Draw Strokes on the Move (it’s all the same thing)

Always wondered why the various directional "draw" strokes were never taught this way to beginner paddlers from the outset - why no one ever clued me in to the fact that, “Hey, they’re all the same stroke!”  They all pull the boat towards your paddle.  After I was clued in to this, I would pass it along to other paddlers who sometimes had an "Aha!" moment.  

Best way to illustrate is the image below.  The only difference between the bow rudder (bow draw), stern rudder (stern draw), or side-slip (hanging draw) kayak strokes (all draw strokes) is where you place the paddle blade, up or down the line of the boat.  If you put the blade in up by the bow, it will pull the bow towards your paddle and therefore turn the boat that way. If you put it by the cockpit… it will pull the boat towards your paddle which moves the entire boat in a "side slip" from amidships so ideally the boat stays straight. Lastly, if you put the blade back towards the stern it will….you guessed it, pull the stern towards your paddle which effectively turns the bow the opposite way.  

Keys to executing any of these Draw Strokes include:

·         Get some speed – the stroke doesn’t work if you’re not moving forward

·         Place the blade fully in the water and hold it firmly in place

·         Angle the blade slightly outward to catch the moving water, this will pull your boat (and you) in the direction of the paddle

Hanging Draw Position

Bow Draw (Rudder) Position

Stern Draw Stroke in Action

Stern Draw Blade Angle position (but when executing, put paddle in more vertical position (raise offside hand) as shown in image to left)

Kayak Repair and Construction with Gel Coat and Epoxy – Random Photos of Past Projects

I used to do a fair amount of repair each year on my boats – didn’t often take photos, but a few below. I've grouped these by "Gel Coat" and "Epoxy", which are used for somewhat different purposes. Gel Coat is really a surface treatment, it forms (and is used to repair) the hard, rigid outer shell of the kayak.  Epoxy is more a "glue", which can be used to make wooden boats and also used to repair holes and deeper damage to fiberglass kayaks, typically in combination with some patches of fiberglass cloth. Rule of thumb for me is if you have a real hole/leak or damage that goes down into and through the fiberglass, you need Epoxy - use Epoxy Resin on the inside of the boat for the initial repair to make the boat watertight again, then finish exposed areas on the outside of the hull with gel coat. If the damage is only in the outer Gel Coat, but the underlying fiberglass is largely undamaged, then Gel Coat is all you need for the repair. 

Gel Coat:

If you remember nothing else, remember “Get the FINISH Gel Coat” kind, not the laminating gel coat.  See photo of Gel Coat can below.  This type air-cures so is the one you want for repair – doesn’t require a barrier film over it, which is a pain.  Gel coat is typically white for hull repair - forms the outer coat (shell) that protects the underlying fiberglass from abrasion damage and UV sun exposure.  Like automotive "bondo" it is made to harden by adding several drops of a clear liquid catalyst (methylethylketone MEK), that has a recognizable smell.  It's easy to work with, but I always use goggles when I mix it because the MEK can damage the eyes if a drop gets in.  I used to fill gouges and deep scratches in the gel coat on my kayak hulls maybe once a year with new dabs of Gel Coat.  But even a small job requires some work and that you return the next day to sand it down.  So, I eventually got tired of that and only fixed major Gel Coat gouges or areas of impact that exposed the underlying fiberglass, as shown in the images of my repair job below - you can see the underlying fiberglass weave.  Deeper areas of damage in the Gel Coat that expose the fiberglass layer underneath are “functional” (not cosmetic) and require Gel Coat repair because exposed fiberglass can absorb water or shred the fibers more over time. (Not immediately, you can still paddle the boat unless it's leaking but covering areas of exposed fiberglass with new gel coat soon is wise). Shallow surface Gel Coat scratches or spider cracking aren't a problem and IMHO need not be repaired.  Photos below show repair needed due to a big whack that occurred while RI rock-gardening.  For that repair, I was using a Dremel tool and 80-grit sandpaper to remove all Gel Coat at the damaged area down to the fiberglass.  I applied a few coats of Gel Coat (perhaps 2 coats to build it up, the second painted on after the first was tacky) followed by wet sanding after it was fully cured/dry with 600 grit sandpaper. The better you prepare the damaged area by sanding away loose/cracked gel coat, the better the repair area will do  - repair will be imperceptible when it’s done.  But more shallow, simply cosmetic Gel Coat repairs are often too thin to hold up well - the new gel coat will just crack again. So, unless it’s a major repair, I’ve learned to leave cosmetic scratches and spider cracking alone.  The hull’s gel coat is meant to be a sacrificial barrier anyway, to protect the underlying fiberglass – once it’s really bad you repair it. I have a friend who had his entire 20-year-old kayak hull re-sprayed professionally with new Gel Coat for $600 in Norwalk CT - worth it to him since he loved the boat. Or, once your hull is really worn, you can add a keel-strip with fiberglass tape, polyester resin and gel coat (a semi-big job which I did once to a kayak I later sold, no photos).

