The Big Pond kayak is “new” to me. The discussion/presentation for the design of the Big Pond “Surge Play” kayak is interesting for me and others interested in rough water play kayaks. I think harder chines allow for more precise carving on the wave face. The softer chines of the Surge seems to be for accommodating the more “confused” water dynamics of a tidal race.
I like the design of the boat overall, although I would prefer harder chines for surf (over tidal race) play that I indulge more in.
Found video of the Surge on waves. Certainly, rocker is doing its thing for maneuverability. But, seems like boat is not holding a diagonal line well on a wave face. Hard to tell whether it’s the rider, or because of the boat’s softer chines.
I too like how low the space is behind the coaming, which is great for smaller paddlers but also for “Greenland” style rollers.
As much as I like his graphics, I worry about how it would look after some engagement with rocky shores from surf and rock gardening. I know I wouldn’t be able to to repair and match paint jobs just from experience with fixing holes and broken fin boxes on my waveskis.
Yeah, that is the drawback to beautiful new toys: accepting the inevitable scrapes and scratches. I still recall the “trauma” of high school gym class where we all tried to preserve the pristine whiteness of our new pairs of Chucky Taylors as long as possible while our classmates targeted them for pre-emptive scuffing attacks. Collided and crashed with one of my volleyball teammates during a heated game the second week of 10th grade and remember being more upset that her nosebleed besmirched my sneakers than that either of us was bruised.
And it took me weeks before I could bear to use my first GP 15 years ago, a lovely 5 lamination WRC cedar custom blade with a oil and varnish finish that was a smooth and soft as a baby’s bottom. By now it looks more like driftwood.
I usually bypass that experience in my boating by acquiring well-used gear. When I got my most “glamorous” boat 3 years ago ( the composite Perception Avatar 16 with royal to bright yellow “fade” gelcoat deck embedded with metal flake sparkles) it had several glaring but superficial gashes in it from a mishap with a FedEx forklift (which was why the original owner dumped it cheap for $300 after collecting a nice settlement from the shipper). I vowed I would get them fixed up and “temporarily” covered the gouges with GearAid clear tape. Which yet remains upon them.
One of my favorite neighbors is an old surfer dude who has set up a workshop in his basement to make himself and his son and grandkids some longboards and says he’ll help me make it look good again. But so far I have used the kayak a lot over 3 seasons and am less and less concerned with the dings. Investing time and expense into making it look better might result in my fretting about keeping it that way.
I used to feel a little embarassed when I’d lay my various battered and scarred craft on the beach alongside the collection of gorgeously perfect new $5000 custom sea kayaks that many of my fellow attendees at the annual QajaqUSA skills camps bring with them. I confess I ooh and aah at them. But my second hand armada gets the job done quite handily, so I have come to be sort of proud of “history” reflected in their battle-marked carcasses. And I don’t even keep track of any new scars any more. After all, why should they look less well-worn than their owner?
Sort of like my 2001 Tundra. The guy I bought it from kept in his garage and most of it was clean enough to eat off of.
That was many paddling trips ago and it is almost always in need of a bath and dent removal.
It runs like a new one.
