A Cold Jocassee Saturday

Last week, my boat for the trip arrived! I was stoked to get the message on my cell...it was in Asheville ready to be picked up. My first impression was that it was huge. You've got to remember, I've been paddling my marathon C-1 for the last year. Being built for speed, it's lines are slim, narrow and graceful. Of course, this was with the new boat wrapped in umpteen layers of plastic and foam, so my true impression would have to wait until I got home and unwrapped it and later, when I had a chance to paddle it.
Once home, the Xmas tree was priority. I had to get it on it's stand and upright, or my kids were going to riot. That took about an hour...it's a 12 footer. Another hour to figure out how to unwrap the boat and wow...it's a bright, shiny red and pretty unique in it's lines. Saturday was supposed to be warmer with temps in the mid 50's. I had seen a discussion on Paddling.net about a group going to Lake Jocassee this weekend so I put in to go. Turns out it was only myself and Rick, a professor from Emory. We agreed to meet at the parking lot and put-in at 9 am. I was pretty psyched, but watching the weather temps. I drove down friday and slept in the van. With the temps bottoming out at 27, I was comfortable, but glad for the coffee that morning.
Rick showed up and we both scouted out from the shore. Winds blowing 10-15 mph, foot high whitecaps and it was blowing right at us. It was still 27. We were still going. Rick put on his dry-suit and I had my dry-top and Patagonia paddle pants with a couple layers underneath. I was warm, but wondering how the boat would do with the wind and waves. Since it's a hybrid; able to be paddled as a kayak and a canoe, I decided the kayak paddle with give me a little better chance if I needed it. Turns out no need to worry. The boat handled the wind and waves just fine. Very stable, comfortable and surprisingly fast. Rick has some sort of skinny sea-kayak that easily held it's speed, but I was able to keep up without a problem. The bow never dipped under any of the waves, the deck was dry and with pogies on my hands, the wind and weather didn't really affect us at all. We cruised. We paddled for about 2.5 hours at a moderately easy pace and 8 miles later hit the beach near Laurel Falls and had lunch. The winds died after about 45 minutes and it was superb paddling the rest of the day. On the way back, I opted for the bent-shaft canoe paddle. This is were I was surprised. It felt like I was completely fresh using a canoe stroke. The boat's seat is adjustable, but didn't need it. My GPS has a speed indicator and with the kayak paddle, it showed we would be cruising easily at around 4.6 - 5.2 mph. Checking our speed with me using the canoe paddle, we were doing a very close 4.6 - 5 mph. I have to say the canoe paddle felt very nice. Rick, thanks for the great day. Clipper, thanks for the boat. My first impression is that it will do the job very nicely and with style.

Here's a letter I sent to a friend and follower of this adventure. We've been corresponding throughout the last few weeks about the Sea-1. I wrote my first impressions to him and it turned out to be an accurate review so I'm reprinting it here.

"Hey Steve,
The boat arrived and I had a chance to paddle it last weekend. It was cold by our standards with the temp at 27 degrees when we put in. We were paddling on Lake Jocassee in SC; a beautiful, cystal water lake. The wind was blowing in our faces ata bout 10-15 mph so I opted to first try her with a kayak paddle. The seat was on the middle setting of 3. The spray deck went on easiliy with snaps all around. I threw in lunch and water and off we went. First thing I noticed, was the leg room. Plenty of room to sit with legs crossed, stretch out, or just sit with your knees up. A great thing, and well thought out, were those thigh braces on each side of the opening. My knees fit comfortably into them and fit snugly. My knees were able to feel the boat in a way that felt similar to a decked seakayak. But again, I didn't even notice them the rest of the day. I do believe I could roll the boat if I tried, but that probably speaks more to my whitewater background.

As we shoved off, I was wondering how the boat would handle the wind, especially since it was kicking up foot high waves that were rolling toward us. I had no need to worry. The boat easily rode over them with minimal splash over the bow and none touched me. The boat tracked easily and straight and we were able to keep a very good pace as we crossed the big open bay for the first 45 minutes. After that the wind died and we were able to cruise. I had my gps with me and could monitor speed. We were making good time at about 4.6 - 5.2 mph at a comfortable pace. Not leisurely, but a making time pace while we paddled. We had an 8 mile paddle to the backside of the lake and made it in about 2.5 hrs with us looking around, stopping to talk a bit and coasting some. After the turn, I switched to canoe paddle. My bent shaft felt great in my hands after the kayak paddle. Even with a slight headwind we were still managing 4.5 - 5 mph....just a tick slower.
All in all, I was impressed with everything about the boat. Comparing it to my Jensen 18 ft marathon racer it wasn't as fast, but way more comfortable. My racing seat is a bucket sliding seat. After 5 hours in the Jensen, my rear end is usually sore from sitting. I didn't feel any soreness from the Sea-1. That was the biggest surprise to me. The ability to change my position, change my paddle and still keep comfortable throughout a days paddle will be a welcome change.

One more thing, the boat looks to be very well made and is beautiful to look at."