*Day 75 - Valley 'Nordkapp RM'

It was another private lesson on Mission Bay today. I had worked with this student a couple times before, so this time, to keep things interesting, we did a tour around the bay working on skills as we went. The squirrely boat she was in combined with a brisk wind offered a good opportunity to practice a variety of techniques to prevent weathercocking and track straight across the wind. While my student worked on holding her course I was in our plastic Nordkapp which didn't seem to notice the wind and held ran straight without any fuss. The Nordkapp is an excellent touring boat, a little light on initial stability, but straight tracking, fast, nimble, and just the right size to fit my 5'-10" 160 lb. frame. While this boat excels at long hauls loaded with gear it's lively enough for us to take it rock gardening in Baja. Of all the plastic touring boats in our fleet this one is one of my first picks when I need a boat that fits well and performs like I want it to especially when I want to put in some distance.

Nordkapp RM Review

Manufacturer = Valley
Brand = Valley
Model = Nordkapp RM
Material = Plastic
Type = Touring
Length = 17'-9"
Width = 21"
Weight = 56 lbs.

Location = Mission Bay (private lesson)
Time = 11:30 AM
Distance = N/A
Duration = 2:10
Avg. Speed = N/A
Conditions = Breezy and clear overhead with marine layer offshore

*Day 74 - Mega 'Airforce'

This boat came to our store in a round about way years after it was already considered a bit dated in it's design...it's too long apparently. We put it up for sale at a ridiculous discount and few people expressed any interest and many of those that did just didn't fit it. After a year of watching such a beautiful boat collect dust, Jen sent it to Mexico with a bunch of folks from the San Diego surf group to let them give it a go, and hopefully have someone fall in love with it. It turned out that the waves were too big and people were afraid to take the boat out for fear of getting it beat up, so it came back to us unused.

After that weekend however, the precedent had been set that this boat would be allowed to be paddled, so I had to give it a try. I had been in finned surf boats prior to this one, namely the Storm and Rush from Valley, but after I caught my first couple waves on the Mega I couldn't contain my whoops of excitement in the sheer speed of the boat. I had found by surfing match. It's a bit of a story of how it came to be, but thanks to no interest in the boat from customers and the generous actions of a very good friend, the Airforce is now mine.

Speed is the word I use to best describe the kind of performance you get from the Mega Airforce. It's just plain fast. With that speed I can beat out sections that used to catch me and try to turn me inside out. Big waves, little waves, steep waves, slow waves, whatever... I can ride them all in this boat. It's not as zippy and maneuverable as the shorter squash tail boats that are tearing it up now days but I'm loving the way this boat rides and that's ok with me.

Today my friend Thom and I were up at Tourmaline surf park wearing ourselves out riding one awesome wave after another. Once again (for reasons that I'll never understand) We had a wave all to ourselves while dozens of board (I should say boring) surfers crowded on the wave to our south. I'm starting to believe that board surfers don't really go out to ride waves. It appears as though they are out there to act tough, talk, wait, paddle furiously, carve two turns, and fall off their tiny little boards. The way I see it those guys should; shut up, sit down, grab a paddle, and start surfing. The first time they're faced with a head high wave that's about to dump on them - and they can't duck dive - they'll learn just exactly what tough is. Then again let them stay perched on their undersized boards giving me the hairy eye ball, it just means more waves for me.

Mega Review

Manufacturer = Mega
Brand = Mega
Model = Airforce
Material = Carbon/Kevlar hull - glass deck
Type = Surf Kayak
Length = x
Width = x
Weight = x

Location = Tourmaline
Time = 6:30 AM
Distance = N/A
Duration = 1:30
Avg. Speed = N/A
Conditions = 3'+ waves with a few chest+ sets slight offshore breeze

Day 73 - Dagger 'Euro X 16.8'

It seems like many kayak manufacturers have decided that ruddered plastic sea kayaks need to be super stable and have couch-like comfortable seat systems. Those two things often don't allow good body contact, posture, or movement thus limiting how far a person can expand their paddling skills. The Dagger Euro X 16.8 is a ruddered plastic boat that goes the other way as far as performance and dares to challenge people a bit rewarding them for their efforts.

