Dorado questions - Simon?

[Simon Everett]

Varp you ozzie lingerer. What you been doing to that fine boat of yours - I told you to put some backing under the deck for those great rod mounts Nothing wrong with the fitted ones for more normal fishing

 

Leon has gone off round the world sailing - he hasn't replied to me as a friend either. He and Rowena were in Mexico - but back for his birthday in CT mid Feb. The main problem they had was with shipping individual kayaks - they couldn't guarantee the container's other contents. One went to the states with engine parts!! GRP and heavy lumps of metal do not go together. The new owners will only send out dedicated containers - with racks in for the kayaks to sit in. That does reduce the number you can get in - max 22, at a big squeeze depending on model mix. 21 more likely - then there is no damage whatever. I agree, Leon was not the best at after sales - unless you were on his doorstep. He just had too small a workforce and was too stretched.

 

Arthur is making big improvments. Improvements to the workforce and the tooling. Modifications to the models too - we already have the new Dorado with the self bailers, side cutouts filled (which I haven't bothered with on mine - they don't let in that much water and let it out again too. We have 2 Dorado moulds now, instead of just the one that we had before. The Pelican Angler design that I sent over has been made - mould nearly finished. The first of this model should be over here end May/early June.

 

What repairs have you got to do Varp? The materials are top quality - Scott Bader resins and gels. This is the same as the very best ocean yachts and powerboats. You will get a perfect match from a reputable boat builder in Oz. If you can't find Scott Bader then you can get a repair kit from the shop - for taking on expedition as a fail safe. In a main centre for boating like Melbourne you shouldn't have a problem geting it.

 

C-tug works fine mate - put it under the rod holders, that way the crate stops the strap falling off astern - the clamp can work loose over big lumps and bumps. I have used it on some pretty rough tracks/terrain in Ireland- where you are catching the kayak from the side at 45 degrees and more to work it over deep ruts and rocks. No probs with the hull.

 

Scratches - I haven't got any deep enough to bother with after 4 years of use - OK, 6 months lying idle while I shipped her back from CT. Been usedas a demo though - with some less than sympathetic treatment in Ireland - running it up on rocks and a stoney beach by just ramming it ashore (I wouldn't do that with any kayak!) The beauty of the Dorado is you can just hop out while she is still afloat.

 

Come back to me Varp and I'll answer your quizzes. haven't been over on the States site because I have been too busy with the magazine features over here and organising the kayaks - website etc. Have a decko at www.kayakuk.com - but it won't do you any good because I am not shipping out to there!! I think Venturesport are your folks.

 

Good to hear you are back in circulation - hows that pretty daughter of yours? I still think she takes after her mother

[varp]

hows that pretty daughter of yours? I still think she takes after her mother

 

Just as well too! She'd look weird if she looked like George Clooney now wouldn't she!

 

Good to hear from you Simon and congrats on the business. Hope the coffers are overflowing and I'm sure you'll be doing your best to raise the bar of yak fishing consciousness in the U.K with those gorgeous, lithe, supremely seaworthy craft THAT ARE WITHOUT PEER PEOPLE!!! (that little plug will set you back a drink or ten)

 

Thanks for the heads up on the gel coat ID. I'll source it here no probs. I couldn't care less about the odd scratch. None yet, but they are a working craft after all. Thought I'd be carrying her around in a silk sock when she first arrived, but she's surprisingly tough. I need to repair some spidery cracks she copped at some point in transit via S.Africa/Togo/Minsk/Turkmenistan and I think Bulgaria was on the list (love those throat singers Moonyaker....true!). All those stops involved a badly hungover forklift driver with satanic tines. Good that the shipping probs are sorted - nothing holding Kaskazi back from world domination now!

 

As for any other mods - I've done zippo. Health has turned the corner so I've got her out of storage and she has become that light upon the hill. Not up to big test drives yet so I'm just wondering out loud. I'm keen on keeping her very clean and uncluttered with hardly any changes though I was a bit nervous about the cutouts. A guy in NZ filled his in (did a beautiful job) and I wondered if he had a point....he also added a 12v bilge pump in the footwells, GPS, FF, rod holders, compass, clips and hatches and a kite and a sail! I love the DIY spirit, but ........you know.......while less can be a bore the opposite can you leave you wondering why you don't have a Bertram Whaler.

 

Checked out the C Tug today. If the shop can find the strap that comes with it then I will buy it. Seems to be very sound so thanks for the tips fellas. $200 AUD ain't too bad considering.

 

Hope the new owners kick on Simon and I'll be keen as mustard to see the new Pelican. Congrats on the website and for having a pic of the only truly black yak I've ever seen and never want to see again! Black! Is he being tres cafe latte or is he sick of living? For gawds sake why would you ever want to do your best to perfectly fit the silhouette of a long lean seal in what appears to be southern hemisphere GREAT WHITE SHARK waters......I've seen those seal decoys David attenborough uses.....

