I love my S&G NH which turns fast and surfs very well. I have had surf runs so fast and furious in this boat that I actually dumped the boat on purpose because I went so fast I scared myself. MOM!!! I have weekend saltwater camped with it eight miles off shore in cold weather so its roomy enough but you better be a good packer. Lumpy water is what this boat lives for and it seems to have zero windage issues.

I also love my Shearwater 18 foot baidarka which surfs very well, packs everything in the entire world but a Coleman 2 burner stove and has taken me out into 6-8 foot triple confused hurricane waves and back safely. That paddle was my second time in the baidarka and I never went over. It was a 4 star BCU training session and I was the only student in the class to stay in formation with the instructor. I wasnt sure who was more amazed, me or the instructor. Walls of water from three directions would rise up randomly and do there best to hunt us down. A bit anthropomorphic but hey it makes for a good war story. The baidarka maneuvers well in the surf and swelly stuff but radical turns are just not going to happen quickly. In other words it isnt a sexy little playboat like the Shooting Star but I am really taken by it and it is my favorite. It too seems to have almost no wind profile.

I have taken the plunge to build a Black Pearl because I like Nicks NH a lot and want to see what taking the Greenland concept a step closer to its roots is like. I would guess the BP would fail the camping test completely. I think this design might be part submarine. All the better to sneak up on unsuspecting coeds in the surf...

Jim