From kayaks to bikes - OK :-)

> Grab a bicycle wheel by the ends of the axle, and have someone
> spin it (they'd be lucky to get 5mph surface speed at tire) and then
> try to abruptly change the spin axis. There are other factors at work
> as well, I'm sure, but gyro affects are not negligible.

I'm with you on this one, Mark.

> Put a bicycle wheel on a kayak (attached to the deck) spinning
> in a horizontal plane, and it will dampen the affects of small waves
> or minor paddler jitters. Put two wheels with extra heavy rims, and
> it'll become quite noticeable. Now we have another use for our onboard
> electricity!

If you did this, waves that tended to change the pitch of your kayak would result in a rolling tendency, and waves that tended to roll your kayak would result in the kayak either rearing or nosing in (all depending on the direction of spin and roll/pitch of course). Could make for interesting paddling! YEEHAW!

Mike Spence