The Liquidlogic Remix XP10 - a hybrid kayak with a whitewater pedigree

As I’ve found myself drawn to dynamic ocean whitewater, my boat needs have started to change as my paddling shifts from medium distance exploration to short bursts of speed and adrenalin in amongst the surf and rocks. My current tupperware sea kayak is quite good for the rough stuff but at 18 feet, is too long to manoeuvre in close to rocks. Its hull design also makes it a tad tippy when you catch paddles or parts of the hull on submerged rocks.

So I’ve spent the last 6 months considering many different boat designs and options. In the sea kayak realm there are a few boats designed for surfing and rock gardening, such as the poly P&H Delphin, which comes in at 15 feet and has a unique hull design especially for surfing, or the Sterling Reflection, with a hull designed to surf equally well backwards as forwards. And let’s not forget the Tsunami X15 as paddled by the Tsunami Rangers, with a length of 14 feet and a wash-deck for easy dismounts and remounts.

My general needs are basic, I want a boat that is short, turns easily, is tough, surfs well in any direction and has a good level of stability in the rough stuff. Of course my hefty weight (approx 290lbs/130kgs) is a limiting factor, with very few boats designed for that level of, err, paddler load, especially as the length of the boat decreases. With this in mind, I’ve sought out a range of advice from paddlers and suppliers experienced in ocean whitewater about various kayak designs that don’t fit into the mould, including surf kayaks, whitewater creekers and surf sit-on-tops.

The culmination of my research has arrived at one boat – the Liquidlogic Remix XP10. This ten foot hybrid with a whitewater pedigree has plenty of volume for large paddlers, a rear hatch with enough storage to go camping, and enough length to generate good speed on waves. It has a spring-loaded skeg to help it track when cruising, and all the outfitting expected of a top-quality whitewater boat.

With thanks to Melbourne paddling superstore Capacity Sports, I’ve been able to order in an XP10 which should arrive any day. I can’t wait to add this great looking boat to my fleet and am looking forward to learning all about her in some rough stuff soon. Expect to see lots of photos and video in the coming months as I see what she can do, but in the meantime check out this little teaser below to see the kind of water these boats are designed to play in. Cheers – FP

Tags: Capacity Sports, Capacity Sports Melbourne, Liquidlogic, Liquidlogic Remix XP10, Remix, Remix XP10

Badger Paddles in Australia - for those who dig the water (Berowra Waters, NSW Australia)

At the beginning of the year I was lucky enough to travel to Canada where I picked up a number of canoe paddles from the man who makes them himself, Mike Ramsey of Badger Paddles. In my package were four paddles – a custom Sliver in cherry, a custom Tripper in cherry and two small Cub paddles with my daughters names painted on them.

Mike from Badger Paddles with the Sliver, and a very cold FP with the Tripper (Toronto, Canada)

I’ve used them now a fair bit over the past few months but decided to spend a full session on the water really playing with them. I pushed off in my Wenonah Encounter solo canoe at Berowra Waters at 5.30am, in the darkness and with the thermometer recording -1C degrees! The goal was to power up into the Berowra Gorge ahead of the dropping tide, before turning around for a leisurely cruise back, with a planned stop at my favourite hidden rock pool.

First light over the glass waters of Berowra. Just me and my Badger Paddles (Sliver paddle shown)

For the run upstream against the tide, I settled in with the Tripper. It’s a beautiful paddle that bites the water well giving a good sense of power, but with its tapering end still feels smooth in the water and gentle on the shoulder. I found I could really get the Encounter up to a fair speed with it, pushing lots of water as well as giving me lots of steering control on the J-stroke. The cherry is a stunning timber but does make the paddle a touch heavier than some of my other canoe paddles, but then I did ask for them to be made strong. The grip is comfortable in the hand and gives plenty of control. The only area I found the paddle to struggle with was during the recovery stage of an Indian-stroke, where I found the shape of the paddle made controlling it through the water difficult.

