Greenland National Museum, Nuuk. Ca. mid 20th century
18'1" LOA 18 1/2" Beam 6 3/4" depth to sheer
The mysterious East Greenland kayak, ultra low volume, fast, manuverable. Let's be clear, there is not a lot of stability in a boat of this type. The kayak will spear through all but the smallest waves. It will not roll as well as a West Greenland boat with a more bouyant cross section. Yet, despite all this, it remains one of my favorite kayaks. There is something so sweet about slicing it across flat water, silent, easy and intimate. The East Greenland kayaks are just something you see and fall in love with, and that's a good enough reason as any to build one.
Mali, a young doctor from Seattle, borrowed this kayak for a very unlikely run through the wild water of Deception Pass. Probably not the best kayak for this sort of thing, but quite an adventure, she sent me this email.
"Brian- The winds were 30
knots, the current was 7 knots. Playing in the
eddylines was fun. The whirlpools and boils were tricky.
There was
one point that I felt like I was paddling on a treadmill, because I
could NOT make any progress despite paddling my hardest. I
must have
fallen in the water at least a dozen times today, but I DID NOT
SWIM!
The first time I capsized, I rolled and was upright before I even had
time to think about it. The only time that I could not roll up
(my
legs had twisted on top of each other), I curled up to the side of the
kayak like I was doing a chin lift. I was trying to get my spare
paddle
out, but someone came to my rescue. I did
try to "stalk" the curious harbor seals who were hanging out with us,
but they were too slick for me =) There was also a giant sea lion
who
I almost ran into, but (luckily) I fell over before I got to him.
He
still hissed and made a big stink about it. Later, we saw the
same sea
lion thrashing around in the water with a giant fish, with lots of
seagulls hovering overhead. Quite the sight. Anyway,
overall, a good day. The boat is a challenge, but I felt
comfortable
about rolling in it, so learning to deal with the tippiness was not
stressful. Hopefully, I get better at dealing with whirlpools
though."
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