Pat and I are both pretty darn tired and I don't think that I am going to learn/remember as much from today as I did yesterday. After a little warming up doing eddy turns, peel outs, and S turns, Chad sets us up to do an exercise called One Stroke Acceleration. You get to take one forward stroke, keep your paddle in the water to make minute corrections and see how far in a straight line you can go. Luckily, I got better after a few tries because my first couple were NOT good at all!
Chad paddles an Esquif Zephyr and an Esquif Zoom. Both of Chad's boats have really hard chines, this means that where the side meets the bottom there is almost a corner. Pat and I both paddle Mad River Outrages (now they are made by Bell). The Outrage does not have chines, there is a nice smooth curve from the side of the boat to the bottom. Chines make a big difference in maneuverability. Yesterday, Chad talked about changing the lean of the boat until the chine engages and using that to help the boat turn. Today, Chad let me paddle his Zephyr and he took the Outrage downriver. The chine makes a huge difference! It isn't that the Outrage can't do the moves, Chad did just fine, but having that hard chine makes it soooooooooooooo much easier! It also makes the boat a little trippy, like when the chine catches the current and you aren't expecting it....plunk into the water I go. At lunch Chad says to Pat and I, "you must think I'm crazy talking about all of the chine stuff!" No Chad, we don't think you're crazy, but I finally get it now that I am in your boat. I didn't let Chad have his boat back for the rest of the day! I think Pat and I are both going to be getting new boats for next year!
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