Cheapest 'Real' Sea Kayak?

Well
the word was that NW used to manufacture hulls for Mariner, then later came out with the Sportee after the relationship ended. Connect the dots as you see fit.

Romany fit
OK maybe I got it wrong, but when I look around and average guy is about 185 or 200 and a Romany is a tight fit. I know it doesn’t fit me, but I’m biased towards really long racing style cockpits or wash deck boats.



I can sit in a Delphin for an hour or two and an Alchemy for hours, but the Romany hurts my back in minutes. Funny thing is I have better flexibility that a lot of folks but low decked boats are painful.



Other I talk to have similar feelings that the Romany paddles like a dream but hurts like the dickens. My I mostly paddle with fat paddlers?

How Does It Compare …
to my RM Mystic? I too kick myself for not buying a used Coaster 6-7 years ago. Haven’t seen one around here since.



sing

Seating comfort in Romany/Explorer
These boats are actually both sized for about 180 - 190 pounds and can take taller. That said, seating comfort can be a different matter than size. There are some things specific to the Romany/Explorer that happen to be a very good fit for me but others can find uncomfortable. The big ones -



The NDK backband is an instant backache. It looks pretty but doesn’t function at all well, I even had a small backache after a couple of hours in a demo and I don’t hurt that way so easily. The dealer we got our NDK boats from recommended a swap to a Bomber Gear or IR backband before any NDK boat left the lot, which we took. Another option is to remove the original and go to a full foam seat and back like from Redfish.



The NDK seats are short, and for many they simply don’t provide support as far down the thigh as is needed. I prefer the shortness, but again I am odd. It is not uncommon for owners to glue in shaped minicell ahead of the seat to add support for the thighs.



The decks are relatively low compared to the newer sea kayaks, influenced by racing preferences for a higher knee to help with pumping action. For some the angle of leg to hip is just too big.



The seat is hard, none of the funky padding under the sit bones like you see in even older P&H seats. It is easily remedied by gluing in a bit of minicell in the hollows where your bones tend to lie, but some people never get around to that.



It is possible that the regular Romany deck is lower than the regular Explorer deck. Our Explorer in this house is the one with a lowered deck height, so we can’t lay a regular version of each side by side. Both have aggressive keyhole cockpits, but an inch of difference in height can make the same cockpit feel different.



There is one other thing that we only noticed one day looking down from the second floor on top the Explorer and the Romany on top of the car. It’s more about handling, but worth mentioning. The seat in the Explorer is basically centered. The seat in the Romany is more like 2/3 back in the boat, so the bow is much freer than in the Explorer. In fact the Romany is one boat where it can be worth reversing the usual front to back percentages of load, and making it if anything a little bow heavy. The loose bow is great in surf, but often it is best to tame the darned thing for distance paddling.

Rental kayak
Can’t get any cheaper than renting a kayak for a friend for the day/weekend! Plus you don’t need to take up garage space with a redundant kayak.

Exactly What I Did
My T165 is my ‘do everything’ boat. I found an Alchemy demo model for half price as my play boat / company boat. I think I’ll be happy with this arrangement for a good while.

Q on Romany/Explorer Fit…
My youngest brother is a bit north of 200 lbs, and is 6’ 1".



Think either boat’d fit him? Or would ‘HV’ would be a good idea?



Also, are they still making plastic Romanys, or did that go bye-bye?


Coaster vs. Sportee
They have the same specs. The Sportee page says:



“Versatile for beginning paddlers who want to circumnavigate a lake or an advanced coastal kayaker who wants the ability to surf big waves and explore sea caves”



That fits the OP’s bill.



I seem to recall Matt Broze telling me that Northwest did some of their manufacturing, and I also recall Northwest kayaks being one of the few (or only) other line on display in the Mariner shop in Seattle.



Needed research: Compare the date of Mariner’s going out of business with the date of Northwest’s introduction of the Sportee.

My Sportee
is from 1992 and the Broze brothers retired around 2005. The guy who sold it to me also had a Coaster and said the Sportee was a bit more squirrelly. It really is a great little boat. The only issues I have with it is top speed. I could not make headway against a 4 kt current like I can in a longer boat, and I need to outfit the cockpit a bit.

Yup, CCK is wonderful

Been too long
but that Mystic was a real nice boat.

Brother is regular Romany/Explorer size

– Last Updated: Sep-22-12 8:22 AM EST –

My husband is 6'1" and was fine in the regular Explorer, and it his Romany I sometimes borrow. His first full length kayak was an Aquanaut rather than an Explorer because he found the Explorer to be a bit too supportive - otherwise known as boring. He was running up to 185 pounds, another 15 would not make a difference. The Romany can be more uncomfortable than the Explorer for people with thicker thighs though.

We have a friend who is 6'4" and weighs more than 200, and after much looking a few coaches have admitted that his Explorer HV is probably too small for him.

BIG note re the various versions of the Explorer (and the Romany) - all of them are for the same volume paddler regardless of the name. The hulls are the same for the LV, regular and HV versions, all they did was alter the deck height and mess with the cockpit. The LV and HV are more about paddler fit in the cockpit than anything to do with the volume. (This created an issue for small paddlers that they fixed with the Pilgrim boats.)

The one that may be different is the HV version of the Romany - that might have come off the Romany S(urf) hull rather than the regular one, and that hull was tweaked.

Extremely helpful - many thanks, Celia
=]

Nifty Line
Check out the Nifty boats if there’s a dealer close to you. Low price, good designs, heavy but they seem solid, nice outfitting for the price.

OK.
I’ll keep holding out for a used Coaster.



sing

Rec boat?

– Last Updated: Sep-22-12 10:29 AM EST –

FrankNC: good list. But why would you categorize the Easky 15 as a "rec boat"? It's a light touring boat. I think you may be confusing it with the Easky 13 model, which is on the cusp of rec and light touring. At 15' and 22" wide with a standard cockpit, I would not call my 15LV a "rec boat". It has virtually the same dimensions as my Feathercraft Wisper including a low stern deck and it can be edged and rolled, which are not talents one associates with rec boats.

Who is CCK?
California Canoe & Kayak? That’s what came up in my search.

Romany
I have put the greatest range of paddlers (in size and skill) in my Romany and had them enjoy it greatly. It is our preferred guest boat among our 6 sea kayaks. I paddle it comfortably (at 6’, 180lbs) and my wife has often paddled it comfortably (at 5’4", 130lbs).



Nigel & Aled designed the Romany to use as their schooling boat. It is the boat that anyone (who fits in it) can paddle and enjoy. It is a fun, responsive boat that is very reassuring.

That is correct.

Guest boat
Get something with a comfortable seat, will take big feet, and ain’t too tippy, 14 feet in length is long enough, and is easy to paddle. Be more upscale on a comfortable PFD, a nice looking wooden paddle no longer than 205 cm, and a bottle of Scotch. You may keep the boat with time, but you will keep the paddle and PFD. The Scotch will keep you from getting buyers remorse.