Monday, October 14, 2013

Malin Gometra sea kayak long term test and comparative review.

There are so many great articles in Ocean Paddler magazine #38 that there was no room for the comparative performance table from the Malin Gometra sea kayak test. For those that thought one paragraph on the Gometra's performance was a bit short for an OP long term test, I attach the full table below.

About the test: paddling conditions and paddlers.
This test took place during the period February until May 2013. It is based on paddling the Malin Gometra for over 340 km in a wide variety of waters off the west coast of Scotland: the Solway, the Clyde, north and south of Ardnamurchan and the Inner Hebrides. 


It has been used on open crossings and on exposed coasts and headlands. It has been tested in winds from force 0 to 5, in flat water, windblown chop, tide races moving at up to 12km/hour and in swell and surf on exposed Atlantic coasts and beaches. 

It has been paddled by six other paddlers weighing from 60 to 94kg, varying between novice and 5* level. The main tester is 1.73m tall, weighs 85kg and has paddled about 18,000 km since 2002. The Malin Gometra was paddled alongside and compared with a number of other popular "all round" sea kayaks including P&H Cetus MV, Cetus HV, Quest, Quest LV, Rockpool Alaw Bach, Tiderace Xcite and Valley Nordkapp LV. The majority of paddling was winter day paddling but the Gometra was also used for a 4 day camping trip.

Manufacturer's Summary
The Malin Gometra sea kayak - a great expedition sea touring kayak with a huge carrying capacity, which responds equally as well when used as a day kayak . Being shorter than its bigger brother, the Ulva it is much more manoeuvrable. The large hinged hatches make it so easy to pack and unpack the kayak. This kayak is very easy to roll whilst still being extremely stable. You can't help but be impressed by the beautiful lines of the Gometra. Have a paddle in it. You will not be disappointed.

Design.
I first saw the Malin Gometra at the Perth canoe show in 2012. I was very impressed by the finish and original features in the design. The first thing I noticed about the profile of the Gometra was its beautiful sweeping "S" curves at the bow and stern. These allow a very natural handhold, which makes carrying a loaded kayak much easier. 

The second thing I noticed was an almost straight rocker line throughout a significant proportion of the keel. I assumed correctly that this would give great tracking but assumed wrongly that this would limit turning ability. 

In plan view, the wide point is just in front of the paddlers hips. 

The under hull has a shallow V leading into soft chines, which wash out into increasingly rounded sections towards the bow and stern. 

The deck has a very clean look due to the colour matched, flush GRP hatch covers. The Gometra is a relatively short 518cm but due to the long, straight rocker its waterline length is similar to longer, more rockered kayaks. This makes it faster than its length might suggest. At 56cm wide, it is the same width as the Quest/Quest LV but 3cm wider than the Alaw Bach, Xcite and Nordkapp LV. The Gometra has a forward main hatch and a forward day hatch but there is only one large rear hatch, though it has two hatch covers for ease of access.

Construction, finish, fittings and ergonomics
Although Malin sea kayaks have been building sea kayaks for over 35 years they are not mass produced. Each is individually built by Mike Donald and his perfection and attention to detail show. The construction was faultless and the demo Gometra looked particularly well in its white hull with glossy maroon deck. The deck is actually made in three parts and the sections are near invisibly joined at the edges of the main forward and rear hatch covers. The purpose of this is to allow access to the bow and stern during manufacture to ensure that the inside seam is wetted out and fully inserted right into the bow and stern. Only then is the central part of the deck assembled into place. Inside seam problems at the bow and stern have been problematic in a significant number of European and Far East mass produced kayaks.

The novel hatch covers are moulded GRP and are hinged at one end. They sit on rubber gaskets and are secured, opposite the hinges, by folding levers which operate rubber swell latches. These are backed up on the two main hatches by twin adjustable straps with buckles. The hatch covers proved very easy to open and close even in icy conditions (unlike the Valley hatch covers, which are notoriously awkward). Despite being used in a variety of places, with sand grains from coarse to fine, the hatches remained totally waterproof even after extended rolling sessions. Being flush, the covers don't send up spray when waves are breaking along the deck. 

 The electric pump battery box is accessed through the central rear day hatch.

Looking forward from the main rear hatch towards the rear day hatch.

The single large rear compartment, with two hatches, proved very space efficient and easy to load. However, the central rear day hatch does give access to the whole space and so care should be taken opening it if conditions on the water are rough. Some may argue a three bulkhead design is safer if a kayak gets holed but this does not concern me as I always use buoyancy bags, if I am paddling unloaded. 

The deck lines are larger diameter than most other manufacturers' lines and are easy to hold. They are retained by very neat colour matched, moulded in, deck fittings. The standard deck elastics were too thin and map case and pump were washed out by surf. You can specify thicker elastics. 

