father&son

Perhaps Andrew will be reading these posts when he gets a minute, I know he'll have been busy at the NEC, it seems as if one show rolls into another & then another, with the Boating, Fishing & Outdoor shows. He was giving sound advice from Johnson Outdoors a couple of weekends ago. It's almost worse having a bad fit boat which doesn't leak, due to the worry that it will, han one which you know does, especially if it is the flexing & use that it will get on the water that is likley to start the problem off rather than during off water 'testing'. Makes sense as posted earlier. Some of the US sites were talking about 'flex' being an issue in some makes ( not P13's & 15's) but there is bound to be some in any plastic boat. The sooner the warmer weather gets here & I can get out onto some water for a proper 'test' the better.

Cheers SM.....you didn't notice if there was any silicone sealant type substance in & around the scuppers did you ? Both our boats had this, it rubs off very easily, no bond to the plastic at all....it is on all six scuppers, but the front ones ( & the middle ones) are quite sound, so can't really see why it's there, unless it's precautionary. Almost looks as if it was 'left behind' during the build....release agent from the insert during the bonding process ?....I don't know. Be interested to know. My boats, according to the ser. no.'s aren't N/Z built, both have 'fish' logo on side with A/E fittings. They may both be A1, but as someone posted earlier, given the investment, you can do without the worry.

Bad luck mate, I'll be on tenterhooks again now until I've properly 'field tested' ours, rather than the weekends 'filling them with water' effort. Was this one of the old style boats, ie. not one of the New Zealand flared scupper jobs ? I was filled with confidence when the lads said the problem was'nt shared by the 15's.......but the marry up with the scuppers on the back of my boat is "horrible" even though they don't appear ( at the moment) to leak. Before getting the P13 & 15 I picked up a Perception Freedom which I was going to convert. Scupper assembly was A1, even though it was an older model & had signs of a good deal of wear, the scuppers felt as dense as the rest of the boat. Anyone who follows the advice of the lads on this site & gets their head inside the boat on a bright day will **** themselves when they see how thin the material is. I certainly wouldn't be inclined to use one of those trolleys which fits into the scupper holes on either of my boats.

I do that Canoe hat thing !.......I think that lucky camper has the advantage of a Turtle Back, back-pack canoe carrier & balancing ropes ( seriously !, I think that's the rig being used.) Keeps the rain off !....and no, it ain't easy in a side wind. "Good" 3 man canoes can be portaged for quite long distances like that, because they are remarkably light for their size......lighter than S. O. T.'s. Not recommended for carrying sideways.....in woods though !!

Well, being the owner of an 'infamous boat', ie. a boat purchased before discovering this group & that the actual boat I'd bought had been discussed & guaranteed to be one with leaky scuppers , it was with some trepidation that I set about filling it with water this afternoon. It is my son's boat & although he's only 13, there was no point misleading him as to the purpose of the operation. He wasn't exactly chuffed at the prospect of going afloat in a boat that didn't ! I knew, when I spent several weeks last Spring building a 'deck' that it would come in useful for something in the winter, & the ribbed boards were the perfect medium to spot early water exit ! We set about filling the boat up.....two buckets at a time......as the level rose, so did the expectation....of seeing trickles appear. The deck is supposed to be level, but we all know what waters like ! Richi posted last night to say that the scuppers shouldn't be smeared inside with silicone, so I rubbed that away first off. The build alignment on the tubes where they met mid cavity left a lot to be desired, but the bond seemed ok. I'd lined up the P15 which I bought for myself at the same time, alongside the lads P13. Both had the silicone, both had dodgy alignment on at least one of the rear four tubes, but one is a 15 & info on the group is that the leaks don't come with the 15's. Several.....lot's of several actually.....buckets later the leak appeared. But it wasn't from the scuppers, it was from the screw holes holding the bungee which holds the tackle box in the centre well in front of the seat. An hour later......scuppers were still as dry as a bone........the excess had stopped coming through the screw holes from the box holder & she holds water in, so I guess she'll hold it out ? Not sure how I feel really......glad the bargain, was a bargain, albeit there a lot about. Sad that the 'slights' against the P13 have no doubt worried & upset a lot of potential ( & recent !!) purchasers. You can't get away from the fact that even if they don't leak those scuppers look dodgy, but I think I can be confident ours don't. I filled the P15 fromthe P13...... I'm sure the volume of the 13 is greater than the 15....didn't get it quite as full because the amusement value had worn off by then, & that east wind was cuttig me to shreds, wet hands & all !, but there seemed to be more water left in the 13 at the end than there was room in the 15 to take it. Having 'sat' on the project of outfittig for the best part of a month, due to the potential of having been sold a 'pup' I feel a bit better today & can look forward to sourcing Scotties, waste tube & crates. I have the serial numbers from the prows, not sure how much they tell me, not sure I need to know really now, but it just goes to show, not all the existing ones are 'bad', so there may be some good deals about, with the back up of OK's support if things don't work out.

Cheers Richi.....so that's Good News 1 - Bad News 1........better than losing two nil, but only really any good on the pools coupon ! Looks like someone might have been trying to belt & braces a potential problem, even though the 15 shouldn't have the problem in the first place. I wonder if some dealers took it upon themselves when the bad news started circulating. Only one way to find out......hope it's a bit warmer tomorrow. Any other experiences would be gratefully recieved, I know a few folks have been picking up Prowlers recently, so someone else may have seen some siliconed scuppers.

Has the scupper problem only ever been with the 13's & not the 15's ? I recently bought two boats from my local specialist dealer, one of each, for, father & son. Trouble is my local specialist is a specialist in Canoes (open boats) not kayak's & SOT's, but he is very local & reputable & I'm sure he'll sort it if there is a problem, & thanks to Andrew for the advice above. To be honest, the way the weather has been I haven't had a chance to get the boats on the water yet, but have been worried ever since the threads about the scuppers appeared. My confusion is, these two boats are identical, apart from length & I would imagine came from the same import batch. Both have silicone sealant already applied (smeared) in the scupper holes. I'm going to wet test them by filling them up with water if & when the temp. gets above 0 degrees !.....it would give me more inclination to get on & do it if I knew the 15's didn't have a problem.....to my eye & feel the build quality is pretty similar on both boats......ie. odd 'tube' not very well aligned during bonding, although that doesn't necessarily mean they'll leak, I read somewhere that was just one of the idiosyncrasies of the P13/15's. If anyone can tell me whether the silicone is common to the Prowler's, good or bad & whether the 15's shared the problem, it would'nt necessarily mean "good" news, but it's good to be forewarned & if the 'gloop' isn't supposed to be there, I'll rub it off before I test & at least I'll know the worst (if it is bad news) .......otherwise I won't !!

Hook 1 are so darned helpful & nice, I'd use them in almost preference to a Uk dealer short of being able to collect.....+ you can buy other 'goodies' at the same time. The only thing to watch is the 'customs men' on the parcel this end. If you point out that the item, is a "gift" for your Kayak, it does not attract the Excise Men to open the parcel !!

Hi, I ( we !) are new to the group.....I saw in interesting idea on a US site, involved using a butt section from an old rod, with a heavy duty boat reel loaded with very strong line, last few feet/yards were paracord, to an anchor, in that case a home made lead "toblerone" affair. Idea being the rod butt was 'kept' in a rod holder whilst in use & the reel used to release & reclaim the anchor. Given the practicality of storing cord reel's etc. it seemed an worth considering. Any body uding anything loike this or any thought's ? The rod & reel would come for next to nothing.