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Ravenswood - A Suitable Design and Other Questions (newbee)


J.E.D.

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Hello all. Thought about emailing Kudzu about some specific questions but his site encourages posting questions here for a quicker response and more input.

 

My friend and I are each planning on building a Kudsu design. We are trying to decide on which plan would be the best.

 

I am intrigued by the Ravenswood for it's convienience of size, and ease of paddling. The description page on http://www.kudzucraft.com say's "There is enough volume for camping but it is not a touring boat and your not going to stuff a lot of gear in this boat." The Vardo would be my next choice but the size, extra weight and reduction in performance make me shy.

 

I would likely use this boat for 3-4 day camping trips and I may have not yet developed the skills of packing extremely light. Storage is a concern to me then.

 

Also, I am literally a 5 minute walk to the very large Lake Ontario. I'm interested in taking day trips along the shores of this large and sometimes dangerous lake.

 

Questions:

 

1. Can anyone quantify the amount of practical storage space in the Ravenswood?

2. Is it practical to put for and aft hatches in the Ravenswood?

3. Is jaming a SOF kayak full of gear so that it's rubbing and bulging against the skin an issue to be concerned with? Should there be a floor in the storage areas?4. Would the VARDO solve my problems? A longer boat might be harder for me to store, transport and paddle. :huh:

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I can't help your with choosing between a Vardo or Ravenswood. (I new to this and am building Jeff's cast-a-way fishing kayak and will also use it for camping).

However, I have some experience camping/backpacking. A person will save themselves a considerable weight and space by ditching the tent and going with a serious well engineered hammock (like a Warbonnet Blackbird) set up under a quality rain fly. Light weight, small package, Quick and easy to set up, better sleep, bone dry in the hardest rain.

This site will more than introduce a person to hammock camping. BTW, if you can make your own kayak, you can make your own gear too.

https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/?

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Questions:

 

1. Can anyone quantify the amount of practical storage space in the Ravenswood?

2. Is it practical to put for and aft hatches in the Ravenswood?

3. Is jaming a SOF kayak full of gear so that it's rubbing and bulging against the skin an issue to be concerned with? Should there be a floor in the storage areas?4. Would the VARDO solve my problems? A longer boat might be harder for me to store, transport and paddle. :huh:

 

Sounds like VARDO was designed for you.  ^_^

 

First let me address your questions.

1. Can anyone quantify the amount of practical storage space in the Ravenswood?

 

That is the hardest question to answer. Ravenswood is not a touring boat but using backpacking gear I could camp out of it. If you want to take a Coleman Stove and lantern forget it. Even VARDO is going to struggle there. Kayak camping is about keeping it to the minimum to me, just what you have to have. That said, VARDO has a lot more volume (storage space) inside than a Ravenswood.

 

 

 2. Is it practical to put for and aft hatches in the Ravenswood?

 

Yes. That would not a be a problem.
 
 
3. Is jaming a SOF kayak full of gear so that it's rubbing and bulging against the skin an issue to be concerned with? Should there be a floor in the storage areas?
 
If you're stuffing in gear, you are carrying to much gear.  :)  Abrasion is the worst enemy of a skin but properly packed there is no reason for it to be a problem. There is no reason for the gear to rocking around and rubbing against the skin. If it were constantly rubbing as you paddled it could abrade the skin but it's hard for me to even imagine that happening.
 
4. Would the VARDO solve my problems? A longer boat might be harder for me to store, transport and paddle.
 
VARDO is my best all around design and it's going to weight 3 or 4 lbs more than a Ravenswood at most! Yes it is a little longer but that doesn't really make much difference in handling it because of the light weight.
 
I assume you looking at the Resistance charts and that lead you to think it is harder to paddle? You have to understand what those figures mean in practical terms. As a new paddler I dare say you are not going to see any difference. As an experienced paddler, having paddled a lot of boats I could probably feel some difference but it is minimal. It's not a hard to paddle boat by any means! 
 
Bottom line is go with the VARDO. It's a great all purpose boat and not something you will out grow. It's should be more comfortable in bigger waves than a short boat. It will haul more gear than you need. And if you end up like most people and never camp out of it, you will still like the way it paddles.
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JED:

For safety's sake, I highly recommend that you use combination float bags that will hold your gear while providing flotation. If you capsize and do a wet exit, the boat will float without them, but it will be filled with water and you won't be able to self-rescue. So it depends how long you're able to float around Lake Ontario waiting for someone to rescue you. When the water is cold, that may not be very long. One source of bags is skinboats.com.

Fair winds, Andy

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