There are deck recesses behind the cockpit to fit the spare paddle blades while the shafts run forward in recesses on either side of the cockpit. This keeps the splits really flush yet readily to hand. They do not block access to either of the rear hatches. The deck recesses are designed specifically for these splits. The paddles are more than adequate for emergency use, having carbon shafts and GRP blades. At first I was doubtful about this arrangement but by the end of the test I was even leaving them stowed on deck while the kayak was on the car roof rack. The convenience of always having the spare paddles to hand but never finding them in the way made me really appreciate this original design feature. There is no moulded recess for a compass on the fore deck but there are moulded flats for towing fairlead and cleat on the rear deck.


The Gometra has a very large, stiff and effective skeg, which is easily operated by a non kink wire system. The tube that the skeg wire runs in has an ingenious T piece inside the cockpit, which allows silicone lubricant to be sprayed in without disassembling the skeg system. 

The rear bulkhead is curved to make room for water bags behind the seat and the demo boat had a very neatly installed electric pump here. There is a recess in the deck behind the cockpit that protects the rubber covered pump switch. The pump proved highly effective. 

 The very neat pump outlet plug is typical of the attention to detail by Malin kayaks.

It means there is no need for a one way valve which would reduce pump output.

The demo boat was supplied with Sea-Lect Designs plastic footrests with easily adjustable wands but many Malin customers choose a custom bulkhead. 

The foam seat sits on a yellow GRP hanger which can be moved forward or back on the vertical cockpit sides. We were not aware of this feature during testing and some of the longer legged paddlers wished they could have moved the seat back. There is space between the cockpit sides and the hull for storing sponges etc. On the demo boat the seat hanger was rather narrow (fore and aft) and our bum could feel the edge through the thin part of the foam seat. We cured it by putting a little sleeping mat foam under the seat but Malin have since widened the hanger. Our three biggest paddlers had to remove the supplied hip pads to fit in while wearing full winter gear. There is a large knee tube under the forward day hatch. This extends at the back to either side in a T shape and makes the forward day hatch very commodious and useful. However, two of our larger footed paddlers found their toes hit the top of the T when they were jumping in quickly during surf launches. Malin are aware of this and, should you have particularly large feet, they can make the forward day hatch a simple longitudinal tube. The underside of the cockpit coaming was padded and the larger paddlers felt it very comfortable. Smaller thinner paddlers might need a little more padding but all sizes of our paddlers were pleased with an ergonomic seating position that allowed a comfortable bracing position when required and a more relaxed position when cruising.

Performance
The standout feature of the Gometra's performance was its seaworthiness, especially in rough conditions. 

It performed particularly well when paddling downwind in following breaking seas. Despite its load carrying ability and lack of rocker, it proved to be highly manoeuvrable and equally as good as a day boat. Please refer to the table for a detailed comparison of the Gometra with some other kayaks of differing designs but similar intended all round use. Best performance is *****. It is not intended that stars be added as some of the performance features, which we compared, are more important than others and different people will rate the same feature more or less importantly, depending on their experience and paddling style.

Conclusions
It was a real joy to use and paddle the Malin Gometra. This is not a kayak designed by a committee. It is a design that has evolved through 35 years of development of one man's vision. As such, it has some unique and highly practical features. In essence it is a short, manoeuvrable kayak with a remarkable load carrying ability that can accommodate a wide range of paddler sizes. I was particularly impressed by its seaworthiness in testing "big" conditions. Lastly, in these days when almost everything we buy needs to be mass produced in the Far East to meet our expectations of quality and price, it was a real pleasure to be able to talk to the designer about what could be customised for a purchaser and to paddle a kayak built in the UK.


Specifications.
Weight (standard construction, adjustable footrests, electric pump and battery, no keel strip, no compass): 24.5kg, length: 518cm, width: 56 cm, cockpit length: 81cm, breadth: 41.5cm, internal height at front of cockpit: 33cm, rear of seat base to front of cockpit: 61cm (as supplied but seat can adjust backwards).


Tuesday, October 08, 2013

Campbeltown to Ardrossan via the Mull of Kintyre using a ferry and a portage.

This was a 200km 6 day trip taking the ferry from Ardrossan to Campbeltown then kayaking round the Mull of Kintyre to the surf beaches of Machrihanish and the Hebridean isles of Cara and Gigha before returning to the Clyde by West Loch Tarbert and portaging across the Kintyre peninsula to East Loch Tarbert in the Firth of Clyde. We then returned to Ardrossan via the mouth of Loch Fyne and the Firth of Clyde islands of Inchmarnock, Bute and Little Cumbrae.

Day 1. East coast of Kintyre

Single ticket to Campbeltown please.

A four pointed cross on a two pointed island.


Day 2. Mull of Kintyre to Cara.

An early start for the Mull of Kintyre.


Day 3. Cara and Gigha east coast.

