One topic that has been very popular in my journal has been the information and photos about the seat repair and up-grade in my Explorer. So this post is for us NDK Owners. . .

Hey let’s be honest, we are all aware of the quality control problems we’ve seen over the years. However things are actually looking up (really). By example, recently Simon over at NDK posted a nice long response regarding changes they have made in their seats. I think a lot of us may be wishing we could wind back the clock and have waited for the improvements. The single biggest change that stands out to me is that the seats are now packed in high-density foam. This is something you can emulate fairly easily at home. (many of us have) I found spray-foam insulation does this nicely. The point is to keep the seat from twisting and putting pressure on the hangers. Cost of this home remedy is under $2. Other folks I know have just cut and glued bits of mini-cell under the seat as well. Either choice is much cheaper than replacing a broken seat. They have also enlarged the hangers to give them more glassing area. Great! Anyone who has re-glassed the NDK seats have seen what an issue this can be. It was pretty darn difficult to get enough glass over the flange to make it feel secure. I had mine re-glassed and it broke again within a year. The obvious question has always been why don’t they just make the seat part cockpit rim? This seems to work well for Valley. Well, the argument is that a wider seat allows for better leg positions which is better for control in rough water. I’m thinking that may be a moot point with 80% of NDK owners here in the states. We don’t often get the chance to paddle in conditions like those in Anglesey. But then we drive cars here designed for the autobahn when we can only go 65mph!

On the other side of things the big wide cushy seat is pretty popular here as you know. Maybe someday they will offer a standard and a “RW” (rough water) option. Then they could create a standard model that would be lighter with a hybrid Valley/Wilderness Systems seat and such, then offer the RW version with wider hung seat, skeg rope (no wire), standard keel strip, various re-enforcements, and heaver lay-up. Personally I want an “RW” version Explorer with an ocean cockpit to boot!

Not a lot of people use the NDK forum and that’s too bad. The forum is a great place to interact directly with them. Just providing an open forum is a brave step for any company to take as it is. As a web developer myself, I know most companies to do not want their customers to have an open forum. They often fear the negative comments will hurt them. I’ve heard before, “Why would I give someone a place to slam my product on my website?”. Maybe, but then it also gives the company direct understanding of customer issues. It also shows customers you actually care. (If you are quick to address questions & comments) Often angry customers will find somewhere to post anyway and give the manufacturers no option to confront them, just look at Epinions or Amazon as an example. I’m happy to see NDK open a dialogue. It’s certainly a hopeful sign. Now it’s up to the customers to make use of the board to share the good and bad experiences they’ve had with their boats. I’m sure thousands of NDK owners around the world have a lot of experience to share.

My NDK Seat Repair Gallery – http://www.kayakwisconsin.net/NDK-seat-replacement.html
Previous Post Regarding Seat Replacement – http://www.kayakwisconsin.net/2005/08/watership-down.html

NDK Forum – http://www.nigeldenniskayaks.com/forums/
NDK Homepage – http://www.nigeldenniskayaks.com/index.shtml

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