an evening at Lake erie

greetings people,

I've been putting the playboating on hold for a while.  I have been loving it up in the new creeker/river boat. The Hoss.  Love the liquid logic.  I first fell in love with liquid logic kayaks about two years ago, when i purchased my first one.  The CR(cross river)250.  a river runner/ playboat. It was in fact my first whitewater boat period.  In my opinion, the liquid logic boats have a great snug fit, allowing you to really become one with the boat and make it move whatever way you want.  Yes they are indeed very hard to get used to....def not for novice paddlers.  It was a huge challenge to go from my Perception Swifty, a simple recreation boat, to a tight small whitewater boat.  That being said.... say hello to the Hoss.  This LL(liquid logic), has all the same bells and whistles as the cr 250, with more volume, and added stability for larger water,  it still has the same planing  hull as the playboat, but it is longer, and has a more rounded side to let the water run under the hull, not into it.  it is roomy too, after properly adjusting the seat and the front foot foam, this thing rocks, it moves good on water.  Just a fun fun fun boat. 
  
Dont get me wrong...for playboating... its my jackson rockstar an no other right now.. but that is for playing on a river feature,  a hole or a wave. doing stalls, loops and squirts.. not really for running down some big water, or running creeks or rivers.

for that i have a HOSS!! 

this boat just rocks, i love everything, from the black diamond*brand  grab bars, to the cone of comfort foot block foam, down to the firery orange color... this boat just shouts "get in, snap the skirt on and hang on".  I am really looking forward to running it through some class II water and some IIIs as well.  i think with the fall coming The Lackawanna river, through the mellow park area will be fun. 

Like the title of this blog says, i had a great night out on lake erie, here in forest city.  Just a cool, calm night.  i hit the boat launch at around 6:15.  Unloaded, suited up,and launched.  I made it across the lake to the other side, where i saw an older fisherman.  He caught about 4 nice perch, so i stopped by to say hello. I ended up talking to the guy for about an hour, even picked him a couple bobbers out of the cattails.  Nice nite.  nothing like being out on the water at dark, just you and the sounds of crickets, and nothing else... peaceful,  solitude, floating softly on the water, just senses open  and full of nature.   

Love to kayak, all kinds of it
peace

hey followers,
 i got out on the water today, twice....  once to try out the new creeker i obtained saturday, and another time for some playboat practice in the rockstar. 

i did get some flatwater time with the new logic today.   here is my overall review based on the first impression paddling at normal conditions, on a small lake.

Liquid Logic HOSS
lenght.... 7'9"
weight....40lbs
volume....70 gals
ideal paddler weight.... 160 to 243
boat type....white water creeker/river runner

Overall rating.  8 out of 10

I took the boat out on Lake Erie, the lake behind Forest City School, for an initial test. 
my first impression when i first sat in.... Roomy.  lots of leg room, yet kind of small in the hips area, just like my liquid logic cr250 playboat/river runner. I had to take the hip pads out, no need for them anyways.  I was a little cramped because i hadnt adjusted the boat to my size beforehand.  I did adjust it afterwords at home.   This boat has the same spin disk planing hull that  is on the playboats of the day.  unlike the Jefe and the remix series, it does not have the rounded displacement hull.  It does take a little to get used to that type of hull, planing hulls are tricky.  they grab eaiser.  I didnt roll it over, the water was a little chilly.  I don't think it will roll any harder than the other boats, it seems to be on par with my cr250.  which i love.  Not quite as comfortable as the jackson rockstar but def, ok. 

the boat tracks well for its size, just like the other boats in my arsenal it does spin out when you stop forward momentum... thanks to the planing hull.  it is very responsive to paddle movement though. 

the boat has a super comfortable "cone of comfort" in the bow.  works really well and is adjustable, the backband and saddle are identical to my cr250.  the backband is a racheting type. and the rachets are bolted through the sprayskirt ring, to the thigh braces.

the boat partnered with Black Diamond* to install the hitch points anchors.  this boat has three on the stern and two on the bow. 

overall:  the boat is super clean with awesome lines, love the color..a fire orange.  the black diamond bars are great.  the super volume in the bow is great for boofing of ledges and drops.  it seems to resurface great, i did bring it up on edge and the stability is awesome.  overall i am very happy with the boat.  I took it home and tinkered with it, adjusted the seat, and thigh braces, and i think the boat fits like a glove now.... cant wait to take it on some big water... skinners falls, next, then maybe the class 3 drop on the lackawanna inbetween forest city and simpson.   until next time my friends.
stay dry. :OP
-bob

