Happy only starts the description

Yeah, this is the “glorify Lyssa” post that I can well believe a few of y’all saw comin’.   

How to describe the difference between two boats, of different materials but nearly identical design (nearly because the decks are completely different with only small tweaks below the water line,,,).  While I can’t describe things perfectly (my butt doesn’t know english and the translation gets a might garbled) I can describe the differences in performance at the water level,,,  Putting one (BJ) on edge, where you lift one knee and ‘lean’ (not really) in the direction you want to go (the boat leans out, you lean in,,,) does absolutely nothing without driving the paddle harder on the outside of the turn.  In the other boat, the same motion and she is taking that turn with grace and NO OTHER INPUT required.  Any other input only amplifies the motion or hinders it, depending on what it is.   Too much on the inside and she goes straight, more on the out and she is nearly spinning on her center axis.

Love the hell out of Blue Jean, and she has her forever home with me, but she is not Lyssa, nor is Lyssa her,,, two completely different characters with distinct differences that make for two very loved boats.   Lyssa is more like Lizzy in how fast she is, but more like BJ in how she handles things: Lyssa is more like a Standard Nordkapp when it comes to how she handles edge and leans.(Lizzy is an HM, with a fixed skeg/keel: straight tracking like a freight train). She fits the bill between Lizzy and BJ that I was looking for.  IF I were to use animals to describe them, I would say that Lizzy is that 8 month old colt, all abuzz with get up and go, skittish when bored, and ready to run, run, runrunrunRUN,,,   Blue Jean is that 5 year old, Amish raised mule that pulls the family around country roads and doesn’t spook at even the most obnoxious exhaust pipes.  Lyssa,,,The two year old mare that has good sense, but is still looking to play, and may play a game of ‘nip the behind’ when you least expect it, but is content to run around the pasture for fun. 

When I was doing the one crossing that had me a little goosed looking at it from the distance, I pulled the skeg back up because it was doing me a disservice being down.   Even at half-mast, it was grabbing the rebound waves and twisting me around towards the cliff face that I was trying to stay away from: with the skeg up, the waves were pushing the stern out, while the wind was cocking it ‘in’, and I was doing exactly what I wanted to do, which was travel a straight line along the cliff face and get to calmer waters. Skeg down the waves had more ‘push’,,,  I am learning the heck out of this boat and MYSELF again.   And that IS what I wanted in a fiberglass boat: growth.   That she punches waves in the face and laughs about it (they slap me back by climbing in my lap and making for a wet ride) is only a plus, (I do have concerns about her ‘pitch-poling’ in surf, and have read that this model is known for it: pitch poling is when the bow drives under so hard it impacts the bottom and ‘pitches you’ as if you were on the end of a pole.  Good thing we don’t really have surf around here,,,  Boat wake is the most I see,,, And Lyssa won’t be taken on white water, where that might be an issue.)

Now, full admission, I have been in much taller water in other boats that did well. (Serena on Cumberland lake when The Ohio Navy was let out of lockdown in 2020,,). What we saw today was minor to that day, but the memory of how Serena handled the waves was “Right There”,  I even had the feeling I was still moving in waves when I hit the no wake zone (didn’t get motion sickness, just had that ‘things is moving, but they ain’t,,,” feelz going on.).  But, she had one thing Serena didn’t have: SPEED.   I checked in a couple of places and I could have her up to that 5 point sumpin mark in about 10 strokes of the blades.  I was digging hard to do it, but she did it anyways, and once there, I could let up a touch (still needed to power on,) and hold it close for a spell.  That is not fast,,,, Thats BLOODY FAST, and I am not sure Lizzy could match it (more boat to get up to speed.). Lizzy could hold it longer, but she had more mass to hold the inertia, and longer waterline.

and the other advantage of Lyssa vs Lizzy: easier access to cargo holds.   Larger hatches (that are now or will soon be weatherproofed)

One downside to today though;  My carbon fiber Greenland Paddle is taking on water these days.   Still quite functional, holds its own as a paddle, but after an hour, has gained weight: lifting 2# every stroke is a lot easier than lifting 5# every stroke.  and when you are lifting a paddle 1000+ times a mile, that adds up to “woOF!!!”.  I have another brand (not Chinee like my current one) but its sorta pricey and won’t be ‘gotten’ anytime soon, and the means is being set aside a little here, a little there.  And since I do not think I will have that new blade in hand for the SKAW, I am going to start making a set of wooden blades that I can splice into the CF loom of said current paddle and not have a paddle that incrementally gets heavier as I get more tired.   No rush, easy after work over a couple of weeks project, but one that today became “do this soonest” over other kayaky projects I have.  (and that front hatch leak was very minor, it can wait a bit.). If you don’t recall, the SKAW is a 13 mile race, open flat water (two 6.5 mile laps).  Don’t want to run in that with the handicap of a paddle that gains weight the more you use it.  

Hell, I’m single and an empty-nester: what else do I have to do on those nights when all the other stuff is either done or on hold for weather???

(debating on Lyssa/Lizzy for the race seeing how they are both fast boats and Lizzy is plenty stable, so long as you don’t stop moving,,,)

So, for the TL;DR crowd that scrolled down here to see if I had anything else to say: Lyssa is MY BOAT now, and our friendship grew in leaps and bounds on that lake today.  Very happy and all the trials and tribulations of getting her, to include the ‘fight with Da’,,, was worth it.