Today is July 18, 2009 and I have managed to build up the Night Heron such that she is ready to be tested on the water. I still have not built a hatch for the forward compartment and have no hatch opening for the aft storage. The bulkheads are not properly glued to the deck and I have not filleted the inside of the sheer joint. The hull has neither abrasion resistant coating nor a proper fill coat. I have no spray skirt and no proper back support other than a piece of foam for a canoe carrier rack. She has no floatation in the event she tips. All this said, I am excited today because I have had no idea how this new kayak will perform but have worked hard to ensure she has been built as straight and smooth as I can get her. She looks good on the car and as I drove toward Islet Lake, my favorite small lake destination, the Night Heron attracted looks from folks who seem to twist their necks to an extreme in order to keep staring long enough to understand what they were looking at. I have never seen a kayak like the NH in Edmonton myself, and as well, I think most people here have not. They have something to see now, eh!

By comparison, the VJ Guardian Spirit, my very dependable and battered Waters Dancing Lightning 17 looks ready for much needed repairs.
The drive to Islet Lake is an easy 45-minute cruise east of Edmonton through lush farmland toward the Alberta Blackfoot Recreation and Grazing Grounds. This area contains smaller lakes upon which no powered boats are allowed. This lake is a perfect test site for a new kayak.

After both kayaks were unloaded from the car racks, Linda grabbed the stern end of the VJ and I carried the bow end with my right hand: I easily one-handed the Night Heron on my left side as we walked to the launch site. I prepped the VJ for Linda and shoved her off onto the water before I prepped the Night Heron. The only real prep I did was to jam opening of the canoe carrier foamy around the coaming/riser so that it stuck in place. I sat in the cockpit and eased the NH into deeper water.

Initial testing was the obvious wobbling side-to-side to test initial and secondary stability. With paddle blade jammed into the lake bottom, I leaned along the paddle shaft and tried to lean as far as possible to the side to see at what point the NH would want to roll. The coaming was touching the surface of the water and yet the NH resisted. I could just feel her wanted to roll as the water was just about to pour into the cockpit. Perfect! This kayak has wonderful stability for an 18’er with a 19” beam.

My next move was to see how responsive she was to turns. With only one sweep of the paddle, she turned significantly more than the VJ would have. I barely put any lean or effort into the turn and she responded instantly and easily. The NH has plenty of rocker and apparently this quality allows for quick turns. I can just imagine how easy she would be to turn at the top of a wave. Beauty, eh!
My next move was to do a rapid acceleration to see how quickly she could cut through the water from a stop. She accelerated easily but seemed to kick up the water at the lead edge. I noticed that she tended to turn right during my initial acceleration. It was then that I realized that I had to use shorter strokes to keep my efforts balanced enough to keep the keel running straight. I shortened my stroke and she ran true. I could use longer strokes only if I threw more stomach into the effort. Once done, the NH felt like a joy to paddle. I could do a wicked lean into a turn and she’s spin around so quickly that I had to watch my balance or roll.

My comfort level while paddling the NH was as relaxed as it is when I paddle the VJ. I did not experience any kind of tippiness that would give me cause to worry. In fact, this kayak reminds me of the time when I drove an older model Triumph TR-6: a small British sports car with huge wheels – all fun and no worries. I built the NH hoping it would be a good play boat and, considering its 18’ length, I got what I wanted. This kayak is a good choice to build for anyone who has no paddling experience but good athletic ability or for anyone who has years of experience and wants something that offers a little more than just a transportation source for a kayak camping trip. Would I use this kayak for a kayak camping trip: hell ya! I’d love to get this one on the ocean do some surfing – she’d be a hoot!

I did not take any "on the water" photos since I wasn't sure how the NH would perform and I am NOT willing to risk losing another camera to the watery depths. I did want to bring my Pentax Optio WP but sadly, the batt was dead. I did take a few land shots before wetting the hull, they can be found at the link below.

Robert N Pruden