Here’s some raw footage from a bad day out kayak sailing. Broke a rudder cable, burned through 2 cleats, started getting hit by 45mph gusts, (forecast was 15-20) missed my first roll ever under sail, swam for 1/2 an hour, and had to carry the kayak up 45 degree slopes covered with poison oak...
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Video: Sail testing got a little out of control yesterday…
Sail testing got a little out of control yesterday. (30 gusting to 40) Unfortunately things got much worse about 15 minutes after this video clip. I’ll talk about that tomorrow....
On YouTube: Kayak Catamaran Trip Report
I just put up a full trip report on the Cape Falcon Kayak YouTube channel about our first serious test of the new sailing catamaran system! Some thing I haven’t mentioned yet is that we were dismasted the first day forcing us to camp on a postage-stamp sized island where I had to do significant...
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Video: Kayak catamaran performance on different points of wind
A bunch of people have asked how the kayak catamaran performs on different points of wind so here’s a few video clips. Here we are sailing through Hood River and the usual gauntlet of interesting wind powered contraptions. The wind is blowing about 12 to 16 gusting to 20 which is nice conditions. Plenty...
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Video: More skin on frame kayak catamaran madness
More skin on frame kayak catamaran madness, just a wee bit overpowered here… This is a case of conditions dramatically exceeding the forecast (forecast 16 gusting to 21, reality 25 gusting to 45) and we had a long conference that morning talking about risks and contingencies before making the decision to go for it....
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Video: Second day testing the kayak catamaran on a multi-day trip
Second day testing the kayak catamaran on a multi day trip. These are pretty much ideal conditions which is why we were able to fly the Skydio drone. Liz is steering and I’m flying the drone. Wind is blowing about 8mph boats are going about 4-5mph. Ditched the center sail yesterday after a somewhat...
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Video: First multi day trip in the kayak catamaran
First multi day trip in the kayak catamaran. Wind speed 10-15. Current 1-2mph against us. Total sail area 3.17 sq meters. Boat Speed 5-6mph. Not bad…. ...
So this is the madness I’m working on right now
So this is the madness I’m working on right now: A square sail to go between the masts of the kayak catamaran for those low wind days. Visibility seemed like a good idea. My health is is pretty dodgy at the moment, but I’m hoping I can try this thing soon. ___ This post...
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Timelapse: Sewing simple kayak sails
Just a quick timelapse video of me sewing simple kayak sails. Doing this gives me tremendous respect for anyone who does any sort of ‘real’ sewing. The nice thing about time lapse is that I can edit out all the times that Liz had to come help me with the machine…...
Video: Slowly sailing past stuff…. Not ideal sail testing conditions
Slowly sailing past stuff…. Not ideal sail testing conditions....
Sails. So we’re doing this again.
So we’re doing this again. I’m determined to get the Cape Falcon sailing system over the line by the end of August. Testing is a bit tricky these days with the spinal instability but I think I can still sit and steer. I’m still working with variations on the flat cut sail to make...
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Video: Side by side rudder testing
We headed out to the Columbia for a side by side comparison of the Smart Track and Sea-Lect rudder systems with identical F1 kayaks and identical sails. 1 sq meter sails, gusting to 30. I like to test everything in the worst case scenario to check for any serious function or safety issues that...
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Video: Sail Fail
Before I talk about yesterdays sail and rudder tests, let’s have a little bit of fun at my expense. The play by play: Trying to stick a cool looking landing I wait too long to take down the sail. Instead of releasing the halyard and pulling back on the boom I release the sheet...
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Rudder testing and installation course development
In the midst of everything else that’s been going on we’ve been steadily slogging away at developing our skin on frame rudder and footbraces instructions. Basically I have three goals for this new addition to our video courses: The first one is to lose more money than I could ever possibly make back on the...
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Rudder installation instructions in development
Rudder control is an important part of the new sailing system that I’m working on so I’m testing different brands right now and building my installation instructions. Here I’ve got the Smart Track system with Toe Pilots on one kayak and the Seal Line system on another. There’s things I do and don’t like...
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