins Tracey Clarke of BBC radio’s

The H2O Show to find out how to choose your first canoe

hether for use Finnmaster 7050 motor cruiser and motorboating really super. as a tender, for asked an engineer friend to design ‘However, one word of exploring and fashion three aluminium warning: I stayed on a visitor’s cruising blocks to enable him to bolt a V-bar mooring in Brodick Bay (Isle of Ian Poole lives aboard a steel ketch grounds or just to the hand rail of his boat and Arran) for a week. My wife and I, with kayak and RIB tenders Wto get a boating fix when their carry a kayak. and some friends, stayed in a small yacht is out of commission, more ‘Now,’ says Andrew, ‘I have a boarding house on the sea front, sure that you can get on and off in and more sailors can be found kayak rack just like that on a car, just opposite to where my boat all winds. with a paddle in their hands. which can be fitted in 10 minutes was moored. Each day I would use ‘My long-term plan is to carry a The appeal of a canoe lies in the and holds any kayak very firmly. the kayak as a tender. On the last folding bike on my boat as well, fact that it can be used almost ‘I can untie the kayak and lift it day, the wind turned to the east and tour the Scottish Islands, anywhere there’s enough water to into the water easily, launching off and I was faced with waves big stopping at each one to explore by allow them to float – and there’s a the swim-deck at the stern, which enough (the fetch is 13 miles) to bike, foot and kayak.’ type of canoe for every need. is only a foot above the water. My make getting on and off the boat kayak is a racing kayak and I can impossible because it was pitching Ian Poole Andrew Morton maintain 6 knots for two or three so much. I had to wait for most of Ian, 44, lives aboard his steel Andrew combines motorboating hours in winds less than Force 3. the day until the waves subsided Hedonist ketch, Blown Away. He and kayaking to explore the Clyde So, this gives me a wide range to sufficiently to enable me to get has a Dagger Transition surf kayak and Forth estuaries. He’s kayaked explore, and keep fit and healthy at back on board, and even then it which he keeps lashed to the all his life, including top-level the same time. wasn’t easy. The moral of the story foredeck alongside his main racing; in 2006 he was the World ‘I cruised for a couple of weeks in is, if you plan to use a kayak as a tender, a small RIB. ‘I use the Masters Marathon champion. the Firth of Clyde and found the tender, then moor your boat in a kayak as a tender in good Three years ago he bought a combination of kayaking and sufficiently sheltered spot to be weather – and when the ➜

Practical Boat Owner 516 December 2009 • www.pbo.co.uk 31 boats boats sailing and paddling

petrol runs out,’ he explains. ‘It’s much easier to launch than a RIB, and as it’s a surf kayak, it copes well with waves and swell when coming ashore – it’s plastic, so is Getting started with your first canoe pretty much indestructible.’ Ian is a keen kayaker. ‘The kayaks nspired by our readers, PBO came before the yacht,’ he says. decided to find out how you ‘As I got more money, the boats Ican choose the canoe or got bigger – but I’ve always kept a kayak that’s best for you. We kayak. You can’t beat them!’ teamed up with Tracey Clarke of

