Can anyone ID this older Valley kayak?

After corresponding with her and getting some additional pics, I’m convinced that it’s a well-used and neglected Pintail. Although it’s a '96, it appears to be the older style with a flat aft deck and rounder hull, which is the more desirable design, IMO. There’s a big chunk of gelcoat missing from the keel near the stern and some heavy wear at the bow, but it’s certainly repairable. It would be fun to restore it to its former glory and perhaps add a day hatch (a pretty easy job on the flat-deck boats). Unfortunately, New Haven is a fairly long haul from here (~3 hours) and I’m not sure when I could get down there.

Thanks for letting us know what you discovered. Hope someone who knows what it is and how to restore it will find it. Or that you’ll think up another good reason to make the trip!

After searching through some of my old notes, it appears that VCP made the change to the new design hull and slightly rounded aft deck in '95. The new design is more “mainstream”, so it may appeal to more paddlers, but it doesn’t handle like the older boats and it would be more difficult to install a day hatch in the rounded deck. The newer boats are of no interest to me and I can’t see driving 3 hours each way just to find out that this is something that I wouldn’t want. If it wasn’t for the long drive, I’d consider buying it to restore and sell (it pains me to see it just languishing), but I can’t justify the drive.

Looks like somebody bought it Agreed about seeing it languishing! Hopefully the person who took it will restore it.

Yeah, she sold it yesterday morning to “Someone from Mass … he was an older guy who said he has a lot of kayaks.” I wonder if it’s anyone I know?

An older guy with lots of kayaks…sounds like it’s in good hands now. :wink: