Can anyone explain for what sort of waters this 13’ long Valley kayak is intended? Is it some sort of surf boat? Local seller offering it for only $100 so I am intrigued – I would almost buy it because it is so cool looking. Thinking I could likely get a hatch cover for it from Topkayaker. Looks like they are throwing in a Werner paddle so I can hardly lose, right?
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A great bargain. You NEED that boat!
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Sneaker or Storm model perhaps?
The only links I could see for those models don’t seem to look like it.
Serial number indicates 1997 production. dimensions are 12’ 7" by 23" beam. Built like the proverbial sh**house – probably about 55 pounds (or I have just wimped out over the winter.) Has a nice cabled skeg and the hull looks barely used.
Topkayaker has the Sealect hatches to fit (boat is missing one and the other is dry rotted and it looks like squirrels chewed the edges). Trying to decide on which backband to buy. It will probably cost me about $230 for the parts. I already have cord to replace the stretched out deck bungies. Boat is in excellent condition otherwise. I fit nicely in the cockpit – foot pegs are even in the right place!
The paddle is the standard “no-name” medium white blade/blue shaft Werner 240 cm that 90% of kayak dealers threw into their “package deals” for years. I bit too long for me but it can go with my loaner stash. Or get $50 or $60 for it. I did offer the seller a bit more to include the paddle but he insisted I take it, and the boat, for $100. Somebody gave it to him, but after one capsize, he was done with kayaking.
The semi-rural counties to my east and north continue to be fertile sources for higher end kayaks that somehow migrate into the region, I suspect via East Coast estate auctions. I have been turning up an average of one “barn find” a year lately, nothing over $300.
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Wow, that is an interesting design. To me it certainly appears to be a surf boat concept. I pulled up an old Facebook page called “Valley Surf Kayaks”, but everything I noticed looked like more typical surf kayaks. This adds some displacement hull and some volume onto the normal planing bottom of a surf kayak. My thoughts would be designing something that’s easier to travel a little further to get to some waves, knowing that you’re giving up some pure surf kayak concepts as a compromise. With sealed bulkheads it would add a pretty significant safety factor that isn’t incorporated into a surf kayak. Cool find!
maybe I’ll sneak it along to the Canoe Rendezvous (it will fit under the camper bed) and take it over to lake Arthur for a test afterwards. Don’t think I will have the new hatch lids by then but I could stuff my SOF float bags inside and bungee something around the rear hatch. Doubt I would get far in it on flat water but I am eager to see how it feels afloat.
It looks like a surfboard mated with the middle section of one those 3-piece Valley Nordkapps.
The “duckbill” prow and black and yellow color scheme remind me of Daffy Duck. “Daffy” will be its fleet moniker and I already ordered a couple of vinyl stickers of DD in provocative poses to slap on the hull.
Daffy seems perfect. It would be fun to give it a whirl should it work out. Definitely seems like a hull that will have a strong personality.
Love it.
This for the bow (“Go forth!”)…
…and this for the stern (“So long, folks”):
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It’s a Valley ‘Cliffhanger’. Noted as:
“The Cliffhanger is a radical design appealing to the person doing shorter trips and playing in the surf.”
[I don’t know from where the jpg is taken]
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Thank you, mick_allen! That is exactly what I dragged home yesterday. Was beginning to think I was in the Twilight Zone.
Though a friend to whom I sent the photos pointed out that the logo on the one I bought seemed to say “Vallev” not “Valley” and I saw what she meant. I briefly went down a rabbit hole researching if it had been made in the Balkans or Italy and came up short on name searches.
But now that I have seen that photo you located, I gave the marque decal a closer inspection and it’s an intact Valley logo. Just has a stubby tail. Wonder how long they produced this oddity?
Found a “for sale” ad for one from 2001, clearly a serious surfing boat. :
"SEA KAYAK/ SURF BOAT. Valley Cliffhanger. Two oval hatches and day hatch. See promo picture at right (boat color: red/red). New: $2300 . Cool surf/expedition boat $1600. "
Some decry the appearance of this boat, but recall the Danish tale of the Ugly Duckling. It may look quite majestic in a few years … or not. Nevertheless, it’s rather unique and well worth the deep-pocket cost.
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Lake Erie is warming up. 
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I confess I have never seen surf sets along the southern shore of Erie. I’ve paddled a few times and even on windy days it was mostly confused chop. I spent many years along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan and that frequently had impressive and regular surf. Some very breezy summer beach days could yield 4 to 6 foot rollers and up to 8 feet was fairly common during normal storms. The record was over 20’ for a shore break.
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I’d be on that deal like stink on a monkey.
Growing up on Erie we learned at a young age if the white caps are bad stay out of the water. Erie is shallow and the waves are mostly tightly compressed and there is a strong undertow. As to surfing all I mainly see is sail and kite surfing. I have seen decent waves but maybe they crest to close to shore to be of much use in a boat. We used to body surf on them pretty easy.
I always watch “Nova” on local PBS Wednesday nights. Wouldn’t you know that last night the episode was about the Niagara escarpment and included a segment on the surf in lake Ontario with clips of hardy long-boarders tackling 8’ curls during midwinter storms!
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