The Badger Sliver - a thin paddle designed for solo and style paddling

Once I arrived as far upstream as I could get I turned for the leisurely cruise back downstream, switching to the Badger Sliver. The shape of this paddle is magnificent, with each stroke being virtually effortless. It has the same grip as the Tripper and is similar in many ways, except that the slender shape makes Indian-strokes incredibly easy, so much so that I found myself using an Indian-stroke for many kilometres as I enjoyed the beauty of the gorge around me. The paddle definitely lacks the bite of the Tripper and pushes far less water, but its ease of use and the smooth slide through the water make it incredibly attractive for cruising. And lets face it, not all canoeing is about pushing your boat hard, many of us prefer the slow explore and cruise, which this paddle is absolutely perfect for.

Customised paintwork is available on any Badger Paddler

The Badger Cub paddles are clearly not designed for big fat men such as myself, but they are beautiful, bright and light (and my daughters absolutely love them). The small size makes it easy for little hands to use and the range of colours draw children to want to use them. Having your children’s names painted on the paddles is an extra touch that the kids love, and also serves to reduce the chance of ownership disputes!

The Badgers (from left): The Cub, the Tripper and the Sliver

The last item I’ve been using lots this year is the Badger Paddle Sock. This is a stretchy cover for your paddles which is easy to slip on, easy to secure and looks really classy.

Conveniently the stretchiness means it will fit a range of different paddle shapes and sizes – I’ve had bent shaft marathon paddles in them, I’ve had my Badgers in them, and I’ve even had whitewater split kayak paddles in them! They will shape to almost any paddle you can think of, meaning you can re-use them for whatever flavour of paddling you want to do on any given day.

Beautiful paddles, a beautiful boat, and some beautiful wilderness. Love it!

The Badger Paddles “company” is a family run business that is immersed in canoe-culture and adds a little of their paddling passion to every product, which is clearly demonstrated in the form, finish and overall beauty of their paddles. Mike and Fiona love their business and are always happy to offer loads of advice and insight into the world of canoeing, and you get the feeling that every customer ends up becoming a friend. But regardless of all that, if you get your hands on a Badger Paddle you will most likely love it for a very long time to come. Cheers – FP

Tags: Badger Cub, Badger Paddle Sock, Badger Paddlers, Badger Sliver, Badger Tripper, Reviews

Andre in his new sea kayak design, the Hybrid 550

After recently leading Team Fat Paddler on a mission out at sea, we snuck back into the Harbour and  stopped in at Watsons Bay for a sneaky coffee break. Whilst enjoying my coffee I spied some distance away a paddler inspecting a rather sexy looking kayak out in a few metres of water. Looking closely, I spied an interesting design feature of the boat, an integrated rudder much like a Mirage but with a quite radical angle to it. The only boat that came to mind was the newly designed and released Hybrid 550, a boat that had only months before been released to the public, so I jumped back into my boat and paddled over for a closer look. When I got there I found the boats designer, Andre Janecki, flipping the boat from side to side and generally having a  blast.

Andre Janecki - more smiles than a room full of kids at Christmas!

Andre kindly let me have a good look at the Hybrid 550 and explained first hand the many design features he’d added to the boat. These included the radical cockpit design with raised sides offering heaps of room for big legs as well as creating a more stable platform on edge, the hull shaping he’d done under the waterline to improve handling on big seas, and of course the interesting integrated rudder which digs in the back of the boat and lifts the bow when needed amongst the waves. Of course a designer I am not, but his energetic enthusiasm for design innovation left me feeling inspired and curious to see more of what the boat could do. With that, Andre put the boat through its paces, flipping it from side to side to demonstrate it’s incredible primary and secondary stability characteristics.

With all of the Team Fat Paddler lads now ridiculously impressed, we talked a little more about his aims for the boat, which are fundamentally to help raise money and awareness for another of Andre’s projects, the “Unlimited“. This is a personal design project that Andre has been leading for many years, to design and produce a recreational kayak for double-leg amputees and paraplegics. Andre has designed an award winning craft but desperately needs funding to get prototypes built for testing. So for the bankers, CEOs and major charities out there who may be interested in supporting this worthy project, drop me an email and I’ll make sure it gets through to Andre.

I get the impression Andre is having TOO much fun with this boat! Over he goes again...

....and he's in, with the boat now passing the 90 degree plane....

...and then straight back up again. Nice work Andre!

