liquid logic Saluda?

[ieatcrayons]

hello.. i am thinking of purchasing one of these. i like the idea of being able to lightly pack some gear in it for a overnight-er an that it seems very stable. but everything i have read says its for 'slow water'. i own and float a 17' grumman canoe an was looking for something more light on the water an maybe a bit more flexible. i'm not really into the white water scene but some parts of the rivers in this state tend to get nasty for a bit. i guess my round about question is.. even tho its a 'slow water' boat.. will it take some of the nasty parts of the rivers better or worse than my grumman ???? thanks for your thoughts!

[Cowper]

My guess:

WIthout a sprayskirt on the Saluda, the Grumman would be slightly better for the waves you might encounter on a Class II run.

WITH a sprayskirt, I think the Saluda would take the lead.

Of course, the Saluda is only going to carry a fraction of the gear you could carry in the Grumman... but that's OK, as long as it carries what you need.

[ieatcrayons]

thanks for the response. it comes with full spray skirt, and a half spray skirt. now knowing this. i know NOTHING about kayaking. in using one of these is this where i would need to take the roll classes? or is this boat to big for that also?

[Cowper]

The Saluda wasn't really designed with rolling in mind - it is a stable boat in which upsets should be rare.

If the sprayskirt is mostly nylon or other coated material, don't worry about it. if you flip, you'll just fall out and the skirt will pop loose with no action required on your part.

If the skirt is neoprene, then it won't pop off as easily. You should experiment with wet exits in a pool (with a helper standing by just in case), to see if the skirt pops off on its own, or do you need to grab and release it the same as the whitewater kayakers?

[ieatcrayons]

you are the man Cowper. thanks for the info!!