Two new sea kayaks

There is always something exciting about paddling a new kayak, or so I am told as it has been 25 years since I purchased my last new sea kayak. Nicky and myself launched our new kayaks last night at our local beach St Brelade. I have paddled Valley Sea Kayaks almost exclusively since the 1970's and have never been disappointed with either the performance or their construction. I have gone for the Nordkapp LV to replace my trusty Nordkapp HM whilst Nicky has opted for the Atlantic LV.

The finish on the kayaks was superb and as we walked down to the beach they drew positive comments from the tourists who were sitting in the late afternoon sunshine. There is something beautiful about a well made sea kayak with graceful lines, which even the non paddler can appreciate.

Although only out for just over an hour we managed to find a variety of different water conditions to test the kayaks and were not in the slightest way disappointed. We are looking forward to a more thorough testing this weekend when we head off to northern Brittany for 4 days. We had been planning to wait until we got to France to launch them but the attraction of paddling became too much and so we gave in a few days earlier.

Check out the Valley Sea Kayaks and North Shore Sea Kayaks sites for more information about their range of kayaks.

The inevitable photograph of the proud owner of a new kayak.

As we left the shelter of St Brelades there was a slight chop due to the increasing westerly breeze. It held the promise of a quick ride back to the beach, surfing the small waves.

Heading towards the Grosse Tete, where we ran out of time and had to turn to head back towards St Brelade.