Stupendous Seven See New Future of Paddling, Also Clean River.
Bruce, Glenn, Harold, Jackie, Jocelyn, Pam and Ron paddled from Forks to BBL on June 6. On our de-trashing descent of the Boardman, we came across an intrepid team of marine architects testing the new future in paddling. Scarcely a week after the launch of the Dragon spacecraft another new craft saw emergence.
We interviewed river aficionado and senior TAPC officer Jacklyn Anderson about this new craft. Ms. Anderson extensively tested the craft in dry dock. “Well I was skeptical at first, but I must admit I have been getting pretty sick and tired of scrunching down in a tiny cockpit… You know how you can chip a nail on those dang rubber hatch covers every time you want a cool one, with Covid and all getting a manicure fix is no small matter”.
One paddler noted that the craft was not as maneuverable as some, and seemed to require a fleet of tow vehicles, but many will find this a small price to pay for the improved visibility, comfort, and convenient access.
Engineers Lassers and Moore did an initial assessment. Aerodynamic, and hydrodynamic efficiency are usually measured by comparing the drag of the design to a right rectangular prism of the same frontal area and length as the vehicle. Moore commented that due to deflection and spinning, this design may actually achieve the never sought after and seldom achieved drag coefficient greater than 1. Lassers observed that, unlike tippy canoes and kayaks, control-ability of the craft probably does not diminish with transfer of alcohol from the cargo bay to the occupant.
Below we can see that control issues may reduce the desirability of the craft for some users. Attachment of the pilot and seat to the craft were strictly gravitational. This may result in shedding useless cargo and occupants.
I should also mention that we did clean the river from Forks to BBL. Glen was the champion collector; he even extracted a rather large metal real estate sign which Jocelyn spotted on a previous voyage. The river was quite clean but there is a chair and two basket-ball size toy balls there were stuck in fast moving water which we need to get another day.
