Wetted surface would also…
… enclose any non-working volume of the hull that you still have to work! A lot of kayaks have a lot of that! 
Gives to an idea of skin drag and little else, and has to be in context of many other things.
The number given is ONLY at design displacement. Sink a sea kayak with 16’ LWL an inch more and you add nearly 3 more sq ft (area of say a half dozen additional skeg/rudder blades - counting area on both sides…).
See Salty’s posts about less is more, shorter boats more efficient for most common uses,… My general aversion to excess overall volume (expedition load capable “day”/“play” boats), deadwood, various claims of hard chines “performance” advantages, excess beam, deck height…
In concept, yes, but what’s the reality?
Trouble is we (or at least I) have no idea what the Avocet LV’s DESIGN displacement actually is.
I’d assume you’re scenarios is pretty dead on (and Valley’s weird stability graph sort of seems to support that - but also has Aquanaut most stable at 175 lb load…).
Almost certainly it was designed for paddler (somewhere around size you gave) AND a bit gear load thou, like the vast majority of sea kayaks (a bit less as it’s described as a weekend boat, so light camping gear, 2-3 days water, etc). Combined target weight of even a relatively lighter paddler and estimated gear loads could still easily get to around 200lb or so. Adding the kayak’s weight could put it’s design displacement as high as 250+).
The heavier paddler in your scenario, if day paddling, could actually have it fairly nicely on it’s lines, while the lighter paddler w/o gear would be sitting high and having to fight more wind with less support from the hull.
Without real data it’s all spinnable different ways. Valley knows the real story, but it makes perfect sense for them to leave this stuff a bit vague as the kayak will surely work just fine for the people it’s targeted to with and without the weekend gear (and a bit beyond without gear/day use if they fit).
One of a few now I’d like to have Kim test paddle someday. Narrower Pilgrim maybe more her speed though (specs?) Waiting to see a 19" or less beam swedeform day boat w/o excessively elfen ends for 110-140 range paddler with minimal gear (hey Pat, what was size of Mermaid?)…
Based on a day in both boats
– Last Updated: Jun-25-09 5:40 PM EST –
I had the Avocet LV out for a day. At 135 pounds plus cold water day gear, which puts probably another 30 pounds or so of gear in the boat spread between the three bulkheads. I was sitting above the seam line enough that the pictures show the boat model name, but water was often obscuring the bottom of the letters. It rolled and balance braced very handily - didn't feel like I had any distance to the water. According the Valley's site, I am at the top limit of that boat. It seems so. I wasn't pushing a lot of water and the deck was not getting a constant wash.
We put a couple of people closer to 190 or so pounds in the boat. My stuff was still in the boat. Water was washing over the top of the boat with every riffle.
BTW, my scenario assumes that the 200 pound paddler is likely to also be carrying some gear.
My long term ride has been the Explorer LV for big wate, so I know that even with a fat day's load of gear in the boat the bow is still pointing out of the water beyond ideal and there is space under the Explorer letters on the side. Unless it is fully loaded for camping, I find it best to weight the bow so the distribution is more like 50/50 than the recommended 40/60. The only exception is surf, where that loose bow and less weight altogether is a good idea.
22" is too wide
How does one test paddle a custom
made greenland style kayak? How does one even know if they’d like a greenland style kayak if they’ve never paddled one?
Do they still weigh 35 lbs or less after air bags, seat and footbraces have been added?
Just wondering. I don’t know diddly about the boats that you’re referring to.
specs
The local NDK dealer have the specs for the “new 2009 Romay LV” on the web (they are also selling the old Romany LV):
Length: 491 cm (16’ 1")
Width: 51 cm (20")
I’m guessing that the “new 2009 Romay LV” = “The Pilgrim”?
L
what’s the big deal small people can fit in ANY boat, and you have the ability to add pads, lets see some “Big guy Boats” that are NOT barges. i mean its not like we can cut away parts of the boat for more leg room or toe room, or enlarge the cockpit. You smaller folks just don’t know how good you really have it… L
Hmm
I think that’s an inch and a half of of the width and a few off the length… I wonder if the dealer is trying to use the Romany name so as to gradually introduce the Pilgrim boats and not confuse the long time NDK fans.
The bigger the better!
I guess a kayak is like a pair of trousers in that respect? As long as they make it in XXXXL everyone should be happy!
SOF
http://www.capefalconkayak.com/The%20modern%20skin%20on%20frame%20kayak.html
http://www.unicornkayaks.com/our-kayaks.html
http://www.yostwerks.com/
I may have just paddled one
I just paddled a boat that was labeled Romany LV and described as the redesigned version: narrower, with less rocker, and it had the knee bumps. The cockpit was farther forward than the old Romany LV’s. I wonder if this boat was in fact the Pilgrim? It was easier to control paddling in reverse than the old Romany LV was and less prone to being turned downwind. When comparing width side-by-side with standard Romany it was obviously narrower. As for speed, I didn’t have a GPS (don’t use one anyway), but it felt faster than the old Romany LV.
I really, really liked this boat, whatever its name. I remember that the old Romany LV made my legs feel slightly cramped; this one did not, thanks to those knee bumps which were nicely placed and not forcing a “froggy stance”. Yet it was still low-volume enough to be easy to roll–in fact, I learned a couple of new rolls in it using the boat’s stock set-up MINUS the backband. This one had a small minicell foam chunk in back of the seat but I never noticed the chunk, the new seat’s lip held me in place well enough. I LOVE the new glass seat and wish that’s what I had in my Explorer LV instead of a foam one.
I might buy one of these whatevertheirnameis boats, so yeah it gets my thumbs up in a big way.
Sounds about right
See my post above about paddling the “new updated” Romany LV that looks suspiciously like the Pilgrim. It was clearly narrower than the standard Romany next to it (which means it’s narrower than the old Romany LV).
The fit was fantastic.
Pilgram spec page
link for the NDK Pilgram
http://seakayakuk.com/index.php/The-Kayaks/The-Sea-Kayaks/The-Pilgrim.html
Specs? We don’t need no stinkin’ specs!
At least I hope not, as I don’t see a single number anywhere on that page…
total volume is a number
so that’s what they use. Sinkage would be a more useful number. Most of the production kayaks out there that are marketed as high volume or low volume are really high free board or low freeboard and don’t provide a useful designation for recomended range of displacement. It’s a lazy engineering solution that doesn’t meet the paddlers needs except regarding leg room or deck height preferences. A kayak that fits a 200lb paddler doesn’t fit a 100lb paddler better because it’s got a lower deck. Likewise the same kayak doesn’t fit a 300lb paddler because the deck is an inch higher.
so true
– Last Updated: Jul-01-09 10:36 AM EST –
for cripes sake, the more things change the more they stay the same.
the boat looks exactly like my GF's impex mystic based on the old Northshore kayak !!!!!!!!!!!!
LOL tideplay
how right you were when you said I should not part
w. my North Shore Shoreline Fuego. That boat was built in 1990 (mine is July 1197) and would look perfectly at home on the Pilgrim page.