 

Cheers Ross

 

[Simon Everett]

Hey Varp - that black yak is Leon in his CARBON skua - the weave didn't come out in the pic but it looks a million dollars with the sun on it showing every weave of the cloth. The whole kayak, fully rigged only weighs 16kgs! It would have been a shame to cover it up. We can if you want, of course, but Leon liked the carbon bling effect!!

 

What is it with you Ozzie wimps - Leon paddles that kayak around Seal Island - launch at Buffels Bay and have a day paddling in False Bay. There are no teeth marks yet - the baboons on the beach ARE dangerous though! To be fair, on the west side of the Cape there are no sharks - the water is too cold. So he is pretty safe. That is a cape fur seal beside him in the same pic in the gallery - cropped out on the front page.

 

Your star cracks from the forklift arguement. Have you put your hand in and felt if he has actually cracked the lay-up? If the kayak could move I doubt very much that the lay up is damaged - if it was wedged and then hit with a forklift I can imagine it could do some damage - to be fair they are not designed to be machinery proof!! Rocks and bumps they will shrug off no bother, but a big, diesel engined 3 ton tractor is going to hurt! If it is just star crazed on the gel coat it is simply a matter of rubbing it back and getting new gelcoat on there. I bet you could find a boat yard to do it on the back of another job - the amount of gelcoat you will need is only the waste from a yacht repair anyway....go and ask about. You'll get a good job done that way too.

 

Leave the cutouts alone - they aren't a problem. Filling them in only means you can keep more water in there! handy for keeping baits alive sometimes though. Invariably they end up by your toes and the wrng side of the rudder pedals so you are trying to pull them back by a slippery tail......first hand experience when being lazy unhooking mackerel - just drop them in the footwell and get the hokkais back down as quick as.

 

Keep us posted as how you go on.

[varp]

Thanks for that Simon. The cracking looks to be largely superficial, but there is one very nasty one that I won't know about till I expose it. I was hoping to do it myself. Not tackled gelcoat repair before, but I'll take it easy.

 

What is it with you Ozzie wimps

 

Can't let that go through to the keeper. This is a true story from Scott who is now the administrator of the Oz yak forum. couldn't find his original post so this is as I remember it -

 

He lives on Bruny Island off the east coast of Tasmania. Very switched on fisho that has worked on game boats, caught most everything and really knows his piscatorial onions. He has heard the local pro abalone fisherman talk of a BIG Great White that has moved in. Seal heads washing up on the beach is not an uncommon occurance there, you get used to it. Later that week Scott is 500m off shore watching seals gamboling around his yak when they suddenly vanish. Not good.

 

Between his yak and the shore a big blunt fin is lazily arcing through smooth seas. No wind, grey and overcast. With his time on the game boats he knows what that particular fin profile means. He doesn't panic, just watches it cruise in an uncomfortable holding pattern between him and the shore. He decides that the best form of defence is attack!

 

So he does. He starts paddling straight for it. It gives way and glides off and down out of sight. He makes the shore and he says that for a couple of days after he was in a state of euphoria. No friggin wonder! When you think about it he was right though. These beasts do observe a hierarchy and if something decides to assert itself then despite the fact that that thing is no match for it, it is often best to just move on and get out of it's way.

 

Massive cahunas I reckon. To make that first conscious dip of the paddle towards a beast of such epic proportions just leaves me gobsmacked. Then you've got that 500 metre distance to cover! brrrrrr.......

 

Mind you he has invested in one of those shark shields since.

[varp]

Hiya Captain. The interview with that guy was hilarious. Forty two years old I think, but he'd pass for sixty. You'd look in his eyes and you could see the mechanism had gone completely.

 

 

Bought the C Tug and it is it-and-a-bit-and-a-bucket-of-chips. Best thing is the frame and supports go in the stern hatch and the wheels go into the fish hatch (just). Nice load distribution. Gave her a trial run around the paddock and she didn't budge a bit. I'm making a simple hold-down for the wheels in the hatch that I'm chuffed about too. Post pics if anyones interested.

 

Very happy chappy, so thanks for the tips.

 

[hoit]

Hi Varp,

 

Its great to see you are planning to get back out on the water. I will help you carry the Dorado just to see her in action.

 

Regards

Grant

[varp]

Hiya Grant! Gawd almighty they'll let anyone in here. You can carry the the Dorado if you are very good and do as you are told, but if you think I'll let just anyone give her a ride....think again my friend.....we are talking about the holy grail of yaks here.

 

 

Simon - Finally got through to Kaskazi and spoke to Tracy and Arthur and came away feeling much relieved. They have been fantastic and can help me out with some repairs. Turns out Scott Bader has virtually no presence here in Oz that I've been able to find so the new owners - gawd bless em - will send some gelcoat over with their next shipment of yaks to Oz.

 

Been fiddling around with the drains to the crate and the crate itself...having a ball. I'll post pics and comments here when I'm done in a coupla weeks.

 

Cheers Ross