BBC Radio Solent’s The H2O Three friends Show, who wanted to give her Why would three friends – a listeners the very same info, as Cornish Shrimper owner, a classic well as finding a canoe of her boat aficionado and a racing sailor own. Tracey lives by the River – take up canoeing? It’s all about Wallington in , Hants. cost, convenience, fitness and fun, ‘It’s always been my dream to they told PBO. canoe downriver to First one friend started canoeing, Chris Robinson kayaking on the Hamble River, for fitness and fun Harbour on the ebb, have lunch then another, then there were and paddle home on the flood three. They live in the village of tide,’ she said. PBO Editor Sarah Norbury loved Warsash on the and had a hole which I mended with a Mike Shepherd the sit-on-top kayak go out for a paddle either together little repair kit.’ It’s Mike who got the other two into or by themselves once or twice a To his surprise he discovered he canoeing. He uses his beautiful Canadian canoe week, and all of them are canoeing really enjoys canoeing, especially wooden Hillyard Golden Corn Double-ended, big, open and at almost zero cost. the peaceful upper reaches of the whenever he has time, but on stable, the Canadian canoe is a Ben Meakins soon got the hang of paddling the long, lean sea kayak Hamble River. sunny evenings after work or when perfect introduction to paddling. Tim Powell ‘I guess it’s probably the wrong his wife Maria can’t come as Tracey and PBO editor Sarah Tim gets out on his Cornish design of canoe for use as a tender crew, he paddles instead. ‘I can’t Norbury climbed in and were soon Sit-on-tops are basically sealed Shrimper as much as he can, and exploring. I think it’s more of a stand the gym,’ he said, ‘I’d gliding around the lake. Tracey kayaks, cockpitless and self- sometimes cruising up the river to slalom boat; sometimes it spins in rather be on the water.’ loved it. ‘Paddling was pretty draining, so can’t take on water the Jolly Sailor pub, but usually to a circle. intuitive and with two people there and sink if you get swamped or one of the many ports on the ‘I should really buy a buoyancy was no need to change paddling capsize – a major safety feature. Solent. He likes taking friends out aid and a skirt but apart from that sides so I stayed nice and dry.’ But what did Tracey think? Tracey couldn’t picture the big Canadian canoe on the roof of her car who can’t sail, and his wife all you need is a canoe and a There was plenty of room to stow ‘I’d seen sit-on-tops and my Beverley joins him on club cruises. paddle. It’s practical boating at its warm clothing and a picnic, ideal immediate thought was that they So why did he get a canoe? very simplest.’ for extended camping trips. paddler sits inside the hull which negotiating sharp turns and were not for me,’ she said. ‘But it ‘It’s a brilliant tender to the Tracey Clarke, radio presenter, But was it what Tracey was can then be sealed in with a obstructions in fast-flowing water. was a real surprise to find it’s Shrimper. I can carry it down the Chris Robinson ponders which canoe to buy looking for? ‘My one reservation spraydeck or waterproof ‘skirt’, and Inflatable and folding kayaks are really good fun. I took on a road from our house, paddle His other boat’s a Mirror Dinghy was the sheer size of it. It was uses a double-ended paddle. also available, and ideal for “double”. It was very stable and upriver to the mooring, leave the which he sails with his son Ben, We visited ’s pretty cumbersome to launch and I We tried a sea kayak, a long, slim keeping on a smaller yacht where easy to steer. I’m not sure canoe there, then motor back but most weekends Chris crews Woodmill Outdoor Activity Centre had difficulty imagining it on the craft designed for open water and storage space is at a premium. whether I would have felt so down to pick up my crew from the on Madeleine, one of Britain’s top (www.woodmill.co.uk), which has top of my car,’ she said. A swell. It has an impressive turn of Kayaks, then, are extremely secure on choppy water, but club pontoon. J/24s. I caught up with him just its own lake and a huge fleet of Canadian canoe is also no use as speed, but its narrow beam means versatile boats and most will fit on Mike assured me it would behave ‘I’ve got my kayak on “long-term after the team had won the canoes of all shapes and sizes to a yacht tender – they tow badly that keeping it stable takes practice. the deck of a yacht. perfectly well in those conditions.’ loan” from a friend who made it Autumn Cup in Falmouth. try before you buy. and are too large to stow on deck. Next up came kayaks for touring But would a kayak suit Tracey? One major advantage of the from a kit 25 years ago when he He got into canoeing when his The centre’s retail manager, and general river use. A touring ‘Kayaking was a bit of a sit-on-top for the yachtsman is was 16. He hadn’t used it for 10 friend Mike Shepherd suggested it Mike goes kayaking when he’s not Mike Storrar, took us down to the Kayak kayak has a long, moulded keel revelation. I don’t like being that it can be easily hauled on years but couldn’t bear to throw it as a good way of improving fitness on his classic Hillyard Golden Corn lake with a selection of canoes The kayak is a byword for making it more directionally stable hemmed in and had always deck, towed or loaded – making away. It’s moulded glassfibre, but while being on the water. His and kayaks and suggested we minimalist yet seaworthy boating. and less manoeuvrable than a river thought I wouldn’t enjoy a kayak it a good choice as a minimalist canoe was free, from a friend who He keeps the canoe tucked away start off by trying a traditional-style There are many types, the main kayak which, with its short waterline for that reason. But I felt very cosy tender or for exploring new stopped using it when his second in the back of a boatyard and Canadian canoe. characteristics being that the and rounded bilges, is better for and the double-ended paddle felt cruising grounds. child came along. carries it the few yards to the river. like I was really paddling.’ After some deliberation, Tracey ‘It’s so easy, I keep it in the Of the three men, he is the only has decided to plump for a sit- garden and take it down to the one who bought his canoe, for a Sit-on-top kayak on-top. ‘It’s easy to store, is water on top of the car. princely £80 from the local free ads Canoes we tried ‘Give this a whirl,’ said Mike, manoeuvrable and fun, and will ‘I’m not sure what type it is… paper. It’s a nice-looking boat, in pointing out a lime-green plastic be perfect for leisurely paddling someone said it’s a C4, an old good condition, long and slim for ‘sit-on-top’ kayak. ‘These are fun on the River Wallington,’ she said. beginner’s kayak. It’s flat- covering distances at speed. and very popular – we’ve sold more Of all the options, the sit-on-top bottomed, wide and stable, but I ‘What could be better on a than 200 this year. They’re light and was the best compromise – and may put a skeg on so it tracks summer’s evening than paddling you can take them anywhere.’ would be great on board, too. in a straight line, it tends on the river with your Venture Ranger 16 Canadian canoe, Dagger Blackwater 10.5 river Venture Flex 11 touring kayak, to have a mind of its friends?’ he asks. cost: around £699 kayak, cost: around £470 cost: £499 PBO goes canoeing – on the airwaves own at the moment.’ Build your Of the three, Mike is n Listen to the item Tracey Chris says: own canoe! the one with recorded with PBO on our ‘Canoeing is a Next month Ben Meakins ambitions beyond website, www.pbo.co.uk good way of shows how he built a 5.2m home waters. He n The H 0 Show is broadcast on keeping fit, and keeps talking about 2 (17ft) Canadian canoe BBC Radio Solent, 96.1FM, much cheaper canals and other Perception Gemini double sit-on- using strip-plank cedar Venture Capella 15 sea Islander Paradise single sit-on-top, 103.8FM and DAB at 7pm on and easier to rivers, and a gorge in top, cost: £399 and epoxy. kayak, cost: around £1,149 cost: around £350 Fridays from April to October Tim Powell carries his no-cost look after than a France… It seems tender from home to the water rowing skiff.’ he’s got the bug!

32 Practical Boat Owner 516 December 2009 • www.pbo.co.uk Practical Boat Owner 516 December 2009 • www.pbo.co.uk 33