Rock-gardening casualty

This is the stuff - FINISH Gel Coat

Added patches of fiberglass cloth where heals damaging hull and at leak area - I should have used Epoxy for better strength instead but didn't have any handy

Dremel down to expose fiberglass

[Technical Note:  Gelcoat is a special type of polyester resin mixed with coloring agents and UV inhibitors that protect the boat’s underlying fiberglass.  When a boat is manufactured, “laminating” gel coat is sprayed into the boat mold.  This type of gelcoat will not fully dry – it will stay tacky.  Fiberglass cloth and resin (polyester, vinylester, or epoxy resin) are then added on top of the gelcoat such that the two materials (uncured “tacky” gelcoat resin and fiberglass resin) bond chemically, making the protective coating very strong.  By comparison, subsequent repairs made by kayak owners with air-curing gelcoat must bond physically, not chemically, so they require that the repair area be roughly sanded to make a better bond.  That’s why gelcoat repairs are never quite as strong as the original chemical “gelcoat-to-fiberglass resin” bond.]

Epoxy:

I used 2-part MAS Epoxy (a few gallons) to make the CLC North Bay kayak in 1999, photos below.  A testament to the fact that anyone can make a stitch-and-glue boat! I did a messy, novice job - but the thing was water tight. Finished product looked great on the outside with a lot of sanding, a few coats of varnish and some wood inlay for decoration. That's one nice thing about wood boats, each spring you can lightly sand and add a coat of varnish making the hull like new.  

In addition to its use in wood kayaks, more significant fiberglass kayak repairs can also be made with Epoxy (MAS or West System), especially on the interior of the boat.  After Epoxy dries you need to cover sun-exposed areas with paint, varnish or gel coat since epoxy has no UV protection in it. (Yes Gel Coat can be applied over Epoxy - see video here.)  Epoxy seems more "tacky" feeling to me, less hard/brittle than Gel Coat. I've also heard it is more tenacious than gel coat, able to bond to things with less sanding and acts more like glue. That's why it should be used for holes, and more major repairs.  Also, unlike Gel Coat (a polyester resin), which just requires a few drops of the catalyst, Epoxy is composed of a two-part "resin" and "hardener" that are mixed in more equal proportions. Lastly, epoxy doesn't smell as strongly as Gel Coat (in fact I can't smell it at all most times). Some say wet epoxy is less toxic compared to Gel Coat (which is made from polyester resin) if it gets on your hands.  I'm not sure about that - I always were gloves when dealing with either substance.  When sanding a big surface of freshly cured epoxy (as when making a wooden boat) it's also wise to use a respirator and gloves (as in photo below). Fully cured epoxy can be sanded with just a dust mask. For small repair projects, such as fixing an interior leak below the seat or repairing a paddle, I've used the easy-to-use West System 101 kits of epoxy (photo below) - the resin and hardener come in little envelopes with some silica dust to thicken and a mixing stick. I’ve also used epoxy sticks (photo below) for "field" repair of a holed kayak that I dropped while on vacation.  An epoxy stick has the consistency of clay – you rip off a piece and knead it to combine the two-parts and it hardens in place.  Later you can sand off the outer portion of the repair and cover with Gel Coat. 

