Nadgee Solo Kayak

I dropped into Sydney Harbour Kayaks for a trial of the new Nadgee Solo composite sea kayak that they recently added to their stock.  The Nadgee is a beautiful, locally-made composite expedition kayak designed for hard-core sea paddlers. I was actually a little hesitant to get in for the test run!

The first thing that was quite apparent is that I was simply too big for it.  Squished into its cockpit, I looked on the water suspiciously like a paddling muffin – way too much overhang for anyone’s viewing pleasure. The seat itself is carved foam and felt quite comfortable, but in terms of leg room and cockpit size, I was wedged in tighter than a fishies’ bottom!

On the water the Nadgee paddles beautifully. I quickly picked up speed and noticed that even under my considerable weight, there was hardly a ripple from the bow as it cut smoothly through the water. With a bit of a V-bottom on it, the boat is a little bit twitchy, which would no doubt work well in big ocean waters. On the flat waters of early morning Sydney Harbour however, I found myself getting the occasional speed-wobbles as I tried to keep it upright.

As the morning progressed I took the Nadgee into some small ocean swell coming through the Heads into Balmoral, but found my lack of core balance with the boat made the ride pretty scary. So I decided to head up into Middle Harbour instead, where the conditions would be a little bit calmer (or so I thought).

What I wasn’t aware of was the building 25-30 knot  southerly wind which was throwing up following wind waves behind me. Again this made the paddling quite challenging, until I turned around and paddled back into the wind for the trip back to the The Spit.

In summary, the Nadgee is a truly beautiful well-designed and well-built sea kayak ideal for intermediate to advanced paddlers. It is not for beginners, as it’s twitchiness would have many novice paddlers spending much of their paddling time swimming instead.  Likewise, I would not recommend this boat for the bigger man – after 2 hours in the kayak paddling I was suffering from pretty bad cramps. But for more reasonably sized experienced paddlers I can see why the boat is so highly rated – it is fast, fun and a very serious kayak for ocean paddlers.

Tags: Kayak Review, Nadgee Kayaks, nadgee solo, sea kayaks

Lawrence (top left) with a Nadgee Solo Kayak

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Lawrence, the owner-operator of Nadgee Kayaks, arguably Australia’s best locally-made sea kayaks. He’d driven up from his home near Bega on the south coast to deliver the first Nadgee Kayak to Sydney Harbour Kayaks, who are now distributing these awesome sea kayaks.

Lawrence is a fascinating guy. He’s a friendly unassuming fella who has paddled such amazing places as Antarctica and the Bass Straight. He uses solar power to run his kayak workshop. He built his own house. He also makes incredibly beautiful, and if the rumours are correct, superbly functional sea kayaks.

I got Lawrence to show me the Nadgee Solo he’d just delivered. His passion for the boat is infectious, and in his words, “I love sea kayaking, and wanted to build an awesome sea kayaker’s boat”. It only takes a quick glance at his customer list and you can see