Whether or not you’re interested in this unique sea kayak or in Andre’s Unlimited project, the one thing you have to say is that his enthusiasm for paddling is absolutely inspirational.  It was truly wonderful to see a paddler out there with a grin from ear to ear having so much fun out on the water. I truly wish him loads of success in his boat designing ventures. Cheers – FP

Tags: Andre Janecki, Hybrid 550, Hybrid Foundation, Hybrid Unlimited, sea kayak design

Kayalite pole-mounted deck light

As winter approaches and my early morning paddles grow darker, I thought it best to throw out my rusted old light rig and invest in some night-paddling kit that many of my paddler colleagues have been talking about of late. The gear in question is the Kayalu Kayalite, a pole-mounted lighting system which I’d heard many excellent reviews of.

High mount for maximum visibility when amongst the waves

Firstly, this is a serious light for serious conditions. The “Tektite Mark III” light is industrial grade and can be seen for over 3kms from its 45cm pole mount. The construction of the light is hardcore – sturdy, corrosion resistant, and just generally tough. It’s waterproof to a fairly staggering distance, at a depth you would hope your kayak never gets to! In all its a dependable piece of kit that is  designed to last. But there’s something else that makes this kit so popular – it secures to your kayak in a way that’s very different from other suction-type mounts on the market. In fact, there’s no suction used at all.

Kayalite deck mounting system - the tensioning cable system!

The light unit basically has a bungee cable running through its core that clips onto any secure mount on your boat.  Then you draw the bungee up through the stem, and using tension, secure it on the cleat attached to the mount. And that’s it! No need to drill holes in the boat, no need to worry about separate security ties, just clip it on, tighten, and you’re away.

Now for the real test - lets to go to sea!

To test the Kayalite, I decided to take it with me on a little mission out to sea to watch the sunrise, and as it happens, watch passing sharks. Without so much as testing it, I removed it from the packet, found somewhere to attach it, clicked it on and secured the bungee, and was done. I reckon it took me approx 45 seconds from start to finish, including thinking time. It was ridiculously easy to secure! Then we were away, paddling out through the night and out to sea in some fairly hefty waves. The Kayalite stayed perfectly secure despite a fair bit of rough treatment, and according to my paddle-mates could be seen incredibly well from anywhere. And that was it! Easy to use, functional, and a great safety item. I couldn’t be happier with it.

FP coasting along with Kayalite on rear deck!

It seems the reviews are right – this is a great light for paddlers – strong, effective, secure, and easy to use. Get one from your local stockist, or order one direct from the Kayalu website like I did! Cheers – FP

Tags: Kayalite, Kayalu, Kayalu Kayalite, Reviews

My dead Panasonic Lumix FT1

When I first picked up the paddle early in 2009 I decided to record the journey via photos on some sort of website. I needed a waterproof camera and after doing some research, bought myself the new Panasonic Lumix FT1 the day it came out. The website launched a week later – it was the birth of FatPaddler.com. Since then the camera has seen over 1000 km of Sydney waterways. It’s taken over 20,000 photos and well over 100 hours of video footage. It’s been from Australia to Alaska and back via California and Chicago. It has been underwater with stingrays, seen my first rolling sessions, and travelled with me on two Hawkesbury Canoe Classics.

Last weekend after a rolling session it finally gave up the ghost and died. When it refused to turn on I noticed water sitting behind the lens. Continued weekly immersion in salt water had finally corroded its way into the camera’s core. I was able to extract its final moments of video and photography from the memory card, but the Lumix itself was done for.

To honour my old friend, I’ve put together a brief collage from its library of images. Goodbye my old friend! Cheers – FP

It's first waterborne photo. Dawn on Middle Harbour.

First visit to the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Incredible dawns on the Berowra Gorge

Middle Harbour locals

Misty mornings on Bantry Bay

A trip to the other side of the world - glacier fields of Alaska

Hanging out of a moving train for an amazing sunset near Anchorage Alaska

Summer paddles on crystal clear Sydney waters

Early morning Blast paddlers at Balmoral Beach

Team Fat Paddler training for the Lifestart Kayak for Kids

Early morning paddles by Sydney's Heads

A few post-paddle parties as well - haha!

Underwater with the stingrays during our many night paddles

Two Hawkesbury Canoe Classics

Last Photo Ever - Clear waters on Middle Harbour. Then I rolled in them!

Tags: Lumix, Panasonic, Panasonic Lumix