I chose to use my NDK Romany, equipped with an electric bilge pump and an efficient aft deck mounted towing system. I have several other sea kayaks, including an Explorer LV, Nordkapp HS, and an Anas Acuta. The Romany ticked all the above boxes for me.
lol. Good one Sparky. And the delphin sucks. Good reason everyone who bought one in the great Delphin craze of 2012 is now filled with shame and regret, cursed to forever roam the forums defending their mistake
nick - Appreciated reading that. My husband’s old regular Romany is too big for me and slow. And at my size in some conditions takes extra attention to keep the bow from swinging around some way I don’t want if I forgot to load it a bit
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But It is the boat I use for paddling solo in open water or if I am in a group of unknown levels. It is so kind in terms of errors and will do its best to hand me the last half of the roll when I am tired or screw up. I am interested in giving the new Echo a try. But for a boat that will it all for you, the Echo has a lot to stand up to. Interesting parallel, .I also have an Explorer LV and a couple of Valley boats, haven’t gotten around to re-homing the long boats from Jim that really do not fit me.
I’m with Chuck on this one. Paddle on 4 Star BCU Kayak Leaders
Thank you all. Good input. Nick / Peter: I appreciate you sharing your experiences. Gave me some things to work on I hadn’t considered (i.e… capsizing during a tow).
@Chuck von Yamashita said:
@Celia said:
Extra credit for the grey thing?It has changed to a little white dog
Maybe I should have left the grey thing in there…
Nah, the dog probably swims a lot better.
The assessor won’t care, and in fact will only judge your choice of boat only if the boat compromises your ability to act as a leader in 4* conditions. Or perhaps worse, the boat is chosen because it meet’s preconceived ideas of needed features, but the candidate hasn’t actually used the features and lacks understanding of the use and limitations of said feature.
Being able to complement with personal skills any supposed disadvantage of a particular boat will signal to an assessor that the candidate has proper experience. For example, the 4* and 5* are considered awards for journeying, not play paddling (although play opportunities during a journey can be included), if using a slower boat such as the Delphin during an 8nm journey shows that the candidate can’t effectively stay with a group, then that boat is a poor choice. But if the candidate can use the Delphin but have the skill and fitness to set a firm pace, then the boat is a good choice.