I want to share something really special today. This summer James Doherty and his son Edward circumnavigated Anglesey in F1 kayaks they built with Ant Mace of Shipshape boat works in Bristol, England.
James put together this lovely YouTube video showing them building the boats and making the trip.
Anglesey is a tough nut to crack because not only is it just a really long trip but you have to catch a series of tidal windows otherwise the current drags you backwards the entire time.
Due to a little bit of seasickness and overheating in the beginning they missed their first tidal window but kept going anyways and completed the trip.
I find myself wondering if a faster kayak like my LPB would have improved their time? I originally suggested the F1 for this trip because it is extremely efficient at average cruising speeds and is a very safe kayak for rough water paddling. Generally speaking to gain anything from a longer waterline you have to be able to hold a level of effort that very few people can sustain over long distances and you actually pay a drag at normal cruising speeds. However, in this case if we remove the seasickness and the overheating, and then put both these guys in my LPB kayak really pushing on that first leg, they might have caught that first tidal window. It’s really hard to say.
Anyway check out that YouTube video. It’s only 15 minutes long and it’s a really beautiful story and an impressive accomplishment. Congratulations James and Edward.
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See the original post and discussion here.
