The Valley Boats have been discussed
in a fair amount of detail. What about P&H. A P&H kayak would be much easier for be to demo and buy, because the Jersey Paddler is only about an hour from my house, and they do not appear to sell Valley. How does the Quest LV or the Cetus stack up against the Aquanaut or the Nordlow?
Nordlow is notably lower volume
– Last Updated: Feb-26-09 7:38 AM EST –
than an Aquanaut. The Nordkapp LV has less volume than an Avocet.
The Aquanaut is lower volume than an Explorer. The 'naut feels livelier to me than either an Explorer or Tempest 170. It also feels faster. According to the drag figures provided by Sea Kayaker, the Nordlow is very fast up to 4 knots and the Aquanaut is fast above 4.5 knots. This seems consistent with my experience on flat water.
At my weight (180-190 plus gear) the Nordlow is much livelier, very responsive with very impressive acceleration and speed in lumpy water. That being said, the Aquanaut has excellent speed and is astoundingly confident in snotty seas. Your additional height and weight will impact how the boats feel.
I have camped out of my Aquanaut. It has enough volume to be a true expedition boat. Thusfar I've used my 'kapp LV as a day boat. I could do overnight leave-no-trace camping with it but would need to be more efficient packing to use it for multiple day excursions.
I own and paddle both an Aquanaut and a Nordkapp LV because I find both very good boats. I think you should demo both and see which feels better to you.
P&H are very good boats
– Last Updated: Feb-26-09 5:21 PM EST –
I paddled a Cetus and a Quest LV on two successive days on Muscongus Bay (Mid-Coast Maine).
The Cetus is a very impressive boat. You owe it to yourself to demo one. It felt awfully huge to me, but it is a pretty fast and responsive boat. It is bigger with more defined primary than an Aquanaut and is much more confidence inspiring than a Nordlow.
I didn't care for the Quest LV. It felt 'jagged' to me in chop and clapitos compared to the Cetus or Valley boats.
LV is relative…
The Aquanaut was introduced as the lower volume version of the Argonaut for smaller paddlers. Then enough of us 6’, 180 pound guys found it our size that now the Argonaut is called an Aquanaut HV and no one thinks of the Aquanaut as low volume.
The Nordkapp LV is only an LV when compared to other contemporary expedition length boats. It is still more volume than the original Nordkapp.
Some paddlers like responsive boats and reduced windage - hence the trend towards lower volume.
Yeah - LV ain’t always LV
Since I am actually an LV sized paddler at 5’4" and 135 lb I get to find this out…
The NDK Explorer LV isn’t - it is the standard hull with a lower deck and an extra small cockpit.
The Nordkapp LV is is a size that in a pinch I could make work because it is such a friendly roller, but is still too much volume for me unless I were to regularly go out with a full load. The Aquanaut LV is too big for me, and I suspect the Cetus LV to be also based on the paddlers that I have seen in the plastic version (Scorpio if I have that right). All guys that are not huge but definately sink a boat better than me.
The Quest LV would take me and a half again.
The boats that do fit me the best in terms of volume, like the P&H Vela, are boats that a lot of guys can’t get more than one leg into, and that not all the way.
In sum, LV in the boat’s name doesn’t tell you all that much about what size paddler will best fit and get a good waterline.
Some clarification on my comments
– Last Updated: Feb-26-09 10:13 AM EST –
My Naut LV is a roto molded version. I am 6'3" and 245lbs of chiseled fat. The Naut lv rm fits me well, however, I cut the edges of the inner cockpit lip in the area of my hips to relieve a slight pinch. The LV RM Naut fits me well, the Composite version I cannot even get into. The two versions RM and composite seem like two different boats as far as how they fit me. I cut the seat out of my Kapp in order to fit the boat to me. All of my boats have the foot rests removed and the bulkheads padded back to my feet with relief in the center and foot pads on the outer edges. The Kapp Jubilee feels really nice and it paddles as nice as it feels. The Cetus is a very good boat, stable ,comfortable, and FAST. It seriously lacks in one catagory..... tracking! You owe it to yourself to paddle these boats. If you want a Cetus I will sell you mine. One final thought that I think is most important. Of all the boats I have owned, Nighthawk 17.5, Adventure 17, SOF,Q Boat,Kapp,Cetus,Greenlander and Aquanaut, if I ever find myself caught in conditions over my head I pray it is in the Aquanaut. I feel very confident in my other boats (The Kapp is no exception I guess the LV must be different) but I feel almost invincible in the Naut. I know, I know, feeling invincible will likely get you killed. Let me state it another way, the boat is confidence inspiring. I trust it. It makes up for my mistakes. It is forgiving. Call it what you want, but every now and then you buy something that makes you feel like got something special. For me this is the Aquanaut. Having said all this, I am currently looking for my next boat, but the Aquanaut has found a permanent home with me. Finally, the Kapp and the Naut transistion fom primary to secondary almost seemlessly. The satability is smooth and confident, the only difference is the Kapp has less of it. The Naut is also the best rolling boat I have owned (go figure, low back deck and high seat I think). These are my opinions, and you know what they say about opinions, but it is all I have to offer. Paddle the boats. Bill
and my clarification
I feel most confident in most conditions in my Aquanaut. In surf my Romany provides me the most confidence.
