The polyethylene Nordkapp is undoubtedly the best and finest example of a roto-molded seakayak anywhere, both in terms of aesthetics, fit, quality, stiffness, and close-to-original performance characteristics of the FG version it replaces. Poly kayaks do take a beating, but the cumulative fuzz will grow a little more than irksome after time, where hull efficiency through the water is more important than someone in a WW kayak going with the flow. Brittle kayaks like the NDK Romany's, Explorers and Greenlanders are easily field repairable. Exotic lay-ups aren't. I don't like NDK boats because of the build inconsistencies, weight variances, and things like poor fitting cockpit comings. How can they let them leave the factory like that? The typical plywood epoxy/glass/lay-up like the Forager I just bought will be a preliminary test for me before I commit to building my own version. It's the seasonal maintenance aspect I'm interested in, and of course, the ultimate resistance to reef penetration. I have been working out the logistics of making my own 16-foot lengths of plywood "cedar strips", laminating double long strips of mahogany with a cedar veneer between at 90 degrees. I'd glue and press 4 inches wide by 16 feet pieces, then rip to 5/8" to get my "cedar strips". I'm also looking to pick up used vacuume bag equipment and may attempt a cold mold with Kevlar between veneers for a "bright" mahogany veneer build. I may enjoy this so much I may build a small sailboat and float away into the sunset one day too. Doug Lloyd (who has a surfeit of boat-building ideas) > On Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 11:53 PM, Doug Lloyd <douglloyd_at_shaw.ca> wrote: > >> . Next life I'm just gonna buy 10 Nordkapp plastic kayaks and pull one >> out >> for new use every third season. > > > Now, there's a line to warm the hearts of kayak manufacturers everywhere. > God knows that plastic kayaks can withstand more Doug Lloydian adventures > than fiberglass or even kevlar. Maybe plywood impregnated with epoxy and > covered with fiberglass will fare better. I'm pretty sure we'll know the > answer to that soon. > > I'm sure plastic is getting better. It's clearly superior to almost > anything > else for white water and creekboating. Oddly enough, I don't mind the > esthetics of plastic for my w/w boats but for sea kayaks it just doesn't > look... well... right. The Coaster I just bought is riddled with dings and > will require several hours of grinding (I just bought a new disk for my > grinder) and fiberglassing and gelcoat repair to get it ready for open > water. If it had been plastic there probably would be other issues but > gelcoat repair sure wouldn't be one of them. > > Maybe we should encase our rock garden boats in plastic. <grin> > > Does anyone even make a Nordkapp in plastic? > > > Craig Jungers > Moses Lake, WA *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Feb 28 2008 - 19:08:20 PST
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