  

Making the CLC North Bay stitch-and-glue kayak, winter 1999

Messy on inside but watertight

Finished product

Inlay (overlay) around compass

Super convenient for quick repair  - used once when my boat was dropped hard while on vacation

Easy West System 101 Repair Kit

Thule Hullavator Review - with tip on how to unlock arms

Background - before I got the Hullavator:

If you paddle solo a lot, some method of assisting you with loading your kayak onto your car is nice - and potentially essential depending on your level of fitness.  I used to carry my heavy British kayaks over one shoulder and hoist them onto my car solo using just my outstretched arms. Not surprisingly, after perhaps a decade of that I began looking for an alternative! I first found Yakima's "Boatloader" - a great product that's simply a bar that extends from your rack. I used that for a long time - you first lift the bow onto the bar and then raise the stern onto the rear saddle - greatly reduces the effort of lifting the boat since you do it in stages.  One downside to the Boatloader is the potential for your kayak to slide off the cradles if they're slippery, or in high winds. (I've got a post about this elsewhere on this blog.)

The Hullavator:

But if you need a little MORE help, then the Thule Hullavator is the load-assist kayak carrier to buy. I finally bought the Hullavator after a shoulder injury. I personally had no choice at that stage. But in retrospect it would have been nice to have a Hullavator sooner, and I definitely recommend the product. The main upsides to the Hullavator include: ease of raising the boat onto the roof (you can really just lift it with one arm); the boat is secured before it's on the roof (won't slide/blow off before you strap it down); and it provides the ability to easily work on the boat when it's in the "down" position - sponge-out water, remove hatches, fix a bungee, adjust footpegs. It's right at waist height so easy to do all that.

So easy to access the cockpit/hatches, no standing in doorwells

The downsides to the Hullavator are worth knowing before you buy. Some, but not all, can be overcome as discussed below. The downsides include:

1. You have to lift the full boat weight to chest height to load it onto the Hullavator.
2. You must simultaneously (yes) squeeze the hand grips to unlock the hullavator in order  to raise the boat - this is not easy if you've got any knee/back/shoulder issues. See TIP below.
3. When you lower the boat, the swing-arms may not fully lock (especially if your boat is lightweight) - meaning the arms will swing up violently when you remove the boat.
4. The cradles don't fold down, so if you must enter a low garage you have to remove the Hullavators - and they're pretty heavy.
5. If you use Yakima (round) bars, the Hullavator arms tend to rotate when you load your kayak, so you must first realign the two arms before cinching your boat straps tight. Otherwise you won't be able to raise it. 
6. Road noise - the rack makes more noise (wind at high speeds, squeaking at low speeds) than other racks.

Ways to overcome some of these downsides:

1. People who have used the Yakima Boatloader, Thule Outrigger, or any of the similar load-assist kayak carriers that allow sliding the boat up from behind (Hully Rollers, Roll Model) are accustomed to lifting just 50% of their boat's weight at a time from ground level - first the bow is lifted up to the bar (or rear cradle in rear-loading methods) then the stern in a second step.  These load-assist products make a major difference in effort when solo-loading. And are a perfect combination to use with a rolling kayak cart.  Unfortunately, unlike these other load-assist carriers, the Hullavator requires that you lift the entire boat's weight at once - why?  Because lifting the bow into the rear Hullavator cradle and sliding it forward is not officially sanctioned (I called Thule) due to the potential for damaging the hydraulic arms with repeated use. The arms are not meant to be torqued sideways - only opened/closed up and down. This inability to load the boat in a two-step fashion is far and away the biggest downside to the Hullavator. If you have no trouble dead-lifting a 60-lb kayak from the ground with the cockpit facing towards you (which is necessary to "properly" load a kayak onto the Hullavator cradles), then chances are you don't need the Hullavator in the first place! (Not sure what Thule was thinking there.)  Nevertheless, despite the non-orthodox nature of this method, what I do is put the bow in the rear cradle, then lift the stern, followed by a combination lift/slide, shimmying the boat forward until the cockpit is between the two arms. Then I strap it down. When "slide-lifting" the boat along the cradles, I try not to put too much sideways pressure on the arms. This is actually one advantage to having round Yakima bars, it allows the Hullavator arms to rotate a bit during the "slide-shimmy", which probably reduces the forces on the joints of the arms. The arms will be misaligned afterward, but I fix that before securing the straps. With my heavier boat, I sometimes lift the stern into one of my Talic portable kayak stands so I can work the boat forward into the Hullavator.  But any way you cut it, lifting the whole boat or a semi-slide method, with the Hullavator you end up lifting more of the boat's weight than with the other load-assist carriers that allow separate bow-then-stern loading. The saving grace is you only have to lift the boat to chest height with the Hullavator.  Because you don't have to lift anything above your head, overall the Hullavator is an improvement in terms of effort as compared to other load-assist carriers in my opinion - especially if saving your shoulders is your goal. But clearly the Hullavator could be improved - Thule should work on modifying the Hullavator to allow step-wise loading from the ground. Perhaps reshape the rear cradle to facilitate sliding and put a crossbar or something to prevent torqueing the arms (?).

