Andromeda-The Holy Grail?
If the Andromeda, yes the mysterious Andromeda was that great wouldn’t it still be in production?
Maybe somebody here knows the people at CD and can get some info on this boat. I have looked at some pics: nice looking to say the least!!
Andromeda v Carobou
I had hesitated to weigh in here because I wasn’t sure about my recall of the Andromeda, and I have never paddled one. But the above comments are resonating with what I recall.
The boat was a love it or hate it boat, always had a fairly narrow market because it took a huge, confident edge to turn it in anything rough. I have encountered a couple of guides who had them and loved the speed, as would I if my job was to be able to course quickly thru a pack of newbie paddlers on a tour. The boat I usually take out for evening paddles locally comes out for that reason, not because she is the better rescue platform of my boats. But the Andromeda never caught fire with the average paddler, for the reasons named.
The Caribou has been a quite popular boat for a long time. It is a moderate and well-mannered boat comparatively, and even with the redesign I am sure they held onto that quality. The neoprene-then-hard-shell hatch cover arrangements on the original ones always leaked, which people dealt with it by putting everything into dry bags in the hatches. The dryness may have been improved since then.
I started out looking at fiberglass boats with the Caribou being at the top of my list - it still has very nice lines to my eye. It only came off the list after paddling it and finding that my legs and thighs were not even close to being a comfortable position in that cockpit. I loved how the boat paddled, and would have gone for it had the fit not been a likely back breaker for me.
thanks celia
Any thoughts about how the andromeda compares to the nordkapp? Or Legend?
You can probably appreciate how a choice between, say, Explorer and Nordkapp might be determined differently depending on the user, right?
“great” is subjective
just as subjective as “popular”. To me the question is what kind of kayak is the user looking for, what is the proficiency of the kayaker, and what kind of conditions and paddling will the user be doing?
I’ll give you a vaguely related analogy: At one time porsche’s 911 was a very competent but tricky car to drive at speed. To court greater sales volumes, porsche took much of that trickiness out of the 911. Nowadays almost anyone can drive one at speed. But in the bargain, enthusiasts lament that trickiness because when it was removed, some of the precision and sense of connection with the road was also removed.
The
Andromeda, the NF silhouette, and the pre jubilee nordkapp…are closer to being in the same class as far as paddling. The Caribou is more like a WS/MR Arctic Hawk
like I said these two kayaks are in completely different paddling styles…not even close. You will never be able to sit in them off the water and tell.
Don’t buy one over the other because of the seat…it’s like choosing between a small cottage and a ranch style house by which comes with the most comfortable easy chair.
if you can’t choose just flip a coin and buy with the understanding that if you don’t like it you can return it and take the other kayak instead.
or…I guess you could pick the one that pleases you the most to look at…but still get a deal on a return just in case:}
Best Wishes
Roy
Versus legend or nordkapp
– Last Updated: Jun-23-12 6:31 AM EST –
Not an easy comparison for me to make. The Legend is really oversized for me hence less reactive than for a right-sized paddler. The Silhouette is a boat that I have looked at with interest. From an intermediate paddler view I don't see it being a problem. For a beginner, most I know who have stayed with the boat found it prudent to develop intermediate skills. This is not a bad thing.
The Nordkapp is at this point a fairly big family. Again, most are too big for me so they are a calmer ride for me than a right-sized paddler. I have spent a little time in my husband's LV, and it is a very different ride than say an Explorer and a whole lot less reassuring. But it is also the most rolly-polly of the Nordkapp line. Fast off the line though..
Not
– Last Updated: Jun-22-12 9:04 PM EST –
sure what you mean by "The most rolly-polly of the Nordkapp line" many things being said about the Nordkapp line are based on what people say and quote after paddling only one of the series. I have paddled all of the kayak models in the Nordkapp line. {I have also paddled both the Andromeda and the "Boo} The early Nordkapp is the one that I believe Tom Berg has and the statement about having to watch it pertains to that vintage and to it as a rescue platform for a guide.
From the old vintage {Pre-Jubilee} there was about 2 inches of rocker added to the stern of the kayak....then some volume was added just behind the seat. this completely changed the way the Nordkapp handled. Then came the H20 {hatches two oval} about 3/4 of an inch of rocker was taken back out of the stern...again changing the handling. The LV was built off the H20 frame and handles somewhat like it. as far as rolling.... the Post Jubilee Nordkapp's all roll a lot alike. the Pre Jubilee model rolls slightly different and has a slight felt edge. all the newer Nordkapps are very smooth to roll and really don't care where they are sitting in comparison to the water.
The Nigel Foster kayaks {Legend Silhouette etc} like to sit on a slight sideways angle when at rest so feel quite different from a Nordkapp.
The reason I grouped these kayaks only had to do with skill levels and speed of the Kayaks not that they are really the same....only in a sort of imagined class of kayak. The Andromeda is closer to being in this class than the Caribou.....for someone who has not paddled very many kayaks ...a decision on which to buy by reading reviews is really a study in futility...there needs to be common ground, and the reviews have no common ground.
sorry to sort of hijack...done now:}just too much "he said/ she said"
Best Wishes
Roy
Slush, you asked if I had paddled one
I have not. I’m outside of the boat’s parameters; too heavy. But if I weren’t, I’d get one. I looks like a wonderful boat. I’m not sure if I would recommend one as a first boat. Looks like a low volume Sirocco with crisper chines to me. Comparison to the Nordkapp is apt. When I lose weight, I’ll treat myself to one. Looks like a wonderful boat.
What I meant by rolly-polly
– Last Updated: Jun-23-12 6:39 AM EST –
I've spent a bit of time in the Jubilee model, also the H2O. I was talking (sloppily) about the feeling of the boat in terms of how willing it was to find an upside down orientation to the water. Neither of those seemed quite as willing to go over as the LV, which is still more solid for me than my husband but goes around very easily. Granted the difference is on the fine side - no Nordkapp will resist a capsize as much as say an NDK Explorer. I am also more undersized, strictly speaking, for the other two than the LV.
As to how the LV rolls, it is great fun. I came up laughing the first time I did it (after I slapped a paddle to avoid going for a second round).
I have never seen Tom Bergh's Nordkapp on the water. By the time we contacted Tom he had gone to an Explorer for his work, and the Nordkapp was hung vertically along the side wall of the boat house. It looked quite dramatic that way. I heard he had lost the boat house, so I don't know where it is hanging now.