Alex McGruer wrote:

Brian Nystrom wrote in message ...

Alex Horvath wrote:

Is there anything that compares to a NDK design wise? The skeg, day
hatch, compass, pump, reccessed fittings are very useful features. I
was planning on buying an NDK this summer.


OK here is the deal.
NDK Explorer and Romany are the best boats I have ever paddled. They
spin like a top when you want them to , have OK initial stability and
spectacular secondery stability. When the sea goes to crap you have
the finest boat in the water.

Funny, I feel the same way about my Pintail. I had it out in some
seriously nasty winds today and there's no boat I'd rather be in. The
truth is that there are plenty of good rough water boats.

The covers for the hatches DON'T leak,
They are from Valley anyway.

No, they're mostly from Kajak Sport, though they use VCP's for day hatches.

P & H Capella is every bit as good ( but no better ) in the water as
the Romany.

Now here is the problem. NDK skegs are not as reliable as say the
Capellas'. The NDK lay up is rough: Mine had a bubble in the recessed
fitting for the day hatch and it leaked almost filling that hatch
soaking my walking shoes and floating my emergency kit in a dry bag.
It filled well past the water line in a three or four hour paddle.
NDK sent new hatch covers but when we found the leak they ( NDK the
manufacturers ) were useless. The local dealer ( Base Camp Outfitters
) were great. ( It was a flaw in the lay up ) A bubble in a recessed
fitting opened a way for water not only to be funneled in but with the
contraction of cooling air in the compartment it sucked water in and a
very high rate and remained a bugger to find. I had to epoxy it myself
. ( Thanks NDK! )

I've seen the same thing on a Nordkapp, though that was a '92. On a VCP
boat, I would consider it an anomaly. On an NDK, it's par for the course.

My skeg cable has failed twice, once because of a flaw in the wire
when I got it and once because it was jammed and the weak set up
allowed it to buckle. The string operations are no better. perhaps
worse. You hardly need a skeg anyway on the explorer. I have not fixed
mine and though I paddle twice a week on the off season it remains
unimportant.

I've heard the same thing (about not needing the skeg) from other
Explorer owners. I've also heard that skegless Romanys don't handle
well, but I can't verify that.

In hind site I could ( Should ) have done without one. It would have
saved no money but I would have ad a little more room for stuff.
The story that the boat is heavily laid up for expeditions is sort of
lost on me. There are resin runs on the inside of the boat. They add
weight but no strength. I have the odd star crack and fixed a large
one that I have no idea how I got . I deserve all the scratches and
the two chips on the bow.

NDK's claim that weight=strength is pure BS. They use crappy materials
like chopped strand mat that soaks up resin like a sponge. They use at
least twice as much gelcoat as is necessary. It results in weak, heavy
and overly stiff layup. VCP builds boats that are every bit as rugged
and weight ~10# less.

The Day hatch is not usefull in a loaded boat or in any waves. ( When
you are going to want it. ) It is too close to the water. It is
something you just don't need.

I differ with you on this in one sense. I agree that day hatches are not
that useful on the water. However, I find them very useful for what
their name implies, carrying the gear you need for a day trip. With a
single large aft compartment with the hatch in the typical location,
it's a pain to keep small amounts of day trip gear from sliding around
unless you want to pack it full of float bags. It's even more of a pain
to access gear that's packed right behind the aft bulkhead, which is
where you want it in order to minimize the effect on the boat's
handling. The day hatch does a great job of containing this stuff and
making it more accessible. I rarely access a day hatch while on the
water, but it is possible.

It would be nice to have another bungee over the area behind the seat
for a paddle float rescue brace , for those of us not into Yoga. Oh
yes ,, I have a roll and a reentry roll but amongst Ice Bergs I want
my head out of the water as much as possible.
The NDK 's are heavy, The outfitting is OK , Price is the same as say
CD's Gulf Stream ( Which is comparable ) the NDK lay up is 1970's
technology, the cockpit is a little larger than need be, ( Not all my
spray decks will fit. ) the hatches are tiny ( Tent and poles must go
in seperately and my down sleeping bag has to get stuffed into the dry
bag inside the hatches.) That said they don't leak.
I have a plastic P & H Capella , P & H are great at service. A good
friend has a Capella in glass and she loves it.
CD has the Gulf Stream , That deserves a look, the finish is CD
quality.

A couple of observations on CD boats. The gelcoat on them is quite thin,
which can be a problem for a boat that's used hard. Somewhere between CD
and NDK, there's a good balance of gelcoat thickness.

I've seen several skeg problems with CD boats and I don't mean kinked
cables from operator error. An old girlfriend of mine's Slipstream was
shipped from the factory with the wrong skeg installed. That ultimately
resulted in the the fitting in the skeg box getting punched out and her
aft compartment filling ~1/3 with water during a trip. A friend
literally had the plastic skeg surround fall off his Andromeda last
weekend. The goop holding it in place simply let go. While we were
poking around at it, the pivot bar fell out. It was only held in by the
same goop. I can't see any excuse for any of these problems. Other than
this, CD boats seem to be good quality and they're quite popular.