2. Next is a major TIP for those who own or are considering the Hullavator.  If you have trouble bending way down to squeeze the two handles (to unlock the swing arms prior to raising them up once your boat is strapped in) I discovered an alternate method through trial-and-error.  You can instead simply stick your finger at the top of the swing-arm (see photos) and pull up on the metal claw that "locks" the arm down. Voila - the arms are unlocked now and you can raise the boat to the roof. (I'd initially rigged a rope across the handles that I could step on with my foot to release, but unlocking the metal claws from above is far easier).

Alternate way to release Hullavator when in "down/extended" position

Pull up on metal claw

3. To prevent the swing arms from swinging up (violently) when you remove the boat, just make sure you press down on the tops of both swing arms firmly once the boat is lowered until you hear a "click". Then they're locked in the down position. This is pretty key. 

Make sure it's LOCKED down

4. Removing the Hullavator isn't hard - in the up position (arms retracted on top of cross bars), unlock the swing-arm and tip it up (so it's vertical but not extended/lowered) and pull it out (extend the swing arm) just an inch or two, then yank out the removable pin with your free hand. The swing arm stays put in the vertical position resting on the cross-bar (but you must keep a hand on it). Then just lift the unit up and off the cross-bar with two hands.  It's pretty heavy - no way around that. The Hullavator's mounting bracket stays permanently fixed to the cross-bar.

To Remove Hullavator from Crossbars

5. Regarding the problem of rotating arms (if you have Yakima bars) no way around that really either - but it's not a major problem.  Just make sure you realign the swing arms so they're roughly parallel before you cinch down your boat straps and raise your boat. Pretty easy to do.

6. On the road noise issue - no way around it, but it's not too bad. I once had my rubberized kayak Lasso lock thing on my boat and mysteriously the squeaking stopped. There is probably an easy way to fix it but the noise doesn't bother me.

So that's it - the downsides to the Hullavator are mostly minor and the upsides are pretty substantial.  The product is expensive ($500+) so it wouldn't be the first product I'd try if I needed solo boat loading help. On the other hand, it might save wear-and-tear on your back/shoulders over the years so you might consider getting one even if you don't absolutely need it.

I considered the various other products out there - none did much more than the Yakima Boatloader (Thule Outrigger) so I didn't buy them.  For those with sedans, the Thule Glide&Set or Yakima's Hully Rollers work well I'm told, in combination with a blanket to protect your car's trunk.  Kari-Tek (a UK company) has the Easy Load Roof Rack which I saw in Wales. While it's a great product, it's primary benefit is loading/lifting multiple boats at a time and it has no hydraulic assist. Worthwhile checking out though if you often load multiple boats.

Valley Gemini SP Kayak Review

Turns out 15 feet is not too short for a sea kayak.  And it’s more maneuverable than all other sea kayaks I've paddled - even short ones like the Valley Avocet, the SKUK Romany, the P&H Delphin, and the Tiderace Xtra…

Valley Gemini SP

Take Home Points:

Pros:

·         Light weight (vacuum bagged fiberglass layup)

·         Super maneuverable

·         Super-easy to edge (low initial stability)

·         Comfy cockpit – better thigh braces, roomier than low volume boats

·         Surfs nicely, good volume/buoyancy and hard chine

·         New small day hatch – easy to attach, big enough

·         14’10” is not too short for a sea kayak

Cons:

·         Valley plastic seat (not comfortable or ergonomic for me)

·         Low initial stability (a pro for some, con for others)

·         Low speed – not a good choice for distance paddling
·         Skeg-dependent boat

·         Huge rear hatch – unnecessary in a play-boat, hard to put on

I demoed the Valley Gemini SP a few years ago and thought “wow, this is cool and different.” I'd paddled a lot of "play-at-sea" style kayaks by then and eventually bought a Gemini - am glad I did. If you're looking to make the move to a shorter boat, the Gemini SP serves the play-boat function better than most.

