Posts Tagged ‘Valley Kayaks’
You’re Cut
May 19th, 2009 | 
Author: 
Hello, I must be going,
I cannot stay, I came to say, I must be going.
I’m glad I came, but just the same I must be going.
La La.
– groucho marx
Well, you’ve got to laugh, don’t you!? This year General Motors here in the states has been trying to remain viable. So they started cutting brands. First on the block was Pontiac. Pontiac was meant to be the more sporty, muscle bound GM. Pontiac was for adults who had to take kids to ballet but didn’t want to totally go “middle age”. I loved Pontiac myself. In fact and still own a Grand Prix. GM is also talking about chopping or selling off Saturn and Hummer as well. So that got me thinking. In these tough times what if our favorite kayak companies had to cut back? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Commentary & Rants, Kayaks, Paddling, Random Thoughts | 
Tags: Current Designs, greenlander, ndk, Necky, Valley Kayaks, wisconsin | 
3 Comments »
Are you sitting comfortably?
“once upon a time there was a big oak tree…” oh, but that’s another story…
At Canoecopia I took a bit of time to talk to Ben Lawry and lust over a new Anas Acuta. Of course I come from the chop shop view. You cut out the seat and replace it with foam. Well those days are past. The folks at Valley Sea Kayaks have a newly redesigned ergonomic seat that is removable with the turn of a few screws. Ben told me it was so comfortable that I’d never want to remove it… Maybe. At least the new design makes it easier to accomplish if I did fancy taking the seat out.
Posted in Kayaks, Paddle Gear, Paddling, Repairs & Modifications |
Tags: Anas Acuta, Valley Kayaks |
1 Comment »
old habits die hard
I had a Valley Anas Acuta. I loved it. I should have kept it. I did’nt. So now of course Valley had the new and improved Anas Acuta with the big cushiony seat, keyhole cockpit and giant front hatch on display at Canoecopia. Of course not of that stuff seems to fit the vision I’ve always had of the Anas Acuta as a classic. As it was Ben Lawry did his best to convince me I’d love the new seat so much I’d never want to take it out. The truth was that even though the new seat is lower and more posterior friendly, I fear it would still cut the circulation off in my legs. In the end I’d still remove the seat. Ummm, and get an ocean cockpit… and a tiny front hatch…
Posted in Kayaks, Paddling, Repairs & Modifications |
Tags: Anas Acuta, ben lawry, Valley Kayaks |
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Big Water Small Boat
Lastly for today I want to share with you a new website from Brian Day. Bryan is a P&H team paddler and is published quite often in Sea Kayaker Magazine. He began his paddling adventures way back when the “Gales of November” was something of a Nordic myth. Brian paddled the Aleutian Islands with Stan Chladek, traveled to Mecca. . ah, I mean Wales, and most importantly as he stands at the right hand of the singular being we call Kelly Blades. (You thought I was going to say Sean Morely didn’t you!!)
Posted in Enviroment, News & Print, Paddling, People, Web Stuff |
Tags: brian day, kelly blades, P&H Kayaks, stan chladek, Valley Kayaks |
2 Comments »
Canoecopia Part II – Two Boats In Every Pot
On Friday we were much too busy to be able to see much of the show other than by passing glance as you ran for a snack. The day was spent ordering kayaks for customers, having them shipped from the warehouse over to the Expo building, re-identifying them on the computer and then getting them loaded and tied on the customers car. On average a person would have to wait about an hour or two to get their boat from the time they paid for it. Which means ordering your boat should be the first task of the day. By evening were were pretty wiped out and happy to drag our sorry carcasses from the Exposition Center. A snow and Ice storm rolled into the city and made escape a dicey proposition. Luckily we were staying at a motel just block or so away.
In the evening we walked from our motel over to the Sheridan Inn to join our friends from the North East Sea Kayakers group. In just that 50 yard walk we were frozen and covered in wet snow and were glad to get inside. I noticed
Wayne Horodowich chatting at the bar when we came in so we were pretty sure we had found the “canoecopia” bar. We found everyone squashed in a corner and happily warmed up. I think we spent about 2 hours there until we called it a night and returned through the snow back to our room. ( 2 Heinekens and I was toast) I’m sure we were lousy company. I kept feeling my brain taking little cat naps in the middle of converstations. . . . By the way Alex, I really envy your new Valkyrie!
At one point I counted around 60+ boats sold in 20 minutes or so. Wow! Again we had little time to see the show itself other than in glimpses. My oddest moment was when I met a paddling friend who had blown up a picture of me in his kayak that he is selling and plastered it on his truck. Not that I minded, but it’s pretty weird to see a picture of yourself stuck to the door of a truck! By the end of the day we were just happy to be on highway 12 heading north back to Baraboo. I really think that was one of the hardest drives I have ever had. I needed duct tape to hold my eyelids open.
Sunday was our free day. We were up and back in Madison by the 10am opening bell. Our main goal was to finally go get a good look at the
VCP Qajariaq. Frankly we were surprised by it. It is certainly not a high volume Anas that we were expecting. See the Canoecopia Photo gallery. There had obviously been some major design changes along the way. In the end I would like to get out and paddle it, but I still wish they would build a proper Anas HV boat. The most talked about boat was the Outer-Island by Impex. The new Kevlar version was certainly the star of the show.
Next Sunday at 2 pm we are planning to go out for a “play day” at
Lake Columbia. A chance to test out my new waterproof camera! I can’t wait to get back on AND IN the water. Even if it is a little heated lake!
Maybe things will settle down and I can take a bit of time to put together a more useful post or two. Stay Tuned. . . .
-dm
Posted in Events & Symposia, Kayaks, Paddling |
Tags: Betsie Bay Kayaks, canoecopia, Impex, lake columbia, outer island, Valley Kayaks, wayne horodowich |
2 Comments »
Kodachrome
“…Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day…” – P. Simon
Thanks for the comments on the new design. The new menu uses a technology called “flash” so it reloads each time a page is loaded this is why it seems to close and make you reopen menus. 6 of 1. . . .
Well, tomorrow is day one of Canoecopia. I was intrigued by Carl & John’s Paddlin in Madison’s posting on their website, http://www.paddlin.com/;
“**If you are going to be in Madison for the Paddlesport Expo on March 11-13, 2005, you should know that 1) We will not be there (Only 3 miles away) 2) Wilderness Systems, Necky Kayaks, and Mad River Canoes will not be there either… “
hmmmm, form your own opinions. . .
Again, I think Mary and I will be on cash registers tomorrow evening and most of Saturday but you can never tell. I do hope to get a chance to sit in a Valley Qajariaq when we’re there. So how do you pronounce it? Well, we took to calling it the “kwigybo” which is Bart Simpson’s definition of a Big Fat Balding North American Ape.
I also took time to order a new camera today. (thus the title) As many of you know I am always running around with a camera in hand. However, when I head out into the water I suddenly had to put my digital down and switch to a disposable waterproof model. Usually the results are mixed to say the least. So today I broke down and ordered a Canon Powershot S1 IS along with the corresponding waterproof case. This should allow me to get some good quality on-water shots now too. In addition there are some other great features that other kayak/photobugs might enjoy. A 10x zoom, image stabilization and up to 30minutes digital video. So now I just have to wait for it to arrive. (I can hear my clock ticking very slowly. . .)
SEE YOU AT CANOECOPIA!
-dm
Posted in Cameras & Photography, Events & Symposia, Paddling |
Tags: camera, canoecopia, photograhy, Qajariaq, Valley Kayaks |
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