Buy it.
Yep.
ridiculously good deal
Buy try it and if you canāt handle it resell it for 3x the price. I have a friend whoās a fantastic paddler but not very big. He puts a diving weight belt behind the seat.
It doesnāt seem to be listed on the stolen kayak database.
http://www.marinerkayaks.com/mkhtml/stolendb.htm
buy it x 3
Deck looks immaculate and the wear shown in the second pic is minimal. At the end of the season you can teach yourself the fine art of gel coat repair using that for practice.
Palm skirt looks a little dubious since it seems like there's a whitewater type rand on the skirt. If it is, those are notoriously hard to get off a composite cockpit coaming.Being a beginner you'd want a more forgiving touring style skirt (hell I'd want one too)since you are going to be capsizing while you make friends.
put stuff in the hatches while you're learning: lunch water change of clothes, etc... Nords do handle better under load.
Snapdragon and Seals both make a skirt to fit that Nordkapp.
Hell yea, buy it.
Itās Mine!!!
This Nordkapp is now sitting right here in my carpeted hall. Tomorrow I'll have to work out storage space for it in the garage.
http://www.pbase.com/image/150853396.jpg
The boat was a consignment at a whitewater place so I didn't get to meet the owner.
I saw it hanging there a couple of weeks ago and as soon as I realized what it was I wrote it off without asking the price. "Why pay $1,200+ for a non-beginner friendly 18 foot expedition kayak when I could get a new Wilderness Systems Tempest instead?" etc... is what I thought. Then I called them today to ask what the price was. I almost fell over. This is a glass expedition kayak made in England by Valley! $500??? People can sell things on consignment for whatever they choose I guess. I had to go back to see what configuration the boat was in. I knew I didn't want it if it had the ocean cockpit and wasn't going to be thrilled if it had the two small round hatches. I didn't know what the real condition of the boat was either and at that price I had to assume something might be wrong with it. Nothing was. Well, now there is. Taking it off the top of my SUV the pump handle snapped in half for the Chimp Pump. Ahh well. I was thinking about converting that to a day hatch eventually.
I walked out the door with a paddle, paddle float, paddling top, gloves, PFD, 2 foam storage blocks, some foam padding and mounting cement, a tapered Sea to Summit dry bag and an 18 foot long fiberglass expedition boat for at total of $1,200 including tax.
This is what I call a good day. :)
Thanks everyone!
Spray skirt
Good point on the spray skirt. Iāll check it out completely here at home and replace it if itās a pain at all.
: )
me likee nfm
palm deck
they actualy come off very well some times to well id try it dont be fooled if its a mare to get on when its been dry and stored for any time.
Palm Spray Skirt
It seems to go on and come off OK. I donāt have anything to compare it with. I like that it has a chest pocket but it will be covered by my PFD.
Working up the courage to take the boat out to the local reservoir at over 7,000 foot elevation. Iām thinking I might need to buy a drysuit for any real paddling around here but Iām not certain on this.
Make
sure someone knows where & when you are trying your new boat out at, if you plan to go solo. If you āthinkā you might need a drysuit or wetsuit you probably do. Thereās been a lot of posts on that subject.
Which resevoir?
If you are in Utah or Colorado the water temps will probably be OK this time of year without a drysuit. You might invest in a 2 mm wetsuit top.
do a wet exit or two
(pull off the skirt) with another kayaker standing by. Better to know now than later how easily it comes off. Then you can relax when it happens again
Enjoy the boat. What a find.
Iāll be alone most likely.
I just moved from one mountain town in Colorado to another. I donāt know anyone here into touring and Iāll probably be up there at Vallecito or some other 8,000 ft elevation location on the week days.
My first outing wonāt even be an outing. I probably wonāt install the spray skirt as I test the limits of the Nordkappās stability in waist deep water. From what Iāve read, I think Iāll be upside down pretty fast because I only weigh 155-160 pounds. I want to know how it does with just me in it, to start. After I find the stability limits Iāll work on getting back in with and without a paddle float.
Iāve ordered a Snapdragon skirt and Meridian drysuit from a local shop and will have them in a week. Iāve been waiting since about 2002 to get a kayak and Iām hoping to get this boat figured out by August. Then Iām doing a week or so at Lake Powell or someplace big to celebrate my new found freedom.