When I started paddling, unless you were a traditional Greenland kayak enthusiast, you really only had two categories of sea kayak to choose from:  British style boats (e.g. Valley/NDK/P&H), which were generally better suited to rougher water, and the American or "West Coast" style kayaks (e.g. Necky/Wilderness Systems) which tended to have rudders and less hull rocker so were more geared to distance paddling or island hopping/camping.  Since that time the differences between these two broad categories of boats has blurred – American kayak manufacturers have incorporated many of the elements of British boats (rocker, skegs, harder chines) as a larger number of people have become interested in bumpy water. On the other side of the Atlantic, some British manufacturers are branching out more into fitness/distance kayaks (e.g. Valley Rapier,Rockpool Taran) – adopting some of the elements of surf skis or revisiting elements of racing kayaks like the Kirton Inuk (i.e. less rocker, high-foredecks for knee movement, plumb bows).  So it’s all a mish-mosh these days - greater and greater diversity in design.

An additional new sub-category of sea kayak of late is the shorter play-boat style. If you find yourself diverging towards the "bumpy water enthusiast" sea kayaking camp, as opposed to the "distance/speed" or "Greenland" camps, you may choose to look for a shorter, more maneuverable boat. The first of these shorter sea kayaks was really the Romany – a shorter version of Nigel Dennis’s longer Explorer kayak that was intended (as I understand it) for coaches and students in the rough waters off Wales. That boat set the bar pretty high, and for some years (until Valley came out with its own version – the Avocet) no one else was making "real" sea kayaks under 17' in length.  Even recent play-at-sea kayaks inspired (probably) by the Romany have been reluctant to go any shorter than 16’ – the P&H Delphin is 16’, the Tiderace Xtra (their smallest boat) is still only 16.5’.  Sure there are plastic rec-boats for beginners (P&H Orca) or modified whitewater boats (P&H Hammer) that are under 16' in length - both would be excellent "park-and-play-boats" I expect, but whether these are true "sea kayaks" is debatable.   So with all this in mind, into the ever-widening assortment of sea kayak designs comes a fairly radical departure – the Gemini SP. It looks like a true sea kayak (narrow, fiberglass, pointy at both ends, skeg, hatches) but it is only 14’10” in length and has plenty of rocker.

Handling:

Maneuverability - The SP is a joy to maneuver in tight places, catch waves or explore the coast line. This is what the boat is meant for and where the boat shines. If you enjoy using all your strokes and edging and having an immediate response from your kayak - this boat is for you. That's something I value in a kayak and the boat doesn't disappoint. The combination of short length and deeper “V” cross section of the hull adds measurably to the SP’s maneuverability – edging the boat is effortless.  I've found this a lot of fun – you can turn this boat 180 degrees in a flash. Experienced paddlers with good support strokes will crank it around with ease, a definite plus when rock-hopping or playing in bumpy water.  By the same token, novice paddlers may find the boat somewhat tippy at first.

Tracking - The flip-side to maneuverability is tracking of course.  When not playing around in bumpy water or winding up a sinuous tidal creek, you may find yourself relying on the skeg in the Gemini SP. To prevent this unusually short boat from spinning like a top, Valley gave the SP a somewhat deeper “V” hull cross-section than other kayaks to aid in tracking. The result is a boat that paddles fairly straight on flat water but definitely relies on the skeg in wind.  I’d say its directional stability is somewhat better than the Valley Pintail on flat water with no wind (which is a good thing), but about equal to the Pintail (i.e. less than most other kayaks) under most conditions. For those who don't know the Pintail, this means it's very "turny". So, to a larger degree than most traditional sea kayaks, the Gemini is a skeg-dependent boat if you're trying to really "get somewhere" in a cross-wind - get a pebble in the skeg box and you’ll soon feel like clearing it. This is an acceptable trade-off for a short, maneuverable boat in my opinion. Valley's latest skeg setup itself operates flawlessly and the slider doesn’t protrude into the left knee too much.

