Re: [Paddlewise] pygmy boats, re: recommendations?

From: Dave Uebele <daveu_at_sptddog.com>
Date: Tue, 10 Aug 1999 05:05:29 -0700
Steve Cramer wrote:
> 
> William J. Oetjen wrote:
> >
> > Just in case people have missed my previous messages, I'd like to ask
> > again for the recommendations, positive and negative about pygmy kits:
> > Coho, Osprey HP and Arctic Tern.
I think part of the problem is that your original post seemed
to want a comparison between the models, while most people have
only built 1, maybe two models.

> I paddled a Coho briefly during a class on Saturday. The boat has a lot
> of rocker for a sea kayak, so it was very maneuverable. A 135 degree
> high brace turn was easy. I could even do decent bow draws. Also rolls
> nicely. I didn't have time to really test the other side of the coin,
> tracking, so can't comment about it.

I'm completing building my second coho (his and hers).
I've really only been able to get out on mine (the finished one)
a couple of times. I think the boat tracks well.
Low primary stability, good secondary stability.

> The owner of the boat said that assembly was pretty easy. He said he
> needed more epoxy, but otherwise the kit was complete.
That sounds about right. Since I had two kits, I found myself
dipping into the second kits epoxy to finish the first.
Some of that was waste on my part, but also I think the instructions
could be organized better to let you minimize waste.  Combine
several epoxy steps on all the small parts, rather than mix up a batch
for each part, use half, etc. Pygmy's instructions do pretty well, though
could use a good proofreading. By their own admission, since
they have so many models, its hard to make sure all the latest
changes are in all the instruction manuals.  Phone or in person help 
has been very good, email support is not really there yet.
I also might have liked a little more fiberglass tap supplies for the 
bulkhead kit, which assumes you have enough scrap fiberglass
left over.

There seems to be a lively debate from time to time regarding
the merits of different kayaks on the kayak builders bulletin board:
http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/cgi-bin/KBbbs.cgi

There seems to be some feeling that the multichine hull goes a little
slower than the hard chine (less seems).

More of my notes on building are available at:
http://sptddog.com/daveu/kayak.html
though still in draft form.

-- 
Dave Uebele (daveu_at_sptddog.com)	 Spotted Dog Systems
http://sptddog.com/daveu.html
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Received on Tue Aug 10 1999 - 07:34:38 PDT

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