: I've been paddling composite boats alongside my cedar kayaks for
: years, and for the most part I've had good composite boats,
: until my most recent one. Even though it's considered a high-end
: composite, it flexes when going over waves, the rear deck
: collapses due to air pressure, the gel coat cracked in what
: looks like a stress riser damage at all the bulkheads (the front
: one is vented so it can't be air pressure), the cockpit was put
: on lopsided, the seat was put in at an angle and in the wrong
: position, a 3-foot section near the bilge spider cracked in a
: massive web (I think from just sitting my roof rack -- I don't
: over-tighten the straps if you're thinking that), the
: carbonfiber seat cracked in the first couple of months, plus it
: wasn't wet-out correctly (still dry fabric in places), the skeg
: box cracked, the fiberglass around the skeg box is chipping
: away, the layup job on the bulkheads looks like a first grader
: did it, the seams look slightly dry and not wet-out completely,
: the fittings let the bungee cords slip out through their sides,
: the skeg control hits my knee, and I could go on. For a $3,800
: boat, you'd think it'd be perfect, but, of course, the
: manufacturer doesn't want to take any responsibility. They don't
: believe that they have a persistent problem with quality
: control.

: With a wooden kayak, I know that anything that's wrong with it is
: my fault, and I can fix it. They're way easier to fix than
: dealing with gel coat. The hulls are stiff and feel more
: responsive. They're lighter than a fiberglass boat. With the
: right layup, they take a beating. Stress riser damage is pretty
: much non-existent, the decks don't flex with changes in
: pressure, and since you build the cockpit and seat, you don't
: put this in like you didn't care. You can make the skeg box out
: of something that isn't breakable plastic. You can tweak all the
: fittings to suit your needs. You can build your own design. An
: expensive strip boat runs only about $1,000, so I can go through
: four for about the same price. And that's just the start of
: everything good about strip boats.

: It just seems to me that strip kayaks tend to be superior then some
: brands of composite boats.

: Yep, that's why I like cedar-strip kayaks. You?

Good morning Bryan,

I only have bought used production kayaks, usually well used, so one I'm not paying alot and two all the bugs have already been worked out by someone else. In my opinion the brand you didn't mention, which I have a pretty good idea of who they are, has had their quality control go to heck in the past several years. Back when they were really famous it wasn't awful, but the contruction still was resin rich and the gelcoat awfully thick. Mine's got spider web cracks all over it, but it's 13 years old too. I like that design, so eventually I'll take the lines off it and build a strip version and sell this one. Btw, mine's not the same design as yours, mine has the funny kick up tail, hint hint .

Bill H.