I'm currently stuck away from home on "business" which is going to play in my favor for once. Where I live you'd have to drive for a good eight hours or better to find a store with any selection in glass kayaks. I'm out on the East coast though doing things for Operation Noble Eagle and there are a few kayak centers within a few hour's drive. This week I should be able to demo a few boats from Current Designs, VCP and Nigel Dennis. What I can't find out here that I was interested in is P&H. I liked what I'd heard and seen online for the Capella and Quest. I think these might be available for me to demo in the Seattle area in July(vacation). Will I be missing out if I were to pick something else up without waiting to see the P&H boats? Fit, build quality and all. What do you think? Thanks as always. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
At 12:27 PM 4/22/03 -0700, R N W wrote: >I'm currently stuck away from home on "business" which is going to play in >my favor for once. Where I live you'd have to drive for a good eight hours >or better to find a store with any selection in glass kayaks. I'm out on >the East coast though doing things for Operation Noble Eagle and there are >a few kayak centers within a few hour's drive. This week I should be able >to demo a few boats from Current Designs, VCP and Nigel Dennis. What I >can't find out here that I was interested in is P&H. Where abouts are you going to be on the east coast? The "New England Small Craft" store (www.newsmallcraft.com) indicates they carry P&H boats on their web site. They're in Rowley, Mass. Paint Island Canoe and Kayak (Bordentown, NJ) *used* to carry P&H boats but they're not listed on their website anymore. It also appears that Shearwater Kayaks (Orcas Island, WA) sells P&H boats. >I liked what I'd heard and seen online for the Capella and Quest. I think >these might be available for me to demo in the Seattle area in >July(vacation). Will I be missing out if I were to pick something else up >without waiting to see the P&H boats? Fit, build quality and all. What do >you think? Thanks as always. I've generally been quite impressed with the P&H boats. I've paddled the Capella, Sirius, Quest, Vela, and a model that I've only seen once, and Iona. I demo'd the Quest and Vela about two months ago and liked both of them, though they're very different boats. It's been awhile since I paddled the Capella and Sirius but I remember liking both models quite a bit. They've got a new model called at Bahiya that looks really interesting too: <http://www.kajak.dk/Havkajak/Bahiya.htm>http://www.kajak.dk/Havkajak/Bahiya.<http://www.kajak.dk/Havkajak/Bahiya.htm>htm (the site is in Dutch but there are pictures) My major gripe with P&H is that they seem to have one of the most unreliable web sites of any vendor I've found. The P&H company site (http://www.phcompany.co.uk/) seems to usually work but the sea kayak site (www.phseakayaks.com) the company site references doesn't appear to exist anymore (I know that it used to work). *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
At 10:10 23.04.2003 -0400, John Fereira wrote: among other things: ><http://www.kajak.dk/Havkajak/Bahiya.htm>http://www.kajak.dk/Havkajak/Bahiya.<http://www.kajak.dk/Havkajak/Bahiya.htm>htm >(the site is in Dutch but there are pictures) > > > >The text is in danish. If that information should be of interest to anyone. Aage Scott Olsen *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
MD is out of my driving range. The distributor list doesn't show anything near me. The P&H Sea Kayak page is still there. It worked sporadically yesterday and three days ago when I was looking through it everything was clicking right along. You're right though, not the best functioning site out there. Where are you seeing that Shearwater is a retailer for P&H? I've been to their site and didn't see that mentioned and the P&H home page doesn't list them as a distributor. If they had an 800# I'd call them, I need to ask some questions about their tours too. I've heard good things about the seats in the P&H boats. Are they better than most other stock arrangements from what you've seen? Thanks! Ron John Fereira <jaf30_at_cornell.edu> wrote: It also appears that Shearwater Kayaks (Orcas Island, WA) sells P&H boats. I've generally been quite impressed with the P&H boats. I've paddled the Capella, Sirius, Quest, Vela, and a model that I've only seen once, and Iona. I demo'd the Quest and Vela about two months ago and liked both of them, though they're very different boats. It's been awhile since I paddled the Capella and Sirius but I remember liking both models quite a bit. They've got a new model called at Bahiya that looks really interesting too: http://www.kajak.dk/Havkajak/Bahiya.htm (the site is in Dutch but there are pictures) My major gripe with P&H is that they seem to have one of the most unreliable web sites of any vendor I've found. The P&H company site (http://www.phcompany.co.uk/) seems to usually work but the sea kayak site (www.phseakayaks.com) the company site references doesn't appear to exist anymore (I know that it used to work). --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
At 10:10 AM 4/23/2003 -0400, John Fereira wrote: >Where abouts are you going to be on the east coast? If you're in the Research Triangle area, I've got a kevlar Quest, a RM Capella and an glass Explorer that you could try if it works for you to join one of our regular paddles. As for comparisons: The Capella is a wonderful short trip boat: comfortable, easy to roll, and good in choppy water and poking around marshes and rivers. The Quest is a quite a bit roomier, but equally as comfortable. Detailing is very good, better than the Explorer. However, I must say that the complaints about NDK boats seem to reflect past more than current experience, c.f. no leaks or other problems on my Explorer. Where do the Quest and Explorer differ? Quest is faster, has a more easily adjustable but less field serviceable skeg (cable versus rope/cam) and for my body the Quest is much more comfortable over long paddles, say 15-20 miles. (I have friends who paddle Explorer's who don't have any comfort issues.) Rolling ease is about the same, although the tighter fit in the Explorer makes getting the thighs locked in the thigh braces a bit easier. More volume in the Quest and the large rear hatch makes packing easier. The Explorer is unbelievably stable in rough water--it just seems to know what to do. Not that the Quest is a slouch in this Department, but as an intermediate paddler I'd probably say that the Explorer gains in stability a bit of what it looses in speed relative to the Quest. Lastly, unloaded the Quest weathercocks much more than the Explorer. No problem controlling weathercocking with the skeg, but I have it down a lot on with the Quest and rarely use it with the Explorer. I'm on the light end for the Quest (170lbs), and this issue away with loading the boat. I've had very good service from P&H. I've paddled the Legend on flat water and liked it quite a bit, but it feels very different from the Quest or the Explorer. It is fast and very maneuverable. Some people love the back band arrangement; others don't. It was OK for me, but not as comfortable as the Quest. Watching Nigel paddle it would make anyone want to own one and his kayaks are beautifully made boats. My view is that comfort on long paddles/trips, speed and stability in rough water are key. I'll probably end up using the Quest as my primary kayak and Kathleen, who loves the fit and feel, will use the Explorer. Best, John ********************************************************* John S. March, MD, MPH Professor and Chief, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Duke Child and Family Study Center 718 Rutherford Street Durham, NC 27705 919/416-2404 (P); 919/416-2420 (F) Email: jsmarch_at_acpub.duke.edu Website: http://www2.mc.duke.edu/pcaad " At this time I seem to have been only like a boy, playing on the sea shore whilst a great ocean of truth lay undiscovered before me" ---Sir Isaac Newton ********************************************************* *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:33 PDT