Ratcheting it Up

I've really ratcheted up my paddling this year. Not only is our new local great for more road and mountain biking, but it is also excellent for paddling. Before I had one- max two- spots for paddling nearby. Now days I have my pick of over a dozen killer spots.

I've also been purposefully ratcheting up my paddling because really- truly-- gosh darn-it-- I am doing a triathlon in a month. The triathlon involves a 5- mile paddle, 8-ish mile mountain bike, and 5-ish mile trail run.

Sure I could definitely be in better shape, but that would be really boring. It isn't fun unless you aren't sure you are going to finish.

Just kidding. I am pretty sure the finishing will be in my realm of doing, but I could have been doing some more crunches and stuff. You know- the boring indoorsy things to stay in shape. I've really been just mainly playing outside without a lot of pressure for time or distance so it should be interesting.

Betty Mountain Girl --- The year 2009 in review

Biking

We had an extremely wet spring and summer. Torrential rains for weeks on end-- making things very muddy to say the least.









Misty started to mountain bike with me. She fell in a swamp.

I wrote about being tired.

I tried to take a Panda photo. It's harder than it looks.

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Bicycle Touring

I rode my bike with five other friends to Bar Harbor Maine. It took almost a week.

I enjoyed many Pringles on the trip. I like Pringles.





It rained a lot.





I learned how to make Campfire Pizzas on that trip. And then I made them again.

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More camp cooking



I tried to make a fruit cobbler on my Jetboil stove. I burnt the crap out of it.



We tried to make Campfire cakes. That didn't work out so well either.

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Backpacking- Hiking - Camping- Kayaking

We went backpacking with some friends. We're in bear country and my friend took the time out to toliet paper our tent. Too much fun for just a few days.

We hiked a lot. Jumped around a lot.



We paddled.



Looking back-- this past year was a lot of fun. Adam-yak, Nuggets and I are dreaming up an even bigger year for 2010. Can't wait! Thanks for reading everyone. It wouldn't have been nearly as fun without you all along for the ride!

Video Review from Betty Mountain Girl

You may remember my three part review of the LL Bean Women's Calypso Kayak a few months back. Well, I really lucked out with this great opportunity to discuss my likes and dislikes (mainly likes!) of the Calypso for this recent video on LL Bean's website.



Does the video location look familiar? You may recognize it from some of my previous posts. It's Pillsbury State Park in NH. Lovely. Quiet. Loads of trails to bike and hike on, not to mention the kayaking.

Anyway, please do check out the video! I'm very excited about it. Cheers.

Calypso Women’s Kayak Review: Moving Water and Final Report

My last review of the LL Bean Women’s Calypso Kayak rated it a perfect kayak for open water paddling with great portability, decent speed and tracking, and not so great stability. Since I mainly paddle open waters, the Calypso has quickly made its way to the top of my list. Occasionally, I do paddle on moving water and I was interested in how the Calypso would fair going up current and around small obstacles.

Is the women’s specific Calypso Kayak as good on moving water as open water? Here is my report:

Maneuverability

Being more fitted for women paddlers certainly helps this boat with maneuverability on open water, but it isn’t the most maneuverable for moving water. I paddled this a bit in some moving water, nothing too fast, just a bit of current and found that it did perfectly fine in these conditions, but I couldn’t avoid every obstacle in time. Should the water get any faster than just moving, or the obstacles any more, this boat wouldn’t be your first choice.

That said, it’s designed to be an open water boat and it gets an excellent review from me for fit, ease of portage, and tracking in open water conditions. The idea that I could even try this boat out in moving water, and it could perform

Other Factors to consider about the LL Bean Women’s Calypso

Cock pit size

I thought the cockpit was pretty easy to hop in and out of. The cockpit size is: Cockpit 35½"L x 18½"W. and the max weight for this boat is 225 lbs.

Adjustable foot pedals

I found them hard to adjust while on the water, but once you’ve tried adjusting them a few times on dry land, you should be able to get the hang of it.

Seat

Okay for comfortableness. My back started to get a little achy on a 3 hour plus ride. Consider buying an inflatable pad to help prop you up where you need it.

Durability

I purchased this boat a few years ago and use it three times a week during the season. It hardly shows the wear. The seal on the bulkhead needed to be redone the first year, but that’s expected when you use it a lot.

