Last Saturday I planned to test the Xplore (Tiderace).
I could borrow Wiegers' and planned to use it on a crossing of the IJsselmeer from Stavoren to Andijk vv.
A distance of about 2x15 km .
Thx Wieger.
I enjoyed the thought of paddling the Xplore as I heard some good references about her. And the weather during the planned crossing was ideal with a predicted 5Bft wind from the south; meaning lots of waves at the spot
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However, life not always chooses what you expect it to do: The evening before I picked up the kayak at the club to adjust the seat at home to my leg-length. It's a comfortable seat and foot rest. The interesting thing is that it offers the comfort of a built-in front bulkhead while being adjustable to suit other paddlers leg-lengths. |
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After adjusting the footbrace I checked if the four nuts were tight enough and to my astonishment 2 of the adjustment-bolts just popped of the kayakhull. |
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The bolts, mounted on a metal plate of about 3x2cm, were mounted with an (inferior?) glue or kit. After removal of the complete footrest-/seat-combination I checked a third bolt which popped off as easily as the other two. |
While having borrowed a kayak, this is a very embarrassing thing: breaking down someone's kayak.
On the other hand: it is better this happens on shore. I dare not think of the seat popping off in heavy weather or in surf.
May be you end up somewhere under the foredeck after making a pop-out.
Of course Wieger will sort this out with Tiderace, but I would like to warn all Tiderace owners to check whether the bolts are fixed properly and not removable by hand.
And if you are picking up your new-bought Tiderace, just check the bolts before you pay.
You understand I didn't paddle the Xplore on the trip.
I just took my good old Nordkapp HM and enjoyed the waves. It's only that her integral-fixed skeg causes the kayak to leecock in the conditions with short, high waves combined with a head wind; and leecocking is something I hate.
After continuously correcting for leecock over 12km in 5 Bft, I can say I enjoyed an hour of rest on the island De Kreupel very much.
It would have been interesting to know how the Xplore behaves under these conditions. The Xplore has a stern, functioning like an integral skeg, but because she is rather manoeuvrable, as the story tells, you cannot compare her with the Nordkapp. So later when the Xplore is repaired, may be Wieger is still willing to let me paddle his Xplore 
Anyhow, the paddling-day was very nice especially because of an unplanned meeting with other paddlers at "De Kreupel". After chatting a bit, we took off to touch land at Andijk before we started the return-trip.
A bit frustrating was that the wind almost completely died away so we did not have the benefits of being blown back to our starting point. I think we should have earned this after having worked ourselves against the wind in the morning.
René