Speed - If your primary goal in sea kayaking is to cover many miles on straight journeys (as is certainly the case for many sea kayakers) you wouldn't be looking at the Gemini SP in the first place. In mild conditions the Gemini feels somewhat slower than other boats, not hugely so, but enough that I wouldn't choose it for a journey.  But it keeps up fine with longer kayaks on shorter day paddles. When sea conditions pick up and the advantage of boat length lessens, the SP may even out-paddle the group. (Head-winds or following seas are the great "leveler" when it comes to paddling speed I find - as conditions worsen, how you paddle matters more than what boat you're in).

Surf - In the bumpy conditions I can find in my local waters (boat wakes and locally-generated waves in Long Island Sound) the SP excels - the boat can catch rides and turn on a wave more easily than other sea kayaks. The Gemini is "squirrely" on a wave and easier to change directions with aggressive edging. So the Gemini is excellent for steeper waves, playing in/near shorebreak or for riding shorter wavelength waves in following seas.  But to be fair, kayaks longer than the Gemini will catch more rides on longer-wavelength waves in following seas. I've found the SP's short length makes it a bit more of a struggle to get on the long-wavelength stuff, something some kayakers (and surf-ski paddlers) like to do. And if you have a strong upper body and bigger water is your primary interest, a slightly longer/bigger kayak would probably better fit your needs (Xtra/Xcite, Romany Surf, Avocet, Delphin). These boats would be easier to paddle out to the big features (tideraces/ ocean swell) and their added volume/length can probably take advantage of big conditions with less effort than the Gemini.  But for local bumpy water closer to shore, I'd say the SP is a better choice - more fun.  The SP’s easy maneuverability requires a bit more attention to rudder strokes and sweeps when paddling in conditions, but that's part of the fun.

One minor thing to be aware of, if you’re used to a flat-bottom boat that is a stable platform when entering/exiting your kayak, the Gemini SP’s “V” hull will be tippier than you’re used to. I was accustomed to plunking my butt down in my Romany in shallow water without the slightest concern for its stability and adjusting footpegs while on the water was easy. But in the Gemini, I have to take a bit more care since the “V” will tip the boat one way or the other – got me unexpectedly wet a few times.

Fit:

The cockpit has more room than many British style kayaks – more space for the knees in front of the seat. This helps forward paddling and will allow both larger and smaller paddlers to enjoy the boat. I’m 5’10, 185 lbs and size 10 feet – the boat fits me fine.  The cockpit coaming is decent in the Gemini but not as good as the Tiderace/Rockpool boats which (in my opinion) have a superior shape and design. These boats have more centered thigh grips set closer together, higher up, and located a bit closer to the torso than the Gemini. This allows a more knees-up position in these other boats (even moreso than in the Gemini) that adds to forward stroke efficiency and places the thigh-grip part of the coaming at mid-thigh - not down by the knee as is unfortunately more the case with the Gemini. So the thigh grips could be improved on the Gemini, but they are a definite improvement over many older keyhole cockpit designs.  If I had my way, all sea kayak manufacturers would adopt the design of the Tiderace/Rockpool cockpit coaming.  Lastly, the coaming height behind the seat on the Gemini is higher than some boats - if you do a lot of lay-back rolls you may have to adjust a little.

