Paddlefest!

[Grant Lamontagne]

Today was Paddlefest here in the city, sponsored by the folks at Mountain Equipment Co-op, which is basically like Cabelas or LL Bean but without the hunting/fishing stuff.  If paddling, cycling, running, climbing, hiking or camping is your thing then MEC is the place to go in Canada.

Whitewater boats:


Paddlefest also includes several other retailers, so while it's sponsored by MEC it's open for pretty well everyone in the area into kayaking, which is great because I got to try a number of boats head to head, which I did.  I paddlied some of the boats I'd been looking at previously and tried a few I'd have never tried otherwise.

Boreal Designs Kasko:


While I didn't get too many pictures you can see there was a lot there of interest.  I paddled a couple of whitewater boats which I've never paddled before, one of which wasn't so much a boat as a plastic cover for my ass and I paddled a couple of paddle boards, which is basically a surfboard that you stand on in the water and paddle with one long, bent canoe paddle.

Boreal Designs Epsilon:


I have been in some pretty rough spots in my kayak, and so when getting into a new boat the first thing I do is paddle into deep enough water and lean from one side to the other to test what's called "secondary stability" which is a boat's ability to lean.  One such boat, the Necky Manitou has very little secondary stability and I leaned a bit too far, dumping me into the drink!

P&H Cetus:


Two attractive women in a canoe handing out Red Bull were nice enough to give me a can after my workout of swimming back to the shore with the boat after a few unsuccessful attempts to get back into it in the water.  I don't much like Red Bull, but I took the can and gave it to someone else...

P&H Cetus:


I fell in love with this British made P&H Cetus despite it's terribly heavy price tag ($3300) and the fact that it's basically the same boat I already have- 17 foot fiberglass sea kayak.  Still, it's a thing of beauty and has some nice features like a built in compass and spare paddle holder.

Compass and spare paddle holder:


While I didn't buy another boat (with the recent vet bills and Jeep repairs the toy budget got shot to hell) I didn't leave empty handed either.  I managed to pick up a couple of extra paddles for very little- one set was $15 and the other was $14, which I felt was a great deal for $100 paddles!

Paddles in the back of the Jeep next to my pfd:


The black set needs a bit of sanding at the joint as they are extremely tight while the white set has a small crack in the shaft which will be easily enough repaired by some epoxy.

All in all it was a great day out despite none of my friends making it along with me.

Def

[Gareth]

Looks like a great way to spend a day mate.   Any closer on picking out a new boat?  Or has the P&H Cetus only muddied the waters?

[Grant Lamontagne]

No, I wouldn't get the Cetus even if I had the cash since I already have a boat like that one.  I'd like to get something different this time around for variety.

It was a great way to spend the day- I had a great time, and I was sending texts and photos to my father through the whole thing as I knew he would have loved to be there too.  Kayaking is about the only thing that my father, brother and I all love doing.

Def

[Ashley]

Looks like a great time.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Why can't they do things like that over here

Looks like a great day mate

[Grant Lamontagne]

Why can't they do things like that over here

Looks like a great day mate

With all the highly respectable kayak manufacturers in the UK I'm surprised they don't. Are you sure there's not something like this done and you just don't know about it?

Def

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

[Zed]

looks like a cool day Def  im no closer to getting a kayak due to funds, although my brother now wants to start, although he has the money to go out and buy a new one  ill have to borrow his     

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yeah, I have taken a bit of a step away from pulling the trigger on a new boat myself, but that doesn't mean you can't still have some fun from time to time!

Def

[RICHJ]

Why can't they do things like that over here

Looks like a great day mate

They do mike, do a search for north wales kayak forum, I'm a member there but there are others around the UK 
The Guy who makes the expensive uk fibreglass jobbies is a member too

[Grant Lamontagne]

P&H boats?  They are gorgeous!

I'm actually heading out today some time to buy a new boat.  It's not the one I've been looking for, but the department store boats are on such a good price right now I'd be an idiot not to get one for fooling around in or having as a spare.

Def

[RICHJ]

Yes P&H , nice but pricey. we are more into sit on tops though, cheaper and will take the knocks (abuse lol..)
Its been a long time since I've been out, maybe I'll take mine on our next camping trip, its a Bic yakka, folding semi inflatable sit on top, really handy if your tight on storage room.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Pelican boats are on sale at Canadian Tire so I picked one up for my wife to use or for a backup.  Kim's cousin also got one so that's why you see two of them up there.

Def

[RICHJ]

Nice 

[Grant Lamontagne]

They aren't great boats and certainly not long distance runners but they are great fooling around boats and can do some semi-serious runs.  I was always tempted to get one but at the $400 price tag I figured I was close to the neighborhood where a higher end boat was that I never made the move.

But at $120 off I figured it was well worth it to get a spare.

Def

[RICHJ]

Here's an odd one for you Grant. Its a sit on top but made of fibreglass.
It was lovely but triple the cost of a good moulded one.
http://www.northwaleskayakfishing.co.uk/id16.html

[Grant Lamontagne]

That's an interesting one for sure.  I'm not so sure about the sit on tops though.  I have paddled (and pedaled!) a Hobie Cat a couple of times but I'm not convinced a sit on top is right for me.  I put a lot of stuff on my deck and I'd hate to lose that space.



As you can see, on a typical day I have my sandals, sunblock, GPS, phone box, camera box, water bottle etc all tied to the deck lines on top.  Where would I put it all if I had no top deck? 

Plus there's the waves....

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/762283/Lawrencetown0001.mpg

Def