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[Daddy-O]

I live in Barahona, Dominican Republic. I would like to take a trip across our bay to the far shore. I looked it up on google earth, and it is 8.5 miles one way. About how long do you think it would take two people (average) to go that distance (one way)? I'd also like to hear about how far we can expect to paddle our kayaks.....without killing ourselves (figuratively). It won't be our first trip, of course, but I would like to do it some day. BTW, we will be in an AE Convertible (tandem)
Daddy-O

[Daddy-O]

I got the answer to my question about speed on a different post. It looks like I can plan on about 3mph or better speed paddling tandem. That means that it will take about 3 hours to cross our bay (one side to the other) with short breaks. I am sure that will fluctuate a little with wind speed and the tide.
Now, my last unanswered question: About how far do you guys usually travel on a good day on the water? Curious minds want to know.
Daddy-O

[slurch]

When I am out I usually travel between 10-15 miles solo in my convertible at an average moving speed of 3.5-4 mph, including stops to watch wildlife, and the coast these trips typically take up to about 4.5 hours. You may want a seat pad for the backbone can be felt after a long paddle, and some means of stopping the seat sliding, any ideas appreciated, it is one problem I have not yet solved.

[Daddy-O]

Thanks again, Slurch, for the reply. I did order this cushion to put under the kayak seat: search for stearns utility cushion on Amazon (kicked out for language (see below)). I am hoping that will keep our bums a little dryer and will make things a bit more comfortable.
If the seat moves around, I could possibly put some velcro (hook and loop) on the seat and on the extra flotation pad (referenced above) to keep those two together. I suppose the whole thing could still slide though. Now that I think about it, I have some non-slip rubber padding (use for shelves, I think) that would probably work great. Let me see if I can find a link...okay, I'm back. Here is the link of what I am talking about: (well, the bad word guard on the forum didn't like the letters "s r" together and rejected my post. You can do a search on amazon.com for wonderliner to see what I am talking about. It is cheap too. The people who gave it a bad rating did so because it wouldn't allow their dishes to slip - it sounds like the perfect thing for us since we don't want our dishes to slip in the kayak.
Daddy-O