Day 14 - Wilderness Systems 'Northstar'

Thursday night again and this week the group grew by another couple participants. I believe the head count was about 25 for the night (thankfully I wasn't the one doing the counting). As I was signing folks in at the front counter the Rebolledo family stopped in to join in the fun. I had planned on paddling in a single kayak but when I caught word that the head of the family didn't think she'd be able to participate (for fear of not being able to keep up) I offered her the opportunity to join me in a tandem for the tour. This worked well for her because she wouldn't have to work as hard or worry about slowing the group down and it worked for me because it gave me a chance to review one of our tandems which wound up being the Wilderness Systems Northstar. It ended up being Tina Rebolledo's first time ever in a kayak but she settled in quickly and we were under way. Tina thought she wouldn't be able to keep up to the group but after talking to her abut her thrice weekly yoga and almost daily water aerobics somehow I think she would have done just fine on her own.

Northstar Revisited 5/3/09 - Today I snuck away from work long enough to catch up with Otto Herrman (the 15 year old local kayak rolling phenom) on our dock here at Aqua Adventures. Our plan was to try to roll the Northstar tandem. I had rolled tandems only twice in the past but Otto, having only started paddling last August, hadn't had the opportunity. After a little discussion about which side we were going to roll on we gave it a go and got the boat over and back without a hitch. After testing the limits of the boat a bit, we dared to edge it over and scull for support which was easier than we expected. After several attempts Otto and I only missed one roll which was a shot at a tandem butterfly roll, even then we were able to recover and get the boat back upright with a regular roll. I'm not sure our success came from the fact that the Northstar is easy to roll, that Otto is a really good roller, or that he and I seemed to be pretty well coordinated (check out the nearly synchronized ear drain head tilt we did between tricks on the video).

Northstar Review

Manufacturer = Confluence
Brand = Wilderness Systems
Model = Northstar
Length = 18'-6"
With = 29"
Weight = 94 lbs
Capacity = 600 lbs

Location = Aqua Adventures Thursday Evening Paddle on Mission Bay
Time = 6:00 PM
Distance = Approx. 5 miles
Duration = 2 hours
Avg. Speed = 2.5 mph
Conditions = Sunny and light breeze - very nice