Summary of the LL Bean Women’s Calypso

Open Water

This boat is an ideal boat for the female kayaker that spends a lot of time on the open water with really decent tracking, speed, and stability with excellent portability. The 12’ version has one bulkhold for storing gear in the rear, so you can’t really do any touring with it. Given the chance, I think I would start off buying the newer version, which is 14’ and has two bulkheads, allowing you to take it touring. My next trip is to Lake Umbagog and I am still scrambling to find the right boat.

Moving Water

This boat performed nicely in slow, moving water conditions. Given that it isn’t designed in to hit the rapids- this boat still works well for easy paddles on local rivers. If you mainly paddle moving water, you may consider other styles designed specifically for this.

Women’s Specific Details

Companies often brag that they have women’s specific models, but on careful inspection their gear tends to still be men’s gear, just made smaller. Not true with the LL Bean’s Women’s Calypso Kayak. I’ve paddled for years and I instantly felt the differences when I got into the Calypso- lower platform, so I easily could control and paddle, perfect width so that I didn’t have to stretch at all to paddle, comfortable all day kind of boat.

Plus, I looooove that I can load it on my truck by myself.

More details

From LL Bean, who has a great return policy
Comes in two lengths 12’ and 14’
Cute colors too



Read Initial Thoughts on Women's Calypso Kayak
Read Open Water Report on Women's Claypso Kayak

Disclaimer: Product Reviews are based on opinion only and are not intended to condone, encourage, or promote a product. Some products are sent to me by the manufacturer or affiliates and are mine to keep. I mention this specifically on products sent to me. Compensation and/or product and/or services never interfere with the review of the product. Otherwise, products and services are purchased by me for personal use. Kayak was purchased by me. I have no affiliation with the manufacturer. 

Calypso Women’s Kayak Review- Open Water Report

When I first was able to paddle the LL Bean Women’s Calypso Kayak on a local lake, I was extremely pleased with the size. I easily loaded the kayak on top of my truck, unloaded it, and carried it down to the waterfront without any back pulling or spectacular scenes. This boat was starting to look perfect for me- but how would it handle on the water?

Having mainly paddled 16-17 foot kayaks, that were not specifically designed for women, I thought the main things that would bug me about the Calypso would be the short length (12 feet) and thus the kayak’s speed and tracking. Here is the low down:

Portability

The major plus factor to this boat is that it is extremely lightweight for an open water, touring type boat. This is mainly due to the shape and design, keeping things low and tight for women friendly design also helps reduce overall weight. I am able to easily load this boat onto my car and to portage points.

Speed

Being pretty short for an open water kayak, I was concerned that I would feel like I was paddling to nowhere. While I have ridden in faster boats, mainly due to their more narrow width, this boat manages to stay fairly slender (24 ½” wide). Overall, while this boat isn’t the speediest one out there, I feel like it goes pretty quick.

Tracking

So, the boat is short, would I be constantly correcting my course or paddling in circles? No- this boat gets a big fat check, leaning towards check plus, in the tracking department. While my boat doesn’t have the optional rudder kit, it stays a pretty fair course and doesn’t require many corrective strokes.

Stability

Being somewhat slender this boat has the potential to be more on the unstable side. If you fit within their size range, I think you’ll find it moderately stable. You can certainly find more stable boats out there, but they won’t be women’s specific, and they won’t be as fast.



Overall

Portability- Excellent
Speed- Decent
Tracking- Decent
Stability- Decent

Kayak Details

12' x 24 1/2"
weight: 38 lbs

My final Calypso Women’s Kayak review will include a summary and a run down of performance on moving water. Check back in or subscribe to my feed for the details.


Disclaimer: Product Reviews are based on opinion only and are not intended to condone, encourage, or promote a product. Some products are sent to me by the manufacturer or affiliates and are mine to keep. I mention this specifically on products sent to me. Compensation and/or product and/or services never interfere with the review of the product. Otherwise, products and services are purchased by me for personal use. Kayak was purchased by me. I have no affiliation with the manufacturer. 

LL Bean's Calypso Women’s Kayak Product Review - Initial Thoughts

Having spent years using gear designed for men, I wasn’t sure if a women’s specific kayak would be worth it. I picked up a LL Bean Women’s Calypso Kayak at a local store to see if a kayak made for women really makes that much of a difference.

