SKUK Pilgrim Expedition Sea Trial – Fishers Island Sound – June 2011

Had the opportunity to demo the SKUK Pilgrim Expedition this past weekend with Greg Paquin and Paula Riegel who together make up Kayak Waveology, a BCU sea kayak instruction business and retailer of Nigel Dennis’s line of sea kayaks. I’ve known Greg for a few years and have run into him and Paula on the occasions I’ve paddled out of Stonington CT to hit the tide races east of Fishers Island. Greg has also organized some great instructional symposiums in eastern CT in recent years (Rough Water Symposium and November Gales out of Stonington) that I’ve attended and have enjoyed. Greg heard I was considering getting a different boat and thought the Pilgrim Expedition might fit the bill so suggested I meet him up in Stonington to give it a try in conditions.

I’m 5’10” and 175 lbs and currently paddle a Romany. I like the way the boat handles very much, especially its maneuverability, its surfing ability and handling in following seas. But I often think that if I could change the Romany, I’d raise the front deck a bit to help my forward paddling and I’d increase its length a bit to give me a little more speed. The Pilgrim Expedition is described as an expedition kayak for the smaller or slimmer paddler. Although I’m not particularly “small” or “slim”, the boat’s specs and the pedigree of great boats in the SKUK line intrigued me. The Pilgrim Expedition is 17 feet in length (519 cm) and 19.5 inches in width, which makes it a foot longer and slightly more than an inch narrower than my Romany. Things like rocker, chines, and volume aside, the Pilgrim Expedition’s length/width put it in the same range as a lot of boats I’ve enjoyed paddling. In addition to the Pilgrim Expedition, Greg brought along an Explorer and Romany Surf so I had the unique opportunity to switch quickly between all three and get a good feel for their differences. My thoughts on all three boats below.

Greg and Paula with Pilgrim Expedition

Pilgrim Expedition: The concept of a “smaller Explorer” is a great idea and I think this boat could be used by many paddlers, not just small/slim ones. We paddled out to Wiccopesset Passage to catch the tail end of the flood current and were able to find a few waves to play in. As I expected, the Pilgrim handled somewhere between an Explorer and a Romany. I could end the review there actually. To me, it’s more maneuverable than an Explorer, easier to turn the boat around to quickly jump on a wave. I found that waves broke over the deck more so than when I paddle the Romany/Explorer – the Pilgrim Expedition is narrower so sits more solidly in bumpy water which adds to stability – similar to Anas acuta or Pintail at my weight – but still with plenty of freeboard. Breaking out of an eddy and staying on the front wave in a wave-train seemed easier in the Pilgrim due to its longer length as compared to the shorter Romany. The front deck of the Pilgrim Expedition has “knee bumps” to increase the height of the deck that allow a solid contact and provide as much or more room under the deck as compared to my Romany - a pleasant surprise. The one downside for me was the width of the seat - it was too small for me, painful actually. I had to sit slightly angled so my hip bones would fit. (As a benchmark, I fit fine in the Romany seat but find Valley's Anas Acuta seat a bit too narrow). The seat is something that can be remedied - a foam seat is one option. The new SKUK fiberglass seats come in two sizes (Small and Large) and are moveable fore and aft – so we measured the width of a large-size SKUK seat to see if it might be swapped in the Pilgrim – no dice. The larger seat was perhaps 1” too wide to fit. (Greg will get back to me on whether there are alternatives). Perhaps Nigel should make a “medium” size seat for the Pilgrim to accommodate larger paddlers. Overall a really nice boat and one I'd like to try again with a larger seat.

Explorer: I owned an Explorer and it was a great, solid boat with predictable handling. It’s a good boat to paddle first as a benchmark to see how Nigel’s other boats differ from his central work-horse. For me, the Explorer was a boat that helped me move up the BCU chain and learn fundamental skills. The biggest difference I experience when paddling the Explorer is when edging the boat – unlike the Romany/Romany S which loosen up when edged but will turn equally readily upwind or downwind, edging the Explorer alone even without corrective strokes will turn it away from the edge – handy when fighting weather cocking. Perhaps this is due to the longer length and therefore greater turning influence of the chine. Greg also points out that the flat hull and increased length are helpful in staying high on a wave when surfing. The Explorer is his preferred boat for tidal races and even beach breaking surf. If I was paddling big conditions regularly, I’d revisit the boat for sure. I sold my Explorer some years ago because most of my paddling is in more sheltered conditions in Long Island Sound where I found shorter boats more fun.

Romany Surf: Of all the SKUK boats the Romany Surf is the most comfortable for me in the cockpit. The higher deck and new fiberglass seat allow me to assume a more forward paddling posture. (Photo of new SKUK seat below). I noticed it right away. Greg has his Romany Surf seat set up in the most forward position so forward sweep strokes really cranked the boat around, fun in the wave and manouvering around some small eddies east of Fisher's Island during the demo. The boat has more volume in the chines and more volume aft of the cockpit than the standard Romany. The chines make it a little stiffer to edge than my Romany and more grabby on waves for carving - which has pluses and minuses depending on what you're looking for. The extra volume in the stern makes it well balanced fore-and-aft, which seemed to improve speed and glide a bit as compared to my standard Romany which has a lower volume stern that sits a bit low in the water for me. The Surf's cockpit coaming isn’t may favorite - doesn’t provide the same thigh-hook design I’ve come to enjoy in other boats. This is my only criticism of the boat. Greg had his cockpit foamed out nicely which helped a lot.


New SKUK Fiberglass Seat on Explorer



The current line of SKUK boats now has enough variety that I expect most paddlers would be able to find one that works for them. The hull designs are all “friendly” and can accommodate a range of abilities. And Nigel’s focus on making subtle changes to his basic design to offer improved fit for different sized paddlers appears to be unique in the industry.