Sail on my Llama

[Martian]

I am not a great paddler so I wanted to make it a little easier to get around on the water so I got a Windpaddle and have had good success with it so far.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Martian74/PackraftPicsAndVids#5476278988307600802
Here is the sail folded down, it only weighs a couple of hundred grams.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Martian74/PackraftPicsAndVids#5476275939335839314
Here is a little vid of me sailing with it, it was my first day out with the sail & I am much better now .
http://picasaweb.google.com/Martian74/PackraftPicsAndVids#5476284089570705538
Here I am out on the water after paddling out in the bay but not enough wind for the sail.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Martian74/PackraftPicsAndVids#5476280421395256578

[argonaut]

Interesting- thanks for sharing. Was thinking about getting one of these for my kayak.

[greg]

I've got a windpaddle on order to use with my Feathercraft. I might have to try it out with my Alpaca.

BTW, have you tried setting up some sort of leeboard setup on the packraft? Some bungy cords and a couple of flat pieces of wood might do the trick.

[Martian]

I find it works best to steer with the paddle. Just drag one side of the paddle (just twist it with your wrist, no need to move your arm) in the water the way you want to steer and it works fine. I haven't really thought about a leeboard setup, the Windpaddle has a cord at the base that you can adjust the amount that it swivels and I just pull the line one way or the other when I steer the sail.
I'll try and get a better video up so you can see how I steer the raft but it is hard as you need to use two hands, one of the paddle and one holding the sail line.