Eric wrote:

Brian Nystrom wrote:


Do you find you need a skeg or rudder?

They both come with skegs.


Are you sure?

Yes.

While I'm sure that one could have a skeg installed on the Romany, the
description of the Romany at:

http://www.nigeldenniskayaks.com/Pag...ups/romany.htm

does not mention a skeg and I don't recall seeing one on the boat I
paddled. Although, the description of the Currituck does.

Both come standard with skegs. The latest system that NDK has devised is
a real nightmare, so perhaps they don't intend for you to use it.

I had one reply that questioned the quality of the construction of Impex
and NDK kayaks (leaks, etc...), but this largely goes against everything
else I've heard about them. Of course, every manufactured item is bound
to have the occasional defect. Any opinions?

The two companies are pretty much polar opposites in terms of quality.
Impex boats are well built and have an good reputation. They did have
problems with leaky hatches when they were using fibglass covers, but
that's been dealt with by switching to rubber hatches. Their boats are
pretty lightly constructed and have thin gelcoat, but I haven't seen any
problems with durability with their vacuum bagged layups. The only
problem I've seen more than once on them is cracked cheek plates on the
seats, but that's on boats that are a few years old. This may have been
addressed, but I don't know for certain. They have a solid reputation
for customer service, so I wouldn't worry too much.

On the other hand, NDK has had absymal quality control for years and
their boats are known for having many types problems. Their web site
even provides instructions for repairing common defects. One of the
things they list is UNCURED HULL TO DECK SEAMS! Can you imagine that? I
haven't seen that, but I've seen numerous broken seats, coamings that
are installed so low that you can't get a spray skirt on them, hulls
with no fiberglass behind the skeg box, poorly installed (leaky)
hatches, leaking bulkheads and more. The boats are outrageously heavy,
due to the fact that they're built primarily of thick gelcoat and
chopped strand matt (weak, low-end material that's a real resin sponge)
and laid up by hand. According to a friend who's been to their shop in
Wales, the boats are built largely by minimum-wage kids right out of
high school who are more interested in collecting their pay and hitting
the local pub than building quality kayaks. "You want fries with that
Romany?"

Recently, they claim to have made great strides in quality, though I
have yet to see any boats produced since their new Q/C program started.
Interestingly, they filed for bankruptcy protection right around the
same time that they announced the Q/C program. Neither of these things
is surprising considering that their sales have taken a major beating in
the US market in the past couple of years, probably due to a combination
of their poor reputation and increased competition from North American
companies like Impex, Seaward, Necky and Wilderness Systems. Their major
distributor for years (GRO) dropped the line when the last container
they received last year had 50% defective boats. Bottom line? The
designs are excellent, but buying their boats is a crapshoot. You may
get a good one, or you may end up with a nightmare. It's truly a shame,
since they are outstanding performers when you get them out on the water.