ade several longer paddlings (15 ~ 20 km) to see how the kayak would perform. As with all my previous boats, it takes some little time for me to adapt myself to a new boat, in particular, the primary stability. Each kayak differs by a little, after a few dozens of kilometers, I would feel more comfortable and confident with the boat’s motions. Only after that, the speed measures could be evaluated more accurately.

The Garmin GPS data shows that I could sustain about 7 kmph with my new kayak. That’s pretty much very good, though only slightly better compared to Serene – 1 (it was about 6.5+ kmph). The 7 kmph value is very closed to the average speed that other famous sea kayakers would usually make. The improvement at this point is very critical, since I can hardly make any more gain without sacrifices to the boat stability.

The weather this season is quite ideal for paddling, the temperature is dropping to around 20 ~ 25 degree (Celsius). The Northern wind is blowing, but much a lesser amplitude compared to this time last year. But too bad, I’m quite busy with my works and can’t spend much time on water, my paddling performance is not truly at its peak, so it’s still early to say more about the new kayak’s performance characteristics.

Anyway, I’m feeling very pleased with my new kayak, and I think that with more training, I could bring her to a much better performance level. Some more works required still on the kayak though, in essence, I would have to rework the USB – charging circuit, the current one is over – powered by the 3 powerful Lithium cells and wouldn’t work very well. Christmas and New Year season is coming, happy season to everyone! 😀

ontinue trialling and adjusting various boat equipments. The 2.2 Amph SLA battery works, but not to my expectation, first, it’s too heavy, second, its capacity is quite small, and third, the battery doesn’t hold its electricity for too long, about 2 days without charging and the battery would exhaust… After consulting with some other paddlers, I’ve decided to replace it with 3 Lithium cells, the results are just… superb!

I now have about 10 Amph in the very small 3 Li-ion cells, almost 5 times more the capacity, and 5 times less the weight, yet 5 times the price 😀, advancements in battery technologies is just amazing! According to one of my friend, an “expert” in electric and electronic devices, the Li-ion would usually last longer, and compared to the SLA, with zero maintenance cost. After replacing the battery, I fitted the last electrical components.

The AA charger and the USB charger, they’re positioned inside another waterproof box, connected to the battery box with electrical wires inside a plastic tube. The installation is pretty easy, the two devices are connected via two switches, simply put your iPhone (or your VHF radio, or your AA batteries) into the box, turn on the switch, close the box, and let the Li-ion cells, plus the solar panel do their job!

Also, I’ve removed the plastic seat, replace it with just a back – rest instead. The back – rest is built from plywood, bent into a curved shape, covered on 1 side with a rubber sheet (to make your back resting more comfortable), and fitted into the cockpit aft, it could be rotated slightly to suit my various sitting positions. These are last updates for the boat in this 2016 year, now it’s time to just enjoy the water!

any miscellaneous jobs required still to finish equipping my new kayak for upcoming paddling trips. First is adjusting the seat’s back rest, it’s a bit too high that strapping on the spray skirt could be a bit difficult. I simple cut down its back, then rivet the cut – out part onto the rest part. The hatches’ gaskets are cut from a thin (5 mm) rubber sheet (1^st & 2^nd images), should do their job of keeping the water out.

I made a new cart for transporting the boat on land, it’s just a smaller and lighter version of the previous one. I reused the pair of wheel, couldn’t reduce the wheels’ size since they have to be big enough so that the cart wouldn’t sink in when pulled on sand and mud. The result is quite satisfactory, big enough to easily transport the kayak, and small enough to not affect the boat stability when carried on the aft deck.

The list of small jobs to really finish the boat seems to be never ending, there’s always something I could do to improve, here and there, e.g: a mesh bag would be installed inside the cockpit, under the deck, to store various things I could need during a paddling trip, e.g: a small knife, a tiny light torch, a small monocular (to be equipped), reserved batteries for camera and GoPro, lighter, my tobacco box, etc…

It’s an interesting experience equipping a kayak for long paddling trips: everything need to be ready and accessible around your cockpit: food and drink, the back up paddle, the paddle float, radio and camera, everything… 😀 Fortunately, my newly purchased PFD has two pockets on the front side where I could hold some crucial things with me: the VHF radio, the Garmin and the Cannon waterproof small camera!

ontinue trialling my newly – built kayak with some short paddlings. The adjusted rudder pedals now work properly and smoothly. The battery system charged well, everything works as expected. One point I’ve found out is that, the SLA (Sealed Lead Acid) battery should be positioned upright for it to be charged to its maximum capacity. I was thinking about Lithium battery which is more compact, lighter, has more capacity…

But that would be later, maybe I should deploy a system of SLA and Lithium in parallel, as the SLA could provide short – bursts of hight current (required by the bilge pump), and the Lithium could provide a lower amperage for a longer period of time. Today, the Sea – to – summit spray skirt package arrived, the all – neoprene thick skirt fits well to the cockpit coaming, it should do its job of keeping the water out well!

Also I’ve found out that I need to adjust the seat’s back rest a bit, it’s too high that strapping the skirt on could be a bit difficult. One important add-on to the kayak is the water drinking system. 2^nd image: the 2 plastic water bags, from left to right: 10 and 8 liters respectively. The smaller oval – shaped water bag is put in the forward compartment, with a water tube running through a cable gland over the deck.

That way you can drink (suck the water out of the reservoir through the tube) without having to stop paddling. The low – lying bags would help with the boat’s stability, no more bulky water bottles needed, and the deck space would be clearer for other items of necessity. I’ve found this drinking system idea very practical, as I’ve lost quite some water bottles lashed to the bungee cords in heavy sea, when strong waves wash over the deck.