You have an all mountain, a backcountry tourer, Wyoming powder ski, etc..
You NEED an Explorer, a Romany type boat, surf ski, HP surf boat, etc.
The thought of only one kayak is depressing, and I think you are just rationalizing :)
If you can paddle, which it seems your well on to becoming proficient all round,,,,,then you can hop from one style of boat to another as conditions dictate.
Are we clear now? Listen to me here...I'm right!
You do not know what you don't know yet. One boat will never be enough for you, nor should it be. Report back please.
Listen to me here…I’m right! Matt, Salty IS right. Maybe you don’t need 4 sea kayaks along with your ww boat (like me - and I’m thinking of adding another ww boat), but at least two - each with different strengths, maybe important to sanity.
Keep the Nordlow when it comes, and get a Romany or Explorer for those things for which you think the 'kapp LV is lacking.
Yup You know how they say that things happen in three’s? Well, I seem to be the third poster now who agrees that you need at least two, if not three different boats to stay happy. Just let your wife know that another six hundred dollars for an second new composite boat won’t hurt much… I won’t say that lie would have worked for me though!!
Thats why I got the Anas Acuta for play/rough, Aral for cruising/distance/speed and also now want to pickup a surf boat. No, your Greenlander Pro wasn’t for me so that one can’t count!
Why not keep the LV and pickup an Explorer used to have both? Then just add other boat types (ski/surf/SOF/folder/etc) to round out the quiver a bit? I think for me it will take at least 3…
yep he likes the rockered boat in the surf zone, he wants the straighter keeled boat for speed which isn’t as nice in the choppy stuff which makes him think there’s a boat inbetween but the boat in between doesn’t do the other things as well,etc.etc.
Why oh why Is it assumed that a decent sized boat like the AA or Avocet or Romany or whatever has to be relegated/limited to a day/play/rough water boat? I suppose it depends of paddler size, but all these boats are easy enough to paddle around at a decent touring speed all day, have more than adequate room for a three day weekend, can be enjoyed in most any conditions, and easy to handle off and on the water. Seems to me they make more sense as an all around boat than the large touring boats most think of as all around boats.
because the person is deluded into thinking that because they can feel the upper speed limit of their boat for 10% of their paddling that getting a boat that really shines at that speed will be tolerable for the 75% of their paddling,and then it starts all over. “gosh, I actually liked that boat better for this kind of paddling”
Yep, Yep… On another thread a fellow noted Shawn Morely’s advice to stick with a given boat and paddle it.
I also would say such for most folk, but clearly Bowler is a “special case”. Given his obsessive nature I simply submit that “he” may in fact be happier with choices.
Though 17.5' boats are dominant in some settings, there are many people who use 16' boats for everything. I've seen Jed and Lamar quite happily using Romanys when all the less experienced folk in a pod were paddling Explorers, Nordkapps, etc...
There are quite a few very good paddlers who have used "day boats" for all their paddling - surfing, day, camping etc...
I'm not one of them.... I don't pack well enough to do leave-no-trace camping comfortably out of a shorter boat. When I was using my Elaho DS for Maine Island camping, my ThermaRest pad ended up on the rear deck.
Also I am not so skilled of a paddler that the boat does not matter. My Romany is far easier for me to use in tide races and surfing than my Aquanaut. I can better maintain the 4-5 knot speed of an aggressive BCU pod in my Aquanaut than my Romany.
Of course, the more skilled one is, the less the tool matters ;-)
I did pick up a new 2008 Explorer. Just got it yesterday. Feels quite a bit lighter than my 2003 model. I will weigh it and see but I guess it’s about 55-57 pounds. The new skeg system is nice but the skeg box takes up a lot more space in the rear compartment and adds weight (you can feel it is a little stern heavy when carrying on the shoulder)
I am glad I got the standard layup. When I picked up my boat the dealer had an Elite Romany. Wow! That sucker was flexy. I did not examine the hull stifness, but the deck was amazingly flexy. Not good for me. I’ll stick to the standard layup.