I'm not much for doing out and back trips where you cover the same water twice but that's pretty much the kind of route I paddled tonight. The wind was up a bit all day and folks coming back into the store were reporting rough water outside the harbor. I figured I'd go have a look so I paddled the Euro X out the channel and straight off shore for a half hour. Then I took a little break and came right back. The Euro handled pretty well as I paddled out into the wind riding smoothly over the choppy waves. When I turned around and surfed my way back I did have to work a bit with stern draws to stay on track but that's to be expected in following seas. On the flat sections the Euro glided nicely and when I laid it way over on edge the boat turned easily.

The Euro X is (or should I say was) one of Dagger's last runs at a full touring kayak. When Confluence, wisely, reorganized their brand structure to place Dagger as their "moving water" line they phased sea kayaks out of the Dagger line. Unlike the super stable and ultra comfortable Tsunamis from Wilderness (Confluence's touring brand), this boat is a much more serious touring kayak complete with a recessed compass mount on the deck. The Euro has a relatively low primary stability, excellent secondary, loads of storage space, and moves pretty fast. The cockpit outfitting is more performance oriented than you see in many ruddered boats as well with a simple back band that supports you but doesn't encourage bad posture or impede torso rotation altogether. As far as I know Confluence isn't distributing the Euro X through any of its brands. It'd be nice to see them bring out some kind of touring kayak that turns it up a notch or two for folks that are up to it.

Euro X 16.8 Review

Manufacturer = Confluence
Brand = Dagger
Model = Euro X 16.8
Material = Plastic
Type = Sea Kayak
Length = 16'-10"
Width = 23.2"
Weight = 65 lbs.

Location = Mission Bay offshore run
Time = 7:00 PM
Distance = Aprox 5 miles
Duration = 1:00
Avg. Speed = Aprox 5 mph
Conditions = Brisk wind partly cloudy 2-3' wind waves

Day 72 - Seaward 'Legend'

It was a quiet night on Mission Bay while I led four people in two tandems on a roundabout route from our dock up to Sea World to watch the fireworks. Paddling the Legend for a short slow paced trip like this is kinda like taking a thoroughbred to a petting zoo. The Legend is built for moving, and moving fast. It's initial stability is on the lower end of most touring boats but when you edge it on to it's hard chine you can experience the solid feel of it's secondary stability. That solid secondary allows this 18' speed machine to carve tighter turns than one would expect.

I've owned a Legend since the days that Walden sports sold them which was about 6 or 7 years ago. Since Seaward took over they made slight changes to the hull shape, carrying the hard chine all the way to the bow and stern, but it's pretty much still the same boat. I've taken my Legend on numerous extended trips and can attest to the large amount of gear that it can comfortably carry. The hatches on my Legend are so bone dry that I never used to carry dry bags all I needed was stuff sacks to keep my gear organized. On the water, loaded or not, the Legend handles rough water like a dream. I feel that it actually paddles better in 1-2 foot chop than on flat calm water. The one thing that tends to turn people away from the Legend is it's low primary stability. I must admit that it is a boat that keeps you on your toes when you're trying to get into the day hatch in bumpy water.

Legend Review

Manufacturer = Seaward
Brand = Seaward
Model = Legend (Nigel Foster)
Material = Fiberglass
Type = Sea Kayak
Length = 17'-10"
Width = 21"
Weight = 57 lbs.

