I really enjoy Valley boats, but did they go out of business? I heard they closed shop from covid but was unsure if they would open again. I will be very sad if I never get the chance to order a custom boat from them 
Their website mentions nothing about shutting down and Valley still maintains its dealers where you’d order a boat: USA & Canada
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I don’t know, but I have 2 Valleyes, an Aquanaut and a Avocet…They’re both the heavier versions( I don’t even remember the (Deolion?) I live next to Lake Erie and the Aquanaut is an unbelieveably steady craft and the Avocet is aplayfull boat. They’re both 2003’s and I’ve replaced the hatch covers twice, ut might need to do it again soon… thought abought Sealect replacements…
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What i find interesting is that they are built where Robin Hood did his deeds 5-600 years ago
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I used to work for Great River Outfitters/The Kayak Centre from 2010-2013. GRO was the East coast Valley importer that used to be in Michigan but was bought by TKC. A few years after I left GRO stopped importing Valley as the distributor - they would still order boats as needed but other shops would have to add their boats to the same container and arrange shipping. I don’t know the current status of this arrangement but looking at that list of dealers many of them no longer stock new Valley kayaks. Even the recent photos I have seen of the TKC shop don’t show any Valley kayaks and they are not listed on their website either.
Yes they seemed to be lowering their production. In addition I saw on facebook they posted about closing the facility (temporarily) and having trouble shipping boats from restrictions but I haven’t seen anything since. I also tried emailing and calling them in regards to replacing my boat decals but wasn’t successful getting a hold of them. I am trying to find the older logo of theirs with the pinstripes.
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@EricHawk it might be worth calling The Kayak Centre of RI to see if they have any old decals still hanging around. Ask for Matt.
The North American market was never a high priority for Valley, which was frustrating to us working on the importing end. They just didn’t care much about us!
From their web site, kayakacademy.com still seems to sell Valley kayaks, but you could contact them directly and find out. They are located in the Seattle area, but might not ship? I purchased skeg replacement parts from them last season - for my Valley Étaín.
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It does look like a couple of the West Coast shops still have new Valley boats in stock. GRO was the East Coast importer so I don’t know who the West Coast importer was/is now. Looks like there might still be a pipeline on that side though.
RKC in Wyandotte MI. shows a few Valley kayaks in stock. They might be another option.
Pelee Wings in Ontario Ca. started carrying Valley last year.
I’ve heard nothing to that effect. I was at my local paddling shop on Friday. They deal heavily with Valley. The owner has spoken with them just days before. Nothing said by anyone about closing down.
That’s great to hear, the last thing they posted on facebook was 2 years ago and it was a picture of a lock with this caption, had me kind of worried. “With the ever-tightening restrictions our gates might be locked for a while and whilst we are only one of many thousands of business effected by the Covid-19 outbreak, it’s still anxious times for us and our staff.
Particularly difficult, for those like us in the outdoor leisure industry, is the fact that we build inventory for half the year, just to fulfil orders in the ‘season’. Our lads have worked hard all winter, making both ordered kayaks and general inventory, to fulfil orders that would normally ship out over the next couple of months. Currently that would be into the very eye of this Covid-19 storm. So, much of that inventory remains unshipped and could be with us for a while. Yes, we got one shipment out yesterday but that might yet sit in a depot somewhere or not be delivered because a shop is on lockdown.
We’re not after sympathy, we’re all in this together and the health of the world, is way more important. But when we do come out the other-side, please think of all the little companies, The independent stores, sole traders and freelancers. Especially those in our game, who might be facing the shortest of short seasons, once this has passed. For many of these smaller businesses, how they fare in those last few weeks of this summer, might be the difference between them being around for 2021 or not
Best wishes and good health to everyone out there.”
Got two Valleys. I cant imagine any other boat(s). Up in Mass. we gotta go to Rhode Island and they don’t have everything. I wish they had a bigger presence in New England.
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@joelong I sold my Valley Etain 17.1 as I was really never happy with it, and replaced it with a Tiderace Xceed S that is a better boat in every way, IMO. However you’ll have to pry my poly Gemini SP out of my cold dead hands - I LOVE that kayak!
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Whats the diff betw 2 ride races?
I just bought a new boat from the Kayak Academy (mentioned above) in the Seattle area and they do indeed have new Valley models.
Valley like many other traditional kayak makers is a smallish operation, and maintenance of digital resources is an ongoing problem due to lack of support folks. Often those assets are maintained by someone who is also managing several other areas.
Best to check with someone who is a dealer for their products.
In my earlier post about kayak academy I indicated that they might not ship kayaks. That is not correct. A verbatim note from the kayak academy web site says:
*** Note: We do not sell sea kayaks online, please call us to order. Also we only ship FOB via KAS Transport. ***