Expedition paddler Marcus has written a wonderful synopsis of his 2009 Valley Nordkapp sectional, and included photos of the upswept beauty of the NOrdkapp design. Thank you, Marcus, for your very respected input and early experience with the Valley. I agree, Valley is a sports-car of a kayak with regard to craftsmanship. It is apparent from first gaze. I look forward to your expedition paddles in this ocean-going vessel. Thank you, friend.
Marcus writes: I am now the proud owner of a sectional Valley Nordkapp! Hurray!!
I picked up the kayak last week from the Kayak Center in R.I. and it is better than I could possibly hope for.
My thanks go to Peter Orton & Andy at Valley Kayaks, and the actual craftsman at Valley who built the kayak ... and then had the nerves to cut this beauty in 3 pieces after he or she built it. Looking at the kayak it becomes obvious that the person who built this kayak, looked (and successfully found!) lots of little creative solutions which seem to arise when building a 3 piece kayak.
The kayak features a wire skeg, with the skeg control placed in the stern section of the kayak. The skeg control looks somewhere between hard to impossible to reach from the comfort of the cockpit, but one has not even to lean back to reach the skeg control placed in the trim on the left side of the kayak. After operating the skeg a few times, it becomes as second nature as if operating a skeg control in any other kayak.
The kayak has a customized bulkhead position which eliminates the need for foot pegs, provides a larger surface to push with you feet against, and provides a larger storage space in the front hatch.
The kayak is appr. 73 pds., a little heavier than my previous 3 piece, but I was looking for a sturdier kayak which will last a little longer. Thus, I am very happy with the way it is built and I do not mind the extra few pounds.
All 3 hatches are bone dry. As Sven (the man behid this blog) noted in an earlier blog entry, water is not even allowed to penetrate inbetween the bulkheads thanks to the tight fit of the sections and to an appr. 1" wide strip of window sealant which is applied to one only one side of each connection.
I am a strong believer that the aquisition of objects will not make people a happier self since happiness comes always from within. However, this boat is an exception to this belief.
Marcus
http://marcusdemuth.com/default.aspx
