Nice Boat Michael.
Another nice boat Michael.
Well I finally got to meet fellow blogger from Quebec Townships, Michael Bradley of Canadian Sea Kayaker blog fame. Michael's blog is enjoyed by people around the world. It is like reading the morning rag for most. I've discovered it a bunch of years back now and was thrilled because as a mentioned before it in a blog post it was Michael who twigged my interest in kayaking about 11-12 years ago with an article he wrote about Igoolit and paddling there. Michael has worked in the Arctic as a Teacher I believe, retired now he gets to travel about and enjoy paddling on others' waters. It was a nice surprise to have him at our safety day and certainly a very nice surprise to have met him. I can only hope we get to paddle together during his short stay. My phone number is 753-9812 Michael as I forgot to give it to you yesterday.
Maelstrom Kayaks produces the Vaag, the black and yellow boat Michael brought with him. So we got to exchange kayaks and give each others a try. The Vaag is a delight to paddle and nimble on edging and would be a great rock hopper in our area for sure. I could see this being fun in the surf as well. But I must also say geeez those Nordkapps' just look so good ....can I have my boat back please....LOL. I believe Boreal Designs will be actually selling the Vaag and its sisters under its' own banner.
7 comments:
Hi!
You seem to have had a good time. I really like the Valley kayaks, my next kayak will proberbly be a Vallyy. The Vaåg looks nice on pictures. I have never seen Malstroems kayaks irl.
It was a great day Stan, I got burned to a crisp. Next year we'll be ready for the great rescue race. Brian and Sue were worthy winners; I've recently bought a new PFD so what could I do with two *lol*
Tony :-)
Yeah Tony, Brian and Sue sure work well together. They certainly know what it is like to work as a team. Much can be learned. A fun day all in all. I'm burnt too.
Stan
Hi Stan,
I'm glad you liked our Vaag 174 and I love the picture you took of Michael! Maelströmkayak is based in Quebec. We have another model called the Vitäl 166 (you can see both models on our website). We do the design and BorealDesign build them for us. They will also distribute them outside the province of Quebec in 2010.
Francois
Maelströmkayak
www.maelstromkayak.com
Very nice boats Francois. Just a couple things, the seat may need some tweeking for comfort and back support a small but important con another pro was the small foredeck hatch which was just the right size for ease of getting in and out of the cockpit and for holding my camera for easy access. I liked that little feature. I also liked that the front coaming lip did not hender putting on of sprayskirt. My Valley's coaming lip on the front of the cockpit is very tight to the deck and as a result it is difficult to get the front part of the sprayskirt to fit around smoothly. Not a problem on the Vaag. I realize there are different skirts with different size rands but the one I use from Seals is very snug. I like the color schemes/ I also like the hull design and sweet rocker that the boat has. Smart lines and certainly aesthetically pleasing. Now I would have liked to try it in the ocean as opposed to the pond where I had a chance to try the Vaag.
Kind Regards,
Stan
Hi Stan,
Thanks for your comments! I will pass them to Charles-Alexandre.
For the ocean, the best way is to come to one of our Surf Kommando event. The perfect place to try out our kayaks and see how they are like rough water!
Francois
Hi, I'm a Maelstrom paddler too. I have a Vital 166. I love it. But I wonder if anyone else has any comments on the super soft rubber Kajaksport hatch covers? While cowboy scrambling up on my back deck, my plastic kayak knife protective sheath easily pierced a big hole in my back hatch. I'm campaigning for a stronger, tougher back hatch for these boats. It cost me $67 to replace it. Anyone else find the rear hatch a little too vulnerable on these boats?
Sincerely,
BaffinPaddler
http://baffinpaddler.blogspot.com/
Ottawa, Ontario
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