Joy and Sorrow

[bartdog]

Sorry to anyone who has read this on the anglers afloat forum but thought I might as well share on here too.

Just taken delivery of my Viking Reload kayak.
Joy because I think it is a thing of beauty and, and it was a 50th present to myself to celebrate making it this far. My 4.7 Ultra Xt has been ace, but just getting too heavy for me to lug about.
Sorrow, because the day after I ordered it I found out I was being made redundant next year (oil rig shutting early due to crap oil price).

I love the design features but do however think the construction is not as good as my Ok Ultra. I realise the Viking is a thinner lay up to reduce weight, but the joint where the top and bottom mouldings meet is quite prominent all the way round. Also the opening around one of the eyelets is a bit rough. Maybe I just had a very well finished Ultra.







Are either of these issues likely to cause any future issues or am I just being picky

The only other thing of note is that without the tackle pod in, which it wont be when lifting and transporting, the kayak is not balanced and tilts backwards. This is exaggerated even more by the rudder. This is a shame as its light weight was a selling point for me, but this is negated by the lack of balance.Trial paddle tomorrow and if it tracks ok I will be leaving the rudder off, as I never used it on the Ultra.

Will also try counterbalancing whilst lifting the reload tomorrow, hopefully wont need much weight clipped on the front carry handle to balance it.

[esoxuk]

'Try before you buy' comes to mind.
Bad luck on the redundancy though.

[bartdog]

Agree about but before you try, but now always that easy when there are only 4 people selling a product in England and none in the North West. I never intended for my post to come across as negative, and after a 5 hour paddle on Windermere I was thrilled to bits with its stability, speed and comfort. The  features such as the rod pod, rod holders and easily accessible dry storage were reasons that inclined me towards the Reload in the first place.

I am very happy with my purchase, my only wish being that I had not purchased a rudder as I didn't find the need for it (as I didn't on my Ultra 4.7). The balance issue is to be circumvented with the fitment of another offset lifting handle, using the inserts on the opposite side to the paddle keep.

The only complaints I have are related to manufacturing quality compared to my Ultra, but this could be down to my particular kayak, and not the Viking range in general.

On the subject of redundancy, I have decided that after 34 years working shifts I deserve a break at least, so am hopefully having next Summer off to go kayaking, Sibbing and lots of fishing (watch it now be the worst Summer in history ha).

[philpot]

I am sorry to hear about the job situation my friend but speaking as someone who had this happen to, there is life at 50...... I was made redundant at your age but clicked into a nice job that lasted 11 years until the second redundancy in my life landed on my lap and so decided to retire on a small pension but my quality of life is fantastic so keep positive thoughts.

Now the kayak.
It is possible that the joins you have could be a one off but looking at the third photo, it looks more like it has been treated to the blow torch to improve on a molding issue. I would not worry about it at all and if you want to check it out, make contact with our friend 'Zebra' on North Wales forum as Terry is very clever at sorting little issues like this one.
You may recall the work that Terry and I did on my Big Game prior to selling it as I did a post on the forum on how he tackled to job. Terry is not so far from you and would, I am certain be more than happy to take a look at the kayak for you and if I know Terry, he will be able to advise exactly what, if anything needs doing.

I take it you have spoken to the dealer, if not, I would as a matter of course.

I know of an Ultra 4.3 that was so thin in a number of places that he had to apply silicone to keep water out where it kept on cracking and an 4.7 which again was so thin in areas that you could pick up the bow and lift 2'' off the ground before the rear third of the kayak even moved off the ground. I have never seen a kayak so badly built as that one but he used it for a couple of years and fitted my Torqeedo motor to it. Even big names do sometimes don't get it right, it is how the situation is handled by the dealer that gives peace of mind. The two kayaks in question above were supplied by the same dealer who did not want to know .................... he is very lucky I didn't buy the kayaks from him because he would not have got away with that.

Phil

[bartdog]

Cheers Phil for the reply.

I have been on to Kent canoes who have been spot on and said they would change it if I was that unhappy. I decided that it would be a pain in the ass returning by courier so got them to send an email saying they admitted it was supplied with issues, and if anything were to go wrong with it in the future they would replace it. So fair play to them at least, but they did say the Viking kayaks were not always as well finished as some other brands.

Job wise I can't see myself working in the oil industry again as it is in too much of a mess, and 3 week rotations too much. Trying to put a positive spin on things and see it as a new start and fresh opportunity, but I realize I am only following in the footprints of millions before me, who over the years have been made redundant, your good self being one.

[woodnut]

Nice kayak mate, as for the balance move your hands along the handles, the handles are wide, I have a rudder on mine and find lifting easy. nice colour.

[bartdog]

Cheers Woodnut, to be honest I really wanted a red and black one, but there were none available at the time and yellow/black was my next choice. I tried moving my hands along the handles but it still tipped back towards the rear of the yak, even without the rudder fitted. I will probably still try the fitment of an offset handle or just load like my Ultra and slide on the back of the Jeep on top of a cushion. Also found it a pain to get on its trolley using the 2 handles on the rear until I lashed some rope round them.
Are the body joints on your Reload as prominent as on mine are in places as in photo?

[woodnut]

Sept 15, 2015 16:44:58 GMT bartdog said:

Cheers Woodnut, to be honest I really wanted a red and black one, but there were none available at the time and yellow/black was my next choice. I tried moving my hands along the handles but it still tipped back towards the rear of the yak, even without the rudder fitted. I will probably still try the fitment of an offset handle or just load like my Ultra and slide on the back of the Jeep on top of a cushion. Also found it a pain to get on its trolley using the 2 handles on the rear until I lashed some rope round them.
Are the body joints on your Reload as prominent as on mine are in places as in photo?

(2 handles) use 1" webbing across both of them, becomes one central strap very easy for lifting.


body joints. they are a little bit.

[Izzetafox]

Mate,

One point about the 'joints'.

The mark you are seeing is not actually a join as such. The kayak is mad as one piece and not top and bottom joined together.

The old itself is actually to massive pieces of metal formed as a top and bottom. They are bolted together and then heated to a high temp. Plastic granules inside the mood then melt and the mood is rotated in all directions and the plastic 'flows' to all parts of the mould. As it cools the two half are separated. The line you are seeing could be slight wear on the mould joints.

The video below shows the making of a rotamoulded kayak and explains things better. I don't think the mark would have any effect on the strength f your hull mate. I think normally this edge would be trimmed at the factory with a stanley knife.

Terry

[woodnut]

Yes when I saw my join as such, I got a High Intensity Egg Candler and went around looking for weak parts, could not find any mate.