Hi,

Sorry this is so late, but I just got back from our trip to the coast. No, we were not in the Slocan area, we were sailing out of Prince Rupert. The trip went well, although the weather was a tad on the cool and wet side.

The Cape Ann Storm SLT proved to be a nice boat to paddle, although it would be uncomfortable for a beginner. The initial tenderness is sufficient that in choppy water, I found myself reluctant to put down my paddle to take a photo. When actually underway paddling, it feels great in chop, but orienting ones self with no paddle in hand and eyes not on the horizon seems tricky to me. Perhaps more time in the boat will train my backside to read the boat better.

Another characteristic that surprised me a bit is the eagerness of the boat to surf. In larger following seas, it takes off regularly and, in combination with the initial tenderness, often requires bracing strokes to maintain control. Again, perhaps a matter of my limited ocean experience, but the behaviour was surprising to me. More weight in the boat might moderate the eagerness to surf - I weigh only 155lbs, the boat only 30 lbs, and it was empty.

My wife tried the SLT and found it considerably more tender than her Necky Eliza which coincidentally is almost identical in overall dimensions. The Eliza has a shallow vee bottom with almost vertical sides from the sheer to a fairly sharp chine, especially from the cockpit area aft. The odd thing is that this hull configuration on the Eliza did not seem to slow the boat down much if at all. My wife had no difficulty keeping up with me, and she is a much weaker, albeit lighter, paddler. I may try Kayak Foundry to do a second boat for my wife more along the lines of the Eliza design.

I'll post more later about the skeg I built and the hatch latches, both of which worked out very well.

Best regards,

Allan Edie

: Hi All,
: Did you recently come through South Eastern, B.C.? I think I saw
: two Cape Ann's with the yellow cedar accent strip in similar
: configuration come through the Slocan Valley between Castlegar
: and Nelson, B.C...? Almost stopped to introduce myself and jaw
: awhile but you and family (son?) seemed to be loading and trying
: to get on your way and I was in middle of point A & B.
: Michael in Castlegar, B.C.