Good Morning,
Now that I've finished up my series on all the various tents you can consider for your different outings, I wanted to return back to where my blog started: the Dagger Green Boat kayak. In my earlier post I just introduced you to the boat. In this post I want to talk more about what it's like to actually use this kayak and how you can prepare your body.
The Dagger Green Boat is a fabulous first kayak, river kayak or just about any water kayak, with the exception of shallow tight micro creeks. It's an incredibly fast, nimble boat and turns easily. But, like anything, you must learn how to use your skills with this boat. It doesn't matter if you've paddled many a kayak before, the following section applies to you just the same as a novice. A good skill set is learned over time, and long boat Kayaking is no different. The basic thing needed for any kayaking? Be in good shape!
Getting in shape
If you've never kayaked before, and think you want to get into this sport, there are some simple things to do before going out and just buying a kayak. Upper body strength is a must, because you are going to be paddling, sometimes with ease, and sometimes with real spirit. But paddle you will. Want an idea? If you have access to a canoe, or even a small row boat, try to row that boat, or paddle that canoe upstream fro about 30 minutes. If you can't do 30 minutes, try 15. The point being, is that unless you are already in shape (and even if you are) you are going to be using different muscles than you use for most anything else. You will find that your arm and shoulder muscles will be burning after just a few minutes. Grab some books or videos on conditioning for kayaking. Your leg muscles shouldn't be neglected either, as you will be using them to help brace your upper body as you paddle through eddy's, over drops and across white water pools. Condition, condition, condition.
Paddling
The Dagger Green Boat is a mixture of speed, volume and maneuverability. It accelerates quickly, with a bow up scheme, and it's so easy to boof, you're going to love it. You have to change your timing though, to accommodate the extra length of this boat. You still start your paddle in the same spot, but, for the DGB, you have to re-learn the basics and fine tune them. fFr instance, how to carry the stroke further. The reason you carry it further, is to maintain your lift, as you are waiting for your stern to separate. Once you learn this small habit change, you will blast over holes and through eddy's with ease. Long boats like the Dagger Green Boat Kayak, love to be paddled forward. They are designed for aggressive water handling. That being said, this boat is still easy to turn and you will find it super stable through rapids. It is designed, as I said to steer quickly, turn and/or dig in to get you downstream.
Speed
For a big boat, this boat is fast, and it's knife like design easily cuts through chops and eddy's like a hot knife through butter. I've also heard, that some kayaker's call this boat "lively." But...there is a sector of our kayaking community however, who feel the boat is 'tippy' to coin a phrase. In researching this, I found that for the most part, these remarks were generally from beginning kayakers, or people who started out kayaking in big, flat, wide, kayaks. (to be fair, of the folks I talked to, about 93% fell into this category, while the remaining 7% were experienced kayaker's, but previous user's of smaller boats.) Mostly, they find themselves moving into 'real kayaks', (to coin another phrase) and find that not all kayaks have wide flat bottoms. Now, that aside, I am here to tell you, this boat is very stable. To clarify, yes, it can become twitchy if you're back paddling and not paying attention, but so do most boats. The rounded bottom however, will take a bit of getting used to. Once learned, you will find you are in the NASCAR racer of kayaks.
Advantages
In addition to their inherent speed qualities, long boats are also more forgiving when it comes to down angles The bow of the Dagger Green Boat kayak will actually deflect and resurface before the stern has landed, thus giving you more forward speed as you drop and pull away from the curtain. This kayak is great for white water tripping as well as pool drops. Class III's, IV's or V's? No problem. Your Dagger Green Boat punches holes through them like a missile. The knife like design, leading the way. Your DGB cover's all categories of kayaking with ease, regardless of whether you are going upstream or down, beginner to expert. There is no other kayak that performs as well as the Dagger Green Boat.
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