Thatās the plan anyway.
Not exactly prime seakayaking
You are going at kayaking a little bit backwards. You are in an exceptionally nice area for whitewater paddling.
The Nordkapp is not all that tippy at your weight you should be fine. Get a pump and a sponge and some nose plugs and practice wet exiting without a skirt and then with the skirt. A good video to learn a roll without help is Eric Jacksons Rolling and Bracing. Get a friend to stand nearby and spot you when practicing rolling at first.
You might think of taking a trip out to San Diego and signing up for a seakayaking series with Aqua-adventures if you want to do travel kayaking. You are not going to have any exposure to coastal conditions. Down river on Colorado streams is not going to be real enjoyable in a Nordkapp and can also be dangerous in big moving water, as the boat is not braced to prevent folding up when pinned.
Not real close by but Blue Mesa was also a spot I enjoyed in Colorado, try also Flamming Gorge, Great Salt Lake and Bear Lake in Utah. Look into going down through Ajo Arizona to Puerto Penasco on the Sea of Cortez. Itās not that far away, but go with a group.
LOL. Iām not hitting whitewaterā¦
Thanks for the great suggestions. My boat has the built in pump but I forgot to pick up a sponge.
I hope you were joking with the stream and whitewater comments. I owned sportcars for many years here in the southwest and I didnāt go off-roading with them, just as I wonāt be taking the Nordkapp through rapids or down any streams.
You highlighted Blue Mesa which is the kind of place Iāll be going with this boat and I already mentioned Lake Powell and the 100+ miles of Class I water on the Green River as a couple of my target destinations once I have the handling and self rescue down. 16,000 acre Navajo Res is within an hour of me and is the largest body of water accessible in Colorado. Also 4,500 acre McPhee Res is within a couple of hours.
Itās after I play around on the flat water nearby that I plan to look toward coastal training opportunities and a few nice trips to Alaska and beyond.
Iām an avid remote wilderness backpacker and have toured the world by bicycle. I have more camping gear than I know what to do with. 6 shelters, 3 backpacker stoves and 5 different sleeping pads. Some of this is due to the fact that I worked on a high altitude SAR team for a number of years. That said, I know I have a lot to learn when it comes to kayaking. Just about everything really. Iāll look into that video.
Have you been to a casino lately?
With your luck you should at least buy a lotto ticket. Iāve never owned a Nordkapp, but Iāve paddled a few of them and if I couldnāt have the expedition boat that I have, the Nordkapp would have to be it.
Stay loose and youāll find the Nordkapp is not at all tippy. It might take some time and a lot of paddling, but fair warning, you will be looking for big water.
Thanks
Thanks. Iāll wait for the drysuit and spray skirt. Then head out probably Wednesday or so and let everyone know how it went.
Iām still amazed at what I paid here. Right place, right time. I think this will actually turn out to be a great first kayak for me.
even if you donāt like it at first, keep
keep at it for a while. A challenging boat will teach you faster than a bath-tun like recreational one, provided you are willing and able to put some time, thought, and practice into it. But try to āexperimentā with at least someone able to rescue you at first - you just donāt know what you donāt know as a beginnerā¦
I got the plastic version and, while it might offer a beginner a swim or two initially, I donāt feel it is unreasonably unstable to learn it, though I think a more user-friendly boat like a Wilderness Zephyr 155 or P&H Delphin or Cetus would make things easier and less ātraumaticā when just getting started -
So, how did it go? Did you try it out yesterday?
Thanks Kocho
I havenāt taken it out yet. I was talking about next Wednesday. It really depends on when the drysuit arrives. Tuesday is a possibility.
Itās nice hearing from others who own or have spent time in the Nordkapp but itās important to remember that there have been many variations of the hull on this boat and I doubt the 1994 HS hull is the same as what you have on your PE Nordkapp.
I need to get in the water with my PFD and drysuit so Iāll be going in one way or another.
Yeah, if a used Cetus was for sale locally I would have been all over it. But little beats a composite Nordkapp for $500. The odds of either being for sale in Durango Colorado are less than slim.