Now there are :- Romany Surf : only in composite Romany Sport : only in plastic (larger and easily sufficient for my size 11 booties) Romany Sportive : only in plastic (smaller and not sure how much space for my booties). That's my understanding. I have no idea whether the bigger plastic Romany was...

Surf? That's a Sportive isn't it? (The smaller of the two plastic versions of the Romany - the bigger one being the Sport.)

What might be the best starting point for adapting the roll you are used to and comfortable with, would be too add a forward sweep, sitting up, at the end of your roll when you get to the end of your reverse sweep. You can actually finish your reverse sweep early with the added support of the front...

If the orcas are close by, the great whites have made a run for it Heh, I'm not sure how much of a sense of security you should be deriving from the big scary predator being chased away by another big scary predator. Harking back to the OP there's really nothing irrational about a bit of a fear abo...

What's the deal with Seahouses harbour these days btw? Do they want to charge a fee for landing or launching a kayak there?

Oh - and a recommendation for accommodation.. It's a little way away, but the hostel in Wooler (formerly YHA but now independent) is excellent.

Latest on Farnes is there is no landing on inner Farne, stopped during COVID and has not opened since! Nowt to do with COVID though. Along with a lot of other breeding sites around the country, the bird colonies were very badly hit by avian flu in 2022 and then again this year: https://www.bbc.co.u...

The water at HPP can be notoriously manky. Even on a good day, the smell (and colour) is not nice. You can get sick just from immersion (you don't need to swallow water). So for that reason too, it is not a place you want to swim if you can help it. I was sick as a dog once after visiting HPP and n...

I know him a bit, not particularly well. (I see from FB that he is particularly busy with a bit of an epic road trip just now though as it happens.)

I'm not 100% sure but I think he might be advertising these boats on behalf of Glenmore Lodge, so you could perhaps try giving them a shout.

I can't help with your search I'm afraid but.. Maybe NDK Echo? Yes, very possibly so. I have a friend who's been paddling an Xcite-S for quite a few years and loves it, and when she recently borrowed an Echo from Sea Kayak Wales to give it a try (in some fairly gnarly Anglesey tiderace conditions) s...

Overstating the case, possibly, but I took exception to the quote " Water is buoyant in water, even when contained within a suit; contrary to popular belief, a drysuit filled with water will not make you sink. ", which whilst true in a static scenario, implies that water in the drysuit wi...

Are there any good video tutorials that you could recommend to help us to progress? I don't have a recommendation to make, but will suggest this.. if you have an idea of what you should be doing, the video that will most help you is one you make yourself so that you know what you are doing. Tutoria...

I usually have a wade to waist deep before paddling, this wets my spraydeck to aid stretching over the cockpit, tests my pee zip and with a neck seal burp makes sure there is no air around my legs, the buoyancy of which can be inconvenient in event of a swim. Since I've jumped into the thread now -...

Additionally, if the water is in your legs (or arms), instead of kicking your legs to swim, you now need to move several kg of water, the momentum of which (depending on your kick) may end up pulling you down as you lift your legs. If you can get 10l of water round your legs in your drysuit trouser...

leighv wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 24, 2023 11:25 am

Just always have to remember to do it up again!

I'm mixing my metaphors very badly here but.. you are playing with fire and it's going to bite you in the bum one of these days! ;-)

Spiritchaser wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 12, 2023 5:50 pm

Any information or suggestions appreciated

Just a silly thought off the top of my head.. have you considered getting rid of your sit-in cockpit altogether and trying an Epic surfski?

I really don't know why you would need to use thigh braces in a sea kayak as inherently the narrow surfski hull has a lot less stability than most sea kayaks. I've been thinking about this a bit and while it's a bit counter-intuitive, I don't think it should actually be that surprising if thigh bra...

Heads up!

Being on the water as the sun goes down is always wonderful! It's not every day I find the motivation for the early start, but the other end of the day is quite special too. :) I went out on a silly mission off the N coast of Anglesey last week. There's a rock out there called 'Coal Rock', marked w...

Chris Bolton wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 28, 2023 6:57 pm

His username here is Mal Grey, I would send him a PM.

^ This. But perhaps better an email as he's not particularly active on here at the mo.

Link: memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=64057

i.e. you can see the deck rising up near-vertically to high points which are limited to the bits on the left and right sides where your knees want to go. The Romany Surf and Excel have pronounced 'knee-bumps'. (Also the HV version of the Explorer, and I think a few other boats in the SKUK range.) I...

Grian wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 10, 2023 8:10 am

All the same the prize must surely go to the Romany, with its elegant lines and wonderful colour schemes.

If nice colour schemes win prizes, I think for the most part they'd be more likely to go to Rockpool than the boats they're building in the factory next-door tbh.

WTRWLD wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 09, 2023 10:38 pm

To Sean_soup, yes you could build something like this but to get a robust functional result is harder than It seems at first glance.

Oh yes, I don't doubt that.

May I be so bold as to submit my trolley design, also from NZ, I wanted a light, strong, compact trolley so built these. That's very interesting - I've been thinking about a similar design for a while (but not getting around to building anything), and wondering why there doesn't seem to be anything...

Has anyone experience of the day trolley? I have one, and it works well for me. I've used it on a Romany Surf, an old Explorer and at the stern of a P&H Delphin. (Where it's a bit of a wobbly fit.) It's better pushed than pulled (like a wheelbarrow), and as the wheels are tiny and close togethe...

Mac50L wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 03, 2023 10:18 am

To make it more interesting than "My trolley is better than your one." type of discussion?

You started that with your tiresome willy-waving.

quilkin wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 18, 2023 6:12 pm

Use would mainly lakes and gentle rivers/canals, occasionally on the sea, near the beach on very calm days

If you don't have storage/transport for a kayak, you might be better off getting into stand-up paddleboarding for that environment.

Owen wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 24, 2023 10:24 am

There may well be a digital version, I don't know.

You can at least get a look at the tidal streams here: https://www.visitmyharbour.com/articles ... f-scotland

Be careful with your choice of PFD, though. My new Peak Explorer PFD is great in lots of ways, but the bladder pocket is very narrow and didn't fit any of my existing bladders, so I had to buy the Peak one. I use a 1l cheapy from Decathlon in my Peak Explorer, and it works very well. Easy to fill a...

That's my logic, but since no-one else seems to do it that way, I'm a bit worried that there is something I've overlooked. Any thoughts on why this might be a silly idea? I think to some it just looks neater with the end of the screw and the nut inside the compartment, and most of those who don't c...

I'll take the NE Scottish guide if it's still going please. Have PM'd you..