Years before I wrote a study about the Argonaut and Aquanaut; I travelled over de WWW and collected as much opinions as I could. It was interesting to see a general positive opinion gradually started to grow around this kayak. I did this survey for a friend who wanted to know more about these kayaks.
Later I tested the Avocet, a famous kayak being the starting point for the designs of the Aquanaut. "Today" Valley combined Aquanaut an Argonaut in one family: Aquanaut in 2 extensions LV and HV.
A clubmember , having tried kayaks and heavily thought for about a year about which kayak he should buy, finally decided to buy the Aquanaut LV: thinking that if the Aquanaut was based on the Avocet it certainly could not be a bad kayak. I agreed with him and certainly also about the choice for the low volume version because of his weight just under 70kg.
It was therefor a big surprise to me when he complained that the kayak was leecocking badly in winds exceeding 6 Bft.
As I did not paddle an Aquanaut yet, I asked if I could use the kayak to investigate this.
Two weeks ago it was quite bad weather (5 Bft wind, snow and rain) and this seemed an ideal opportunity to test this kayak on the Alkmaardermeer.
I can only say that I was impressed by this kayak. First thing I noticed was that the kayak was easily propelled, requiring not very much force while paddling: This PE kayak is much faster than most kayaks from this material. I could easily keep up with a NDK Explorer while sprinting.
For me personally the contact in the cockpit should be improved: not on the hip-width as this was improved already by the owner. Knee-contact seemed Ok when sitting on shore, but once in the water my knees slipped easily out of position. The seat itself was very comfortable.
Edging the Aquanaut is easy and she responds very quickly. Nice manoeuvrable kayak.
One thing I had to get used to that while edging and making a strong sweepstroke together, water was pushed on the afterdeck. Because of this the kayak reacted slowly while recovering from the edging. This gave an unstable feeling in the beginning, but I assume this is the kind of characteristic you will get used to. When edging less far, you will not notice this issue.
Paddling in waves the kayak still reacts very direct on all kind of steering strokes. I could steer her in every direction relative to the wind.
In the waves we meet today the Aquanaut has a dry ride. Only when sprinting I feel water in my face.
Stability is also very pleasant: it's not such a stable platform as a NorthShore Mariner, but still very good.
The leecocking did not occur today; Or maybe… yes: very, very slightly when wind and waves came from ahead at 11h or 13h. But this seemed very normal and the kayak could easily be kept on course.
Of course I will have to investigate this issue in more wind to know for sure, but looking at the manoeuvrability of this kayak, I think she can easily be brought back on course before hitting the next wave.
It is very normal for seakayaks, when paddling against wind and short waves under an angle, that the bow is being blown sideways when gliding over a wave thus offering the wind the bow to grab. A very stiff tracking kayak could have problems to keep course because it costs more energy to bring her back on course. A more manoeuvrable kayak however is easier to paddle as she can be back on course before hitting the next wave.
The Aquanaut kept course well. Only with waves and wind from behind she was a little bit vague in her direction. Dropping the skeg a bit was a fine medicine for this.
To be continued.