Construction/Outfitting:

Overall the construction and outfitting of the SP is excellent as in all Valley boats past and present.  One pleasant surprise is the roughly 7-inch day hatch. I’d thought it might be too small but it accommodates all the gear I need access to while on the water plus it’s actually easier than standard (larger) day hatches to close, readily doable with just one hand. The rear hatch, on the other hand, is huge overkill in my opinion – it’s actually larger than the large oval hatches on Valley’s big touring boats! Why such a big hatch on a play-boat?  Plus it’s heavy and hard to put on – instead I’d have put the same 10” round hatch as Valley spec'd for the bow. A mystery.  My second beef with all the current Valley boats is the one-size-fits-all plastic seat. Seat comfort and functionality are a personal thing - some may like the Valley seat, but for me it is a bad fit. I find it insufficiently deep front-to-back and not flat (level) enough, and rather than widening at the front to accommodate the spread of the thighs as you sit with feet on pegs, to me if feels constrictive at the front.  Discarding the removable hip-braces helped a bit but for me it was still no good. As a reference, I find the standard SKUK Romany/Explorer seats comfortable and even tolerated the old-style ocean cockpit Valley Anas Acuta/Pintail seats.  So I swapped out the standard plastic seat for a foam seat (available as an option from VCP) which is much better. Valley should revisit their plastic seat in my opinion – I remember when the Nordkapp LV first came out I loved it, amazing boat. A few years later I tried an LV again after they’d swapped out all their boats’ seats for the new plastic one-size-fits-all version – suddenly the LV became tight in the thighs (and I’m a pretty average sized person) and paddled poorly for me. I would strongly encourage Valley to make something like SKUK’s latest seat which is fabulous – the SKUK High Performance Seat is a flatter, neutral seat with an integral minimalist back-stop.  You can always swap out a seat in a sea kayak, so this was not a deal-breaker for me.  Lastly, the Gemini’s light weight is great – noticeably easier to haul around on dry land than all other fiberglass sea kayaks I’ve owned - a major plus in my opinion.  The trade-off is a somewhat more flexible hull than heavier lay-up boats. With the foam seat directly on the hull in the Gemini, I can feel the hull flex a bit under my seat in bumpy water and if you run over a submerged rock you'll definitely feel it. For me, this is an acceptable trade-off and the hull is certainly stiffer than some kevlar boats I've been in.  Some may want to keep the standard plastic seat for this reason (if they can tolerate it) because it’s hung from the deck so your weight is not on the hull. As a comparison, I also have a foam seat in my Romany and there’s no hull flex – of course the Romany is way heavier than the Gemini.

Final Thoughts:

For me the impetus to buy the Gemini SP was an injured shoulder. In order to stay in the sport I needed something lighter weight that would be easier to move around on land and that might also be good at poking around close to shore on low mileage paddles. My previous love was rough water sea kayaking, surf, tide races, etc. big water stuff.  Though that type of paddling is now largely in my past, my former preference for bumpy water factored into my interest in the Gemini SP. I’m glad I got the boat and would encourage all paddlers to try it.  If you have a longer touring boat, the SP would be a great second boat to have for playing in rough water.  It would also be a good “do-everything” boat if most of your paddling is rock-gardening, surf, and shorter coastal exploring. One last note – the “sister boat” the Gemini ST has a different hull – less rocker and volume.  I've never tried the ST, but expect it would suit those looking for a light, maneuverable boat with improved tracking and less emphasis on surf.

Paddlelogic Trailtreker Kayak Cart REVIEW - the BEST of the rest

My latest kayak cart and easily the best I've owned.  Made by "Paddlelogic" in upstate NY.  Worth the money (despite the relatively high cost of $150) if you have back/shoulder issues (as I do) which make moving the boat around hard.  This thing is super light weight, has no metal bearings to rust (just a stainless steal axle with plastic bushings), slides on/off easily, has foam (not air) tires so won't deflate, and can be dismantled pretty quickly for stowage in your boat.  Had this thing up in Cape Cod and often found it easiest to put in my boat, rather than return it to my car. The put-ins can be far from the parking area and having the ability to put this in the rear hatch is great.  People were intrigued as I just rolled the thing straight into the water without fear of rust, slid it off the stern, stowed it and paddled away.  Several asked me where to get one.  I found that stowing in a basic sea kayak required putting all the pieces in the rear hatch individually. To prevent the metal axle from sliding around and damaging the interior of my fiberglass kayak hatch, I drilled holes in the two small blocks of foam Paddlelogic mails with the cart to protect the ends of the axle, and threaded them through the attachment line so I wouldn't lose them.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED CART.

TrailTreker Cart - 24" axle

Foam blocks to protect the ends of the axle for stowing

Dismantled and ready for stowing in rear hatch