Initial Thoughts on the Women's Calypso Kayak

My first thoughts about finding a kayak were: would it be light enough that I could carry it on my own and would the prize be reasonable? At 12 feet in length and 38 lbs. the women's Calypso appeared to be something I could put on my car myself and carry to the put out points if necessary. I mainly just wanted to get out on the water- slow flowing local rivers or lakes.

Knowing what it was like to paddle a wide kayak that is just too bulky for most light weight females, I thought it would be great to be actually designed for women. Would I actually be able to feel the differences while paddling the Calypso? Details to come.

Details from LL Bean about the 12 foot Women’s Calypso Kayak

Lightweight touring kayak- easy for women to paddle and carry
Lower deck height to aid in paddling control for lighter weight paddlers
Slide lock foot braces allow you to adjust your position while riding
Comfortable adjustable seat


Women's Calypso Kayak, LL Bean

Specs

12' x 24½". Cockpit 35½"L x 18½"W. Wt. 38 lb. Capacity 225 lb. USA.

About LL Bean

I’m sure this part goes without saying, but LL Bean has an exceptional return policy 100% satisfaction at any time. Just hold onto your receipt for best use of this policy.

Subscribe to my feed to read the On the Water Review of the Women’s Calypso Kayak- how it handles on the water, women’s specific details, and ease of portaging.


Disclaimer: Product Reviews are based on opinion only and are not intended to condone, encourage, or promote a product. Some products are sent to me by the manufacturer or affiliates and are mine to keep. I mention this specifically on products sent to me. Compensation and/or product and/or services never interfere with the review of the product. Otherwise, products and services are purchased by me for personal use. Kayak was purchased by me. I have no affiliation with the manufacturer. 

Gaggle of Geese

Paddling around the other morning I ran into even more friends on the river. You may remember my recent post about the freshwater eel. Well the other morning I was cruising along, psyched up for another morning of paddling when I saw a gaggle of geese up ahead.

A gaggle, really. I mean like 40 or 50 of them, all hanging out making merry, squawking away.

So I thought, no biggy, I'll just paddle right around them. The river is about 35 feet across at this particular point. I'm getting close and all 50 eyes are now turned and watching me. Very self conscious moment. Umm do I have something on my face?

A few of them start fake charging me, sort of hopping out of the water, wings flapping, beaks jabbering. I scream of course. I'm one of those people. Plus, I get pooped on by birds all the time and the situation was smelling like I would soon be covered.

So now the entire gaggle starts to get worked up and all crazy flapping their way out of the water right next to my head. Luckily I managed to hold onto my paddle and keep my green pickle kayak upright. But, really- this little river is getting a bit too crowded lately.

Speaking of a gaggle of geese have you heard of any of these groups before?

A turn of turtles
A murder of crows
A bike of wasps
A drift of quail
A glaring of cats

more fun groups of critters here.

Tiny Scary Things

Cutting through the still, early morning waters of a nearby slow moving river I've managed to come across some tiny scary things lately. Just scary enough to keep my ambitious two and three hour kayak trips down to an hour.

I know, you might be thinking, I thought you were a brave, adventurous kind of chick right? Well, I'll be the first to admit that while I tolerate insects and poison ivy, I'm not about to go rolling in it.

So anyway, I'm paddling along and the river is quite dark since the sun is just barely up in the sky and the tree cover alongside the river lets in just a few slants of sunlight. Up ahead, I see something in the water. At first, I thought- maybe a stick, but then I realized that in fact it was coming towards me at too fast of a rate to be a harmless stick. No, this thing was definitely moving.

Alright, I'd spent a few summers working as a lifeguard at a local lake- snake. No biggy, while snakes move pretty quick on the water and are slimy and all- I'm still good. There is really nothing too poisonous around these parts anyways.

Except there is more to that thing coming towards me. It's fast and it has a fin that is above the water. Yup, a friggin fin. Quick scan of prior knowledge leads me back to the summer my two brothers sought to catch the elusive freshwater eel in a nearby river. Oh crap- an eel.

Oh yes, an eel and I didn't hang out to find out exactly how long this puppy was either- I hightailed it. My kayak is pretty low to the water and I usually don't wear a kayak skirt, so there is a lot of easy crawl space for a fun loving eel to make home. I was reading up on these small finned creatures and discovered that they actually can walk on land. Fun, fun, fun.