Location = Mission Bay Fireworks Tour
Time = 8:30 PM
Distance = Approx 5 miles
Duration = 2:00
Avg. Speed = N/A
Conditions = Slight breeze with clear skys

Day 71 - Necky 'Looksha IV' plastic

This morning, in a 71 consecutive days of paddling inspired quest for variety, I paddled up to the north end of Mission Bay toward the Catamaran Resort with a set of kayak wheels in the back hatch of a Looksha IV. My plan was to see if I could find an easy way to portage across to the ocean and come back down on the outside. Not having scouted it beyond looking at maps I wasn't sure what to expect. It turned out to be a remarkably easy and short walk from the bay side to the ocean straight down San Rafael Place making the portage wheels almost unnecessary. A quick launch through knee high surf put me two miles north of the pier on the glassy smooth ocean. I kept things lively by dabbling inside the surf zone keeping an eye out for larger waves that might break early and catch me. As I neared the jetty I noticed a small pod of dolphins hunting along the rocks as I drew near and made the turn around the end of the jetty they apparently had the same idea and surfaced a couple times within twenty feet of my left side. As I paddled into the bay they continued south across the channel entrance.

The Looksha IV plastic is no longer being produced. I'm not sure if it's true but I thought I'd heard the reason is that they wore out the mold from making so many. That's too bad because I think that boat handles better than many of the newer models Necky produces in that line. The Looksha IV fits me pretty well and moves along fast enough. The boat also turns quite easily flat on its hull and especially on edge. Not a bad boat for day touring or short camping trips if you can get your hands on one.

Looksha IV Review

Manufacturer = Johnson Outdoors
Brand = Necky
Model = Looksha IV
Material = Plastic
Type = Sea Kayak
Length = x
Width = x
Weight = x

Location = Mission Bay to San Rafael portage and back on coast
Time = 6:10 AM
Distance = Approx 5 miles
Duration = 1:15
Avg. Speed = N/A
Conditions = Calm w/ high think marine layer

*Day 70 - Dagger 'RPM'

I was back up in La Jolla this morning for a private surf lesson/orientation for a gentleman that just moved into the neighborhood up there. Nothing like showing someone the house you use as a range to keep yourself lined up on one of your favorite waves then have him say, "Oh yea, the house to the right of that one is mine." Seriously, all this guy has to do to check the surf is open his bedroom window and look. The waves were small but had a good shape and my student caught several nice rides on his Necky Jive. I spent most of my time either outside the surf zone or next to the beach so I could keep an eye on what he was doing. Occasionally I did sneak a ride or two in and was able to pull off a diagonal run and some measure of a cutback with the RPM. It's round bottom doesn't allow for holding the wave very well but those rounded lines make the boat very forgiving. We use the RPM's mostly as rolling boats but also for the once a year run we make to the river for a basic whitewater lesson. The RPM has been around for quite a while now and is known to be one of the best selling whitewater boats of all time. It's versatility and ease of handling are the main reasons why.

RPM Review

Manufacturer = Confluence
Brand = Dagger
Model = RPM
Material = Plastic
Type = White Water
Length = 8'-11"
Width = 24"
Weight = 39 lbs.
Capacity = 110-230 lbs.

Location = La Jolla Shores private surf lesson/orientation
Time = 7:00 AM
Distance = N/A
Duration = 1:30
Avg Speed = N/A
Conditions = Mostly cloudy w/ 1'-2' west swell

*Day 69 - Wilderness Systems 'Tsunami 165'

We had the largest group of the year on today's Wednesday Morning Paddle with twelve of us kayakers taking to the water from the Aqua Adventures dock. Or normal route took us out the jetty and around the OB pier and back. I paddled the Tsunami 165 which is one of the Tsunamis that actually fits me fairly well. It's not my preferred style of boat but I do find it quite stable and comfortable which are two of it's main design features. It does edge a turn fairly well although you must be patient as it's a bit slow to respond to maneuvering strokes.

Tsunami 165 Review

Manufacturer = Confluence

Brand = Wilderness Systems

Model = Tsunami 165

Material = Plastic

Type = Touring

Length = 16'-6"

Width = 23.75"

Weight = 66 lbs.

Capacity = 350 lbs.

Location = Wed AM paddle to the pier and back

Time = 7:00 AM

Distance = about 5 miles

Duration = 1:30

Avg. Speed = N/A

Conditions = High thin marine layer, warm, and glassy