Coronavirus Quarantine Kayaking Dose – Day 38: Fishform surfski, seat booster and a mango!

Mango days are here again!

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Yes!! After completely taking last year off, my mango tree is producing early this year! 🙂

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With the Coronavirus quarantine and lockdown well into the second month, I decided to switch things up a bit. I took out my vintage 90s Findeisen Shearwater surfski ‘ONEWAY’ and paddled it out to the ocean to eat a mango!

I don’t paddle this ski as much as I used to since obtaining the ‘Grey Ghost’ (a Stellar SES) for my fitness paddling. However there are times when this old ski is actually a better choice. In really rough water for instance, the split tub design holds almost no water as compared to a single tub common in modern surfskis. It’s also more stable than the SES, has more rocker and surfs real nice!

On this session I was not expecting rough conditions, but I took her out to test an extra seat booster pad. Most kayakers are familiar with seat pads, but mostly for the purpose of more padding and therefore seat comfort. Fitness paddlers in K1 and surfskis use pads to raise the seat up to elevate their CoG (Center of Gravity) to learn and train for ever-tippier boats and conditions. Also, raising the seat and/or lowering the feet results in improved ergonomics and power transfer. It’s for these reasons that I wanted to go with a two inch seat rise!

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My vintage Findeisen Shearwater surfski ‘ONEWAY’ is a great all around surfing / workout / fast tropical day tripping boat. Shown here back when the beach was open!
Surfski center stringer repair and the Findeisen Shearwater resurrection!

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Seat booster pads for better paddling form!

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Right about 2 inches of boost when the two pads are used together.

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Two inch booster seat pad for my vintage fishform sufski.
This make a noticeable positive difference in paddling form and ergonomics.
Stacked pads are for flat to moderate water conditions.

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Using just one of the pads brings stability back for almost all paddling in typical South Florida conditions.

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No pad I reserve for rough ocean surfing conditions. There’s not much leg drive but stability is excellent and anyway the point is to catch and stay on the wave train! 🙂

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Fish form vs swede form – contemporary (Stellar SES) ski vs Findeisen Shearwater surfski comparison.
A tale of two surfskis 20 years apart (Stellar SES vs Findeisen Shearwater).

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As nice as the split tub design of the Shearwater is in rough water, the rest of the time it’s not so great. It’s much harder to get really good (or even much) leg drive with that design because the hump under the legs is in the way. Also it feels as though the seat is lower than the feet, a very weird feeling once you’re used to a K1 or a modern surfski like the SES. The remedy is a simple seat pad or two in this case. The side effect is the aforementioned rise in CoG which makes the boat increasingly tippy!

In the case of the Shearwater which is 18.5 inches wide, I find a 2 inch booster seat to work very well in calm to moderate conditions. Stability is not bad, not much different from the SES that I am used to now (16.4″ wide).  It does really helps with ergonomics and enables some leg drive. It will never be as nice as say a K1 or even a modern ski, but definitely a positive step forward!

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Cruising up the intracoastal waterway with a boost, feeling fine.

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My mutifunctional and versatile face protector / neck gaiter from the Church of the Double Bladed Paddle! 🙂

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Ft Lauderdale beach scene – vacant ghost town as expected.

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My vintage 90s Findeisen Shearwater surfski ONEWAY inside the little cove in Port Everglades inlet.

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You can see in these pics that this old surfski is a fishform design, meaning that the widest point is in front of the paddler. This is the opposite of and in contrast with pretty much all modern skis! So what’s the difference? It’s a subtle but noticeable feel. A photographic analogy would be akin to vintage film-era lenses vs modern computer optimized glass. Sure, the modern lenses with have more features and usability. The specs will blow the old lenses away – at least on paper! However the old lenses have a unique rendering and a quality about them that has to be appreciated and will show in the desired images. The older lenses may not be the best choice most of the time, but will be THE best choice to go with some – of – the – time.

It’s pretty much the same with this vintage surfski. The difference in how it paddles versus the more common modern swedeform design is in takeoff and cruising feel. During takeoff from a dead stop, the fishform feels like it takes longer to ‘get going’ than the swedeform. However something about the fishform makes this old ski glide with ease when cruising. It’s hard to describe, but I can definitely feel it as compared to the Stellar SES which is faster, but lacks this kind of ‘feel’. Btw, I also notice this in my Seda Glider aka the ‘Banana Boat’ – a fast fishform sea kayak!

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I’ve been paddling this boat since 1996. 😮
Now it’s a lil heavier but actually better than ever!!

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ONEWAY at Port Everglades inlet. Traffic was very light today!

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For now I’m using a featherweight flotation foam booster and an old skwoosh seat pad which is kinda heavy but has the benefit of having a slick covering that reduces ‘sticking’ to the seat significantly. In the future I will replace it with fabric covered foam, tethered of course. But the combination works well enough for now, in the ocean I just use skwoosh pad to regain more stability.

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Looking due south across the inlet channel at the Park (closed) and Dania Beach fishing pier in the distance.

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Boating traffic was light, but please remember that Port Everglades inlet is a busy 24/7 SHIPPING LANE and a FULL SPEED boating zone! Big ships can not and will not stop, and fast moving boaters may not see even you!

Be really sure you know EXACTLY what you’re doing before venturing inside or crossing the inlet !!

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Out of Boat experience swimming the ocean – a necessary task! 😉

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I paddled eleven miles so I could eat this mango on the water.

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Devouring my home grown mango on the ocean off Ft Lauderdale.

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Out on the ocean I enjoyed my delicious mango.

It’s good nutrition and hydration. Also, something about the salty air makes it taste even sweeter! 🙂

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My delicious home grown mango reminded me of summer camping on Florida Bay. 🙂
Everglades hot summer camping and cruising – the Central & Western Florida Bay loop!

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I will now give you my very best malocchio or ‘mal de ojo’ ..
Treatment for this condition requires going paddling! 😉

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Mango is Everything!

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Paddling back due north I caught some nice rides coming into the inlet! 🙂

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Back in the canal zone among the ships.

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When’s the last time you’ve seen a serrated bow on a boat!?

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The serrated bow reminded me of that one time I went ice breaking with my SOT kayak and a machete.
Paddling in a Winter Wonderland – kayak ice breaking on the Rio Grande!

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Please be well, keep on paddlin’ !

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! Bless UP

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© 2020 Flex Maslan / kayakfari.com / plasticworlds.com. All original photographs, artworks and music in this portfolio are copyrighted and owned by the artist, Flex Maslan, unless otherwise noted. Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from the artist is strictly prohibited.

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With that said..
Blessings friends!

🙂