Feathercraft K1 review

It was, after all, a great day of paddling yesterday, from Changi to Punggol jetty. The sun was in a fiery mood when we started but was eventually pacified by the clouds. The wind picked up after lunch and the resultant drift made us return on the dot at 5pm, but it was all right. I sprinted back the last stretch and then did rolls and self-rescues with my K1.

I should have assembled it much quicker, because things went into place much easier this time round - the boat was assembled for the past week and that must have stretched the skin well. When I put in the last crossribs I was actually thinking hard wondering what I could have missed out, because it was all smooth and fast going. I did miss steps though - footrests not in, pins on crossribs didn't fit nicely into their blocks. The former made me released all the rods' tensions and withdraw the chine bars so that I fit the footrests in. Damn, I could have gotten it in 40mins.

Made a mistake and just want help to settle the problem fast...

Paddling speed is so-so only, and it's definitely not as fast as a sleek hardshell due to the size of the beam. Cadence have to be a little bit faster to keep it cruising, and doing high angle aggressive strokes doesn't really propel it faster (or is that the case for all boats?). Roland speculated that the lack of load prevents it from gaining momentum. It tracks very well though, and holds an edge easily, thus making the rudder unnecessary. Besides saving on assembly time, I rather have a solid footrest for me to push against.

At Punggol point for lunch under the shade from the sweltering heat
*notice Roland behind returning from a coke - buying trip from the hawker.

Seat is comfortable but after 2 hours the sides of my gluts have a burning ache sensation probably due to numbness - must change positions once in a while! I like the fact that the sprayskirt is tight and reliable but at the same time easy to remove and put on.

Roland in a dancer...he haven't been in one for ages.

The seasock is excellent! I tried wet exits and rescues in it and it definitely helps a lot in limiting the amount of water that goes into the boat. It doesn't makes my legs overly warm too either. The boat can also be rolled! Tried both forward and backward recovery on left and right side, allare good!

Happy paddlers - Roland and Edwin

When I disembarked, I noticed that the skin in between the keel and chine bars at the seat area is pretty loose and is pushed upwards by the water underneath, I wonder if that is supposed to be the case. On the water, I can feel the fabric on the hull rippling when going over rough waves - this effect is supposed to aid the crossing of such waters by absorbing their energy, and I do feel that it is much less 'disturbed' when going through rough patches. The boat is surprisingly easy to balance and carry on the shoulder despite the 5m length, sweet!

A happy paddler and a tired paddler...

Disassembly was so easy; I even save time by doing different things with each hand, such as taking out a hatch rim and releasing the screw on the crossribs, or opening the sponson's valve and removing the thigh brace bars simultaneously. The washing was another matter though...

All in all, right now I really don't mind assembling it for day trips because it's really part of the fun, and I'm finding it so much easier to set up even on my second attempt. Such a long time since I went out to sea, and I really miss this whole experience. Must go out more!