Bill, you and Rita -- and Dariol (sp?) too - are of course welcome to join us on the water any weekend you like -- the current Squirrelheim flotilla (3 kayaks and the "Big Red Bus" canoe) can put six human "bottoms" out on the water at a time. Do you prefer straight paddling or would you like to come fishing? (there's a song in that somewhere...) We haven't tried Lake Needham up the road from you yet; our faves are Gunpowder Creek, Sandy Point (closed now for pollution), the Pax River near Bowie or if we must Jug Bay. There was a good Wash Post article yesterday on paddling the North Branch of the Potomac, but I think I'll wait til the resulting crowds die down before heading up there.

Both the Zydeco and the Breeze have footrests along the sides; the Breeze's are adjustable. They keep the leg fairly well bent, knees pressed against the inside of the boat, and I understand the paddler is to push into the foot on the opposite side to the one the paddle is dipping on for stability/to engage the core muscles into the stroke. So maybe your yak has pedals/footrests, but smaller and in a different location than you expect? I had to add chunks of 2 X 4 to the face of my footrests before I could reach them properly, but most folks have longer legs than I do. Also, some yaks I tried had true pedals that adjusted a skeg or rudder via foot pressure; I didn't like those as well...

LynnT