Was down at the beach this past week and saw a fellow floundering around with what appeared to be an older kayak. Got in; fell out. Ditto a few times.
After a while, I went down to see what was up. Turned out he’d borrowed an old Nordcap HM that he’d managed to paddle over from the marina, the one with an ocean cockpit and a chimp pump, despite having no prior experience paddling. Impressive. He was (with no instruction) trying to learn to roll so he wouldn’t be “so nervous–this thing is tippy.” I gave him and the kayak a ride home.
Having looked around, it looks like these are beginning to resurface. Older folks quitting paddling, dying off. That’s what happened here. Made me wonder how many were made? How many left? What do you all think should happen to a classic kayak like this one?
Anyway, I encouraged him to consign it to a reputable shop just so it wouldn’t be lost to the paddling community. Be a shame to see it live out its days on a pair of saw horses outside neglected…
They are languishing on sawhorses…
…because there are SO MANY less cantankerous modern day boats in existence…and newer permutations of Nordkapp that are far friendlier. HM was and is an excellent boat, but was made for getting (a reasonable) amount of gear from point A to B FAST by an experienced paddler…and God forbid if you should want to turn them back around into the wind.