The Cetus has higher primary than the Aquanaut, but I prefer how the Aquanaut handles, particularly in beam, rear quartering and following seas.
The Nordkapp LV is a fun sexy boat, but I need to grow as a paddler to feel as confidnet in it as my other boats.
2c
I am not in your weight category - 5.9@150
I enjoy “playful” conditions.
Aquanaut would be the last thing on my list, but that observation is based on Aquanaut LV. But you seem to want to go in straight lines.
Cetus is something that you should definitely try.
I would place Quest LV slightly above Nord LV, but at they might behave differently at the designed load range.
As Flatpick/Steve asked - what is wrong with Tempest?
And, I am surprised nobody mentioned NDK Explorer.
relatively quick and manuverable dayboat
Is what the OP stated he wants.
Even though some assert the Explorer is god’s own boat and a gift to paddlers, many find the it rather loglike and over volume.
yes, he did originally
And then, he said the following:
The naut sounds like the perfect mix of speed and handling for what I need. I’ll trade some manuverability for a little speed.
Given, Explorer might not be the best choice, but there is nothing wrong with taking a look at one. Especially when everybody around paddles them - so many people can’t be wrong 
"so many people can’t be wrong"
And you can say that after the last 8 years
Actually, I recommend an Explorer to more people more often than any other expedition length boat. However, the op has a Tsumani and was unimpressed with a Tempest (which feels much like an Explorer to me).
What I really want
is the non-existent perfect boat that is the fastest, most manuverable and most playful boat on the market!
But seriously, after reading through all the posts, I think what I am most looking for is a boat that I can maintain a good pace with (since I mostly do A-B paddling) but is still somewhat playful so I can work on carving turns. I thought he Nordlow would be pefect based on others reviews, but at my weight (215), I think Ill be too low in the water to make worth my while. The second factor is the difference in speed with the boat. When Im out for a workout paddle in my Tsunami, I can typically hold a pace of 4 knots. Since the Naut appears to be quicker at speeds over 4 knots than the Nordlow, that would make more sense for me. I know I am trading off some manuverability with the Naut, but Im ok with that. Beore I do anything, I will definetly try out the Cetus (and the Quest LV). I really appreciate everyones opinions and help!
Valley=BMW 7 series. P&H=Lincoln Contin
– Last Updated: Feb-26-09 7:15 PM EST –
But since u asked about Cetus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO6hFcpjYSA
I agree with moparhorn
"if I ever find myself caught in conditions over my head I pray it is in the Aquanaut."
And wilsoj has gr8 experience w Valley
What you DON’T want to do
Is paddle a N F Legend after you have blown a bunch of money on something else. Based on demo day paddling a bunch of stuff from the here and the island kingdom, there just isn’t any thing out there that will crank on a turn with the feeling of “I can’t go wrong with this thing” like the Legend will. I ended up getting the LV model, the Silhouette, which won’t give you the same turn performance, but is marginally faster and has less boat in the wind, Which has occasionally been something I wanted rather badly near the end of a trip when conditions were a bit different than the forecast.
If I could have a bunch of boats, my 2nd and third choice would be a Legend and an aquanaught LV, but this is based on demo days on flat water. The LV 'naut just feels RIGHT!
don’t be overly concerned about primary stability, at around 200# my first kayak was a P&H Sirius (20.5" wide) and I took pictures from it no problem. I would still have it if my model had had a day hatch.
Are there any Valley Reps on the board?
I would sure like to know why I can’t enter a composite Naut LV, yet the Roto boat is my true love. My true love would be even better if I could get it in composite. What is going on here? Bill
Aquanaut sizes
The composite Aquanaut comes in 3 sizes, the RM in 2. I think the RM sizes fall somewhere between the composite sizes – sort of medium-small and medium-large instead of S, M, L.
Original apprearance of Valley models
– Last Updated: Feb-27-09 5:15 PM EST –
I would guess that the oddity in Aquanaut models sizes derives, in part, from the evolution of the boats.
The first boat in the series was the Argonaut (now designated Aquanaut HV) which was to be Valley's answer to the Explorer - an expedition length boat for 'average' size paddlers which would be less demanding than a Nordkapp.
Next came the Aquanaut which was initially marketed is a lower volume version of the Argonaut for smaller paddlers. It is the same length as the Argonaut while being narrower and lower decked.
The Aquanaut RM followed which for some reason was shorter and wider than a standard Aquanaut. This boat was later designated Aquanaut Enthusiast (RM) LV.
As I recall the Aquanaut LV came next. This boat is the same length as the RM Aquanaut (now designated LV), while being the same width as a standard 'naut and an inch shallower.
The RM Aquanaut HV followed - Which is as long as a standard 'naut but deeper and wider.
I would guess the the cost of molds for poly boats is so high that revisions happen only as believed to be absolutely necessary.
I would guess the smaller coaming on the RM Aquanaut happened as a result of many feeling the composite coaming was too wide.
In the earlier years of this decade the keyhole on all Valley composite boats was the same. This has subsequently changed.
grapewine
A lot of times RM models are based on composite molds. Apparently plastic shrinks quite a bit during the cool down process - I remember seeing ~4-6 inches for 16ft boat.
Manufacturers are probably making allowances for shrinkage, but it would be very hard to blame them if something is a little bit off when compared to composite mold.
And, frankly, who cares - those small differences result in a slightly different boat which makes things more interesting in my book.