Mistaken location of St Fionnlugh's chapel, Cara?



Day 4. Cara and Gigha west coast.

We had a swell time on Cara.


Day 5. Gigha to Ardlamont in the Firth of Clyde.

Much toing and froing on the crossing to West Loch Tarbert.


Day 6. Ardlamont to Ardrossan via Inchmarnock, Bute and Little Cumbrae.

Between a rock and a contrail on Ardlamont.




Friday, October 04, 2013

All washed up at Ardrossan South Beach.

As we approached Ardrossan on the Ayrshire coast, it was just after low water and we had to drop our sails as we crossed the dangerous reefs of YellowCraigs, Half Tide Rock, Broad Rock,West Crinan Rock and other rocks, which are not even named. We had been travelling fast under sail and hitting a submerged reef in a loaded boat at speed is not funny. Ardrossan is derived from the Gaelic "height of the rocky point" and it is one of the few rocky breaches in the great Ayrshire sand dune system that stretches for over 40 kilometers from Farland Head in the north to the Heads of Ayr in the south. Ardrossan's rocks created a natural harbour on this otherwise exposed coast of shifting sands.

Fortunately there were no ferries entering or leaving the entrance to Ardrossan Harbour, which is marked by a small lighthouse. The light was originally erected in 1850 but was carried away in the great storm of December 1900.  The current light was erected in 1901. In the early 19th century Ardrossan was a major port and shipyard for the rapidly growing city of Glasgow and it was planned to link to Glasgow by canal. The canal was built half way before another scheme involving dredging the River Clyde made it redundant. Over the years the shipyards have closed, ferries have stopped running and the inner harbour has closed as a port and has now been converted to a yacht marina. I do hope the new Caledonian MacBrayne summer ferry to Campbeltown (which we used) is a success.

It is not possible to land and access the ferry car park from within Ardrossan Harbour and so we had originally intended arriving at Ardrossan at high water the following day...

...when it would have been possible to land at this beach at the south end of the harbour wall, which is only 1m high at this point.


Due to a change of plan caused by my injured shoulder, we actually arrived at Ardrossan at low tide and so the upper beach was cut off from the sea by vicious exposed reefs. We had no option but to paddle on, out round the end of  Castle Craigs rock. This is a remarkable ribbon of basalt dyke, which stretches half a kilometer out to sea. It arises inland from the volcanic plug on which Ardrossan Castle sits. We were all tired and Mike and Phil tried to find a shortcut through the rocks. I knew there was none but they could not hear my shouts over the offshore wind.

We finally arrived in South Bay Ardrossan some 200 km after setting off from Campbeltown on the far side of the Firth of Clyde.

It had been a wonderful trip, involving the tides of the Mull of Kintyre, the huge surf beaches of Machrihanish, visiting the Hebridean isles of Cara and Gigha then portaging from the Atlantic coast from the head of West Loch Tarbert to East Loch Tarbert in the Firth of Clyde. Finally we crossed the mouth of Loch Fyne and made our way back to Ardrossan via the Firth of Clyde islands of Inchmarnock, Bute and Little Cumbrae. On the way we had seen dolphins, porpoises and otters not to mention birds of every size from puffins to gannets. It was one of the best sea kayaking trips that Jennifer, Mike, Phil and I had ever been on. Perhaps the greatest surprise was just how good the Firth of Clyde section had proved. We had expected it to be an anticlimax after the Atlantic coast but its views and wildlife were superlative.

We finally landed on the sands of Ardrossan South Bay at 20:15. At low tide it is 250m to the concrete ramp to the esplanade. We were grateful to have our kayak trolleys as it was a further 150m to a small carpark, where we left the kayaks and walked the 1 kilometer back to the 24hr ferry car park to recover the cars. Ardrossan is not the sort of place to leave kayaks unguarded late on a Friday evening, so two of us stayed by the kayaks while two went for the cars.

Footnote.
At the end of this trip my shoulder was in agony. I had injured it some six months previously when lifting a kayak unaided off my car roof rack. It was clear that this would be my last long paddle of 2013 and that I needed to see a shoulder surgeon. An MRI arthrogram showed I had completely torn muscles off the humerus and torn the joint capsule. It was expertly surgically repaired by one of my former colleagues at the end of July but I am still off the water two months later. The moral of this story is don't try to lift kayaks on or off car roof racks on your own, get yourself some help or get a Karitek Easy Load Roof Rack instead.

Wednesday, October 02, 2013

Saved by a sundowner off Ardrossan.

 As we set off from Ardneil Bay for Ardrossan with Ailsa Craig on the horizon, a light breeze got up and...

 ...it was a great relief to my injured shoulder to be able to hoist the sails. The sun was now well round to the NW and was setting well to the north of the Arran mountains. We were now having to share our sea room with somewhat bigger craft.

