Dreamboat
Published August 12, 2010 | 
Yes, i’m your angel,
I’ll give you ev’rything
In my magic power.
So make a wish and i’ll let it come true for you.
Tra-la-la-la-la.
– yoko ono
It’s just silly to leave some great kayaks sitting in the shed when someone else would love them, and when what I really need is a solid roller.
What a sad, sorry state of affairs this is. How many kayakers know this story. I have lots of kayaks. Still I’m not really happy. Usually that results in someone saying you just need one more boat…. Well.. No. Not now anyway. What I need is about 3 less kayaks and one good roller. However it happened, I’m a guy who lives “rolling” and yet I find myself without a low volume rolling kayak.. Duh. This has to change. Only, like many of us I can’t simply run out and drop three grand on a new Anas Acuta or Tahe Marine either. It seems it’s time to cull the herd.
8 kayaks and not one “rolling boat”. Silly considering how much time I spend rolling, teaching rolling, writing about rolling and all the rest. NDK kayaks roll nicely but they are not “rolling” kayaks. The Rockpool Alaw Bach is fantastic roller as well, but again it’s simply too high volume to let you stretch your rolling potential. What’s more, I just have more kayaks than I can store at this point. What I need to do is sell or trade a couple kayaks for an old but well loved rolling boat.
The Warhorse – 96 Romany Explorer, valley foam seat, keel strip, heavy & tough as nails.
The trick is always figuring out which boats to part with. In the stable I have a 96 NDK Explorer, a 96 Romany, a Rockpool Alaw Bach, a skin boat, a P&H Scorpio, a Piranha i:3 222, a CD Breeze and an Epi Sea. Out of that lot, the EPI-Sea & the Scorpio must stay. The CD breeze is not worth a nickel but guests love it and of course I’d never part with my Rockpool. The i:3? Well, old WW kayaks are a dime a dozen. May as well make a flower pot of it!
With a lot of time and work the ’96 Romany is starting to really grow on me.
That leaves me with 3 bargaining boats. My 2 96 NDKs and my pretty black skin boat. As much as I’d like to keep both classic NDK kayaks, I realize that I don’t “need” both. It’s almost impossible for me to choose which one stays and which one goes. My attachment to the Explorer is purely sentimental. It was my first real sea kayak. We’ve had some battles together over the years. Still, 9 times out of ten it’s the odd boat out. I’m either in the Romany or the Alaw Bach. Playing piggie-in-the-middle while all the other boats get the attention is no way for a classic Nigel Dennis Explorer to live. I’m really thinking it probably needs a loving home, someone closer to big water who can take it out and let it do what it’s made to do.
Just removed all the deck lines and am replacing them with leather cord.
The skin boat is beautiful. In fact since I bought it, I’ve given it a nice new look and it’s dreamy on the water. It fits me well as a cruiser but it’s not a kayak I can roll well. My torso is simply too short for it. I can forward roll, but not lay back. It needs either a taller paddler or someone who simply does not care if they ever do a behind-the-head roll. (I can do it in this boat.. but painfully) Although it’s pretty and black.. I can’t see holding on to it out of sheer vanity either.
So it seems I have an NDK and skin boat to sell or trade in order to come up with an old, happily used Anas Actua or other rolling kayak. Even though I know I’d be giving someone a deal, I’d consider a 2 for one if the right boat came along. It’s just silly to leave some great kayaks sitting in the shed when someone else would love them, and when what I really need is a solid roller. If you are interested in purchasing these boats, or want to trade for that old rolling kayak you don’t use much any more.. send me an email and lets see what we can work out.
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One Response to Dreamboat
i know just how you feel. i have far less boats but have always felt like i was missing “the one”. i can’t afford multiple boats, so i need a jack of all trades – manouverable for playing/coaching, surfs well, doesn’t need the skeg, enough room for a week out at most if packing lite….i have had a Romany for 5 years now and finally sold it 2 weeks ago to a loving home which will beat the snot out of it (as any good NDK boat should on a regular basis!).
so what am I getting to replace it? after much paddling, hand-wringing, bead-counting on the abacus and calling in just about every favor I have accumulated over the years in the paddlesports industry I will be purchasing a brand spanking new (and slightly customized) Maelstrom Vaag. Just a shade over 17 feet long, fits my tall lanky frame like a glove, moves with me and not against me, versatile as hell, great play boat, in essence a slightly longer version of a 16 foot play boat but without the unfortunate length of the Explorer-type boats which dial down the park and play fun factor a tad compared to the shorter boats.
can’t wait to sit her down in the water for the first time!