new p13 Scuppers

[marshman520]

Recevied my P13 yesterday has misshappen hull in front of one scupper.Tried hairdryer to warm as per instuctions from Brighton canoes, looks like it will have to go back, seems a bit of a lottery upon which P13 you get.Iwas told only come in olive or yellow, no mention of flame or mango,no P13 left in country so i may have a long wait will keep you posted Colin

 

Recevied my P13 yesterday has misshappen hull in front of one scupper.Tried hairdryer to warm as per instuctions from Brighton canoes, looks like it will have to go back, seems a bit of a lottery upon which P13 you get.Iwas told only come in olive or yellow, no mention of flame or mango,no P13 left in country so i may have a long wait will keep you posted Colin

 

This is a link to my p13

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/9403/p10100969vb.jpg

Edited February 23, 2006 by marshman520

[SpeciMan]

Thats a shame Marshman.

 

Its funny (well perhaps not so funny) how we can spend hundreds of pounds on plastic yaks & still get problems with them - it's not like we've bought high tech goods with loads of components in them. Unless it was the delivery drivers fault, that photo is a good example of poor quality control; someone somewhere along the line should have checked it (at least once!).

[OKreally]

Guys - Forgive my intrusion on to your forum - usually I log on as an enthusiast just to read but I'd like to try to clarify the 'where does it come from' question with reference to the Prowler 13 models.

 

1) Prowler 13 is made in the US & New Zealand.

 

2) The US model has been completely remodelled following the problem batch last year. Please bear in mind that the issue affected a few hundred models out of around 60,000+ produced and that there are a great many out there that didn't have any problems. Anyone who has had a problem has been offered a replacement, a loan boat, an upgrade to a 15 at no extra charge or their money back. There may be a few unused boats out there that may still have problems & they will, of course, be covered by the same warranty. If any problems occur the first call should be to the retailer that it was bought from. They'll facilitate the change as soon as is practical.

 

3) The reason that boats are imported from various factories is that no one factory can keep up with the demand at all times of the year and cope with their domestic demand as well. Currently we are getting boats from both the US & NZ (both hemispheres - seasonally opposite) to try & keep up with demand.

 

4) The way to tell which comes from where is quite easy...the NZ ones do not have an 'Angler' graphic & the serial number at the stern of the boat states that it is made in New Zealand. There are also American non-angler models without the graphics that can be converted very easily to angler spec as they have all the inserts, flat areas etc to allow home conversion. The extra you pay for is the cost of the flush mount rod holders & the tackle box that come with it. This is the way to vary the colourways that are offered - buy a standard one & convert.

 

4) Models vary slightly, both the NZ & US are new moulds, both will work exactly the same but there are little differences such as scupper shape/size, extra inserts etc, different rod mounts... at certain times we'll be able to offer a choice, other times we'll be grateful for what we can get so my advice would be to have a second or third choice of colour. Please bear in mind that it takes around two months on the water from New Zealand & about a month from NW America so if it's not on order or on the way it can be a long wait! We have containers booked up to ten months ahead &, dependent on demand & mould use, can alter the content up to about a month in advance.

 

5) It's the US models that are tank tested. Since the dodgy batch (intermittently faulty computer programme) all models are fitted out then placed in a water tank. A padded hydraulic arm then forces the boat under to deck level while air is pumped through the front drain bung. I think we are the only company that does this.

 

I hope this answers the major questions...as far as we know there are no models from the dodgy batch still out there...if there are then we'll replace them through the dealers. Any boats that have arrived since Xmas will be from the new US moulds or the New Zealand mouldwhich is also new. The next container due this week will be from the US..the next NZ container will be in mid May..I think (it's still their summer down there!!) & then who knows..I'm at the NEC & don't have my container schedules here!

 

Please ask the dealers if you have any questions or issues, that's what they are there for - they'll ask us if they are not sure of the answer. We'd love to talk to everyone but if we did we'd never get the boats out!!

 

Regards

 

Andrew

 

Johnson Outdoors UK

[richi]

nice one Andrew I bet you've put a load of minds to rest.Still prefer the kiwi model tho

[Neil]

Thanks for your reply Andrew.

 

It clears up a bit of confusion for me as well, I thought I had bought an old model. . It's interesting to read that they tank test the new ones with compressed air. I take it this must be done before the front hatch is cut out, as the new style hatch cover is not water tight.

 

 

Neil.

[father&son]

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 !!

[richi]

gloop shouldn't be there and only p13s had the problem-richi

[father&son]

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.

[marshman520]

Brighton canoes had my p13 picked up today as they said they would,now awaiting outcome of warranty claim can not fault them at the moment. Colin

[Zzippy]

Recevied my P13 yesterday has misshappen hull in front of one scupper.Tried hairdryer to warm as per instuctions from Brighton canoes, looks like it will have to go back, seems a bit of a lottery upon which P13 you get.Iwas told only come in olive or yellow, no mention of flame or mango,no P13 left in country so i may have a long wait will keep you posted Colin

 

Recevied my P13 yesterday has misshappen hull in front of one scupper.Tried hairdryer to warm as per instuctions from Brighton canoes, looks like it will have to go back, seems a bit of a lottery upon which P13 you get.Iwas told only come in olive or yellow, no mention of flame or mango,no P13 left in country so i may have a long wait will keep you posted Colin

 

This is a link to my p13

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/9403/p10100969vb.jpg

 

No p13 left in the Country!!!!

Brighton Canoes is also owned by the same company as Bournemouth Canoes.They have Yellow p13's in stock.I was offered one in yellow when I took my P15 back.

Zzippy