Away to the south, the MV Isle of Arran ferry was heading out from Ardrossan to Campbelltown, the route we had taken out to Kintyre six days previously. The 190m bulk carriers MV Star Polaris and the 289m CHS Cosmos were at anchor waiting to make their way up to Hunterston. The 275m Da Yuan Hu tanker  was waiting to make her way to the Finnart oil terminal. The stone tower marks Horse Island which lies off the port of Ardrossan.

Out at sea the 68.6m MRV Scotia was making her way up the Clyde. She is a Scottish Government fisheries research vessel.

 Then my prayers were answered, a brisk sundowner picked up and our kayaks were soon travelling at their full displacement speed.

The wind was slightly cross offshore from the ESE so it was a tight close reach all the way down the Ayrshire coast.

 It really was superb fun what a way to finish a...

...200km trip. Phil's expression says it all. Mind you, we still had the small matter of an awkward tide to contend with...

Tuesday, October 01, 2013

A small matter of the Trade Descriptions Act as we set foot on the sands of Ayrshire.

 We had  left the Little Cumbrae floating serenely on a limpid sea but...

 ...we needed to keep a sharp eye out for other vessels such as FV Five Sisters (OB 353) from Campbeltown (from where we had set off on our adventure 6 days previously.

In the calm conditions my injured shoulder was really feeling the strain as we had to drop the sails. The others were soon far ahead but...

 ...I caught up as they waited for the bulk carrier CSL Clyde to pass on her way north to Hunterston ore terminal.

 At long last we approached Portencross Castle and made our way round Farland Head, upon which it stands, to the sheltered...

 ...pink sands of Ardneil Bay. It was time for a celebration! We had set foot on Ayrshire for the first time since we had bought single tickets for Campbeltown and left its shores six days previously on the ferry MV Isle of Arran. Mind you it was a pretty watery celebration. We had run out of Guinness earlier in the trip and...

 ...had to resupply in Tarbert some 40 km away, far to the north of the distant Isle of Arran. Unfortunately the Co-op store only sold  a pale yellow liquid...

...called S***l*. We thought it was mislabeled P**h, but at least it was wet and we were very thirsty.

Perhaps our celebrations were a bit hasty. Our cars were at the ferry terminal car park, still some 10 km away, beyond the distant headland. My shoulder ached just thinking about it. We also faced a final hurdle, because we had cut our trip short by 18 hours....the tide....

Monday, September 30, 2013

The clarity of light and reflected clouds at Little Cumbrae.

We paddled east across the Firth of Clyde towards the Little Cumbrae island. To its north we could just make out the Victorian Villas of Millport on the neighbouring Great Cumbrae.As we approached...

 ...the wind gradually died away leaving a glassy calm sea upon which...
.
 ...the reflections of clouds gently rolled on the gentle swell.

 It was 5pm and the sun was well round to the west, which gave a wonderful light on the south west side of the Little Cumbrae.

The Stevenson lighthouse was clearly illuminated as was the distant PV Audacia and accompanying tug Battler. Audacia is a 225m pipe laying vessel.

 The clarity of the evening light added to the sharpness of the reflected clouds which lined up over the Little Cumbrae.

As we passed the south end of Little Cumbrae we embarked on the second last leg of our trip, the crossing of Fairlie Roads to Farland Head on the Ayrshire coast.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

A turbulent past but all calm now as we made our way past Garroch Head.

The conical profile of St Blane's Hill is the distinguishing landmark at the south end of the Island of Bute. This part of Bute was one of the earliest Christian settlements in Scotland. St Catan founded a monastery here at the end of the sixth century and was succeeded by his nephew, St Blane. The monastery has a turbulent past. Two abbots were killed and the monastery was sacked by the Vikings at the end of the eighth century but the church ruins we see today was rebuilt in the 12th century

South of St Blane's hill, the smaller Barr hill slopes gently to the southernmost promontory of Bute, Garroch Head.

On a calm day the low lying Garroch Head looks very inauspicious and for those who believe the false mantra "There is no tide in the Clyde"   it can hold a nasty sting in its tail. The collection of wind turbines on the distant Ayrshire hill hints that this can be a windy place. The south going ebb tide passes either side of Bute...

...and where it meets, it kicks up a significant tide race. The effect is amplified if there is any south in the wind or if the Firth is swollen by rain or melt water.

 As we rounded Garroch Head we caught our first sight of Little Cumbrae to the east.

From Dunagoil Bay, where we had taken our last break, to our next landfall on the Ayrshire coast is 12 km. We embarked on our crossing of the Firth of Clyde and slowly the top of Ailsa Craig came in to view. It was 52km away, beyond the east end of Holy Island.

As we left Garroch Head far behind us, a lovely light developed as the sinking sun illuminated its green slopes flecked with yellow gorse.