 

 

new kayak getting picked up sat morning

hey everyone,
its getting really cold out.  well cold on the water if not prepared for the cold.  I am looking forward to saturday.  I have come across a creek boat/river runner, that i am picking up in delaware.  Its a liquid logic hoss.  its an awesome boat by the way big volume boats go.  it is about 8feet long, seats one person, up to 240lbs,  has 70gals of volume. so it should float high on the  water.  it also has a planing hull so it will spin and surf waves too.... its not made to go verticle.. thats why i have the rockstar.  its make for a comfortable all day paddle down some big water... i am super excited about getting this boat.... i have lots of playboats, and some river runners, but nothing in my arsenal like this guy,   big, burley, similar to the dagger rpm max, only much bigger volume, not nearly as slicey in the tail, all the comforts of the liquid logic outfitting, witha  solid foot rest bar.  and the boat even comes with a spray skirt.  

another huge plus to this boat... it is a river virgin,,, never seen rivers, just lakes.  its flawless. and the best part... i never paid a cent for it.. well except for the gas to go get it...
i bartered for it through craigslist.  i traded a mountain bike and a pistol i don't use anymore for it.... good deal for me...since my only hobbies anymore seem to paddling in the water.  well, wife needs computer so i'll finish this thought later...

get a boat and join me people.... this is living.

or just borrow one of mine.... well all but my jackson.. its my baby..lol

fall is approaching

hey bloggers,

its been a while since i have posted anything on this site. My apologies.  Life's been a little crazy lately. 

It was cold today, not cold, but chilly i should say.  Chilly enough to require a hoodie and some long pants.  That didn't stop me though.  Still decided to take the plunge and  hit up Aylesworth Park in Jermyn, Pa.   I took both boats today, the Rock Star for playboating, and the RPM for just putting around the lake a bit. 

Didn't expect to find two large parties going on when i arrived.  I normally tend to avoid kayaking, well doing flatwater tricks, when there are too many people around.  I only do this because most people have never seen this type of kayaking and it normally leads me into long conversations about why people do this type of boating.  The outcome of the conversation is almost always the same... they think its "stupid" to flip a perfectly good boat over on purpose.  oh well. 
    on the other hand, however, it has led to some more open minded people asking lots of questions on the sport, and on the rare occasion actually setting a spark to the flame of getting more people into it, my ultimate goal.

So anyways, i decided to suit up and continue onto the water to practice.  Despite the long stares and curiosity of what the hell i was doing.. no one really cared.  Cool.   So i did my usual warm up strokes, forward, backward, sweep, and draws.... then on to buisness.  Im more confident in my backwards double pump, and my ability to get the boat vertical on its stern, and hold it there.  My balance has definetely improved.  my roll, definetly feel very confident about it, i haven't wet exited my boat since learning my roll. 

i am also able to bring the boat up on stern stall by just doing some easy's.... or spinning the boat on edges with just abs and legs... no paddle. 

however... still not able to do a forward double pump. the angles or something ? its just not clicking.... im working like hell on it though.  i can almost bring the boat up on the bow when doing a plowing ender. but mostly not.  I can bring the liquid logic up with the plowing ender and flip it right over end.  but the jackson, i think because its made more for loops and air time,,, with all that volume up front, cannot seem to get her to stand up on bow.

so thats it from today, really wanted to run some river section today, but even with the rivers being as low as they are, single kayakers in a river section is frowned upon.... the buddy system works.  i couldn't find a soul to kayak in the river setting so flat water had to do..... but all in all it worked out well.  had fun.

until next time my friends..
keep it real.. you only live once :O)

rainy day a merli

hey all,
been a while since ive been on here to update any postings.  today mark and his girlfriend alyssa joined me at merli.  I did some usual playboating moves on the flatwater along with some leisurely paddling in the dagger.  Mark and alyssa just paddled around a bit in the perception boat and the liquid logic cr250.  all in all it was a chilly rainy labor day but fun nonetheless.  i did get a chance to roll the dagger today for the first time... i must say that rolling the rpm, is sweet.. it rolls so incredibly easy.  just snaps back around... no problem.. much easier than any other boat i have.  perfect boat to roll.  just a great boat all in all.... really impressed by it.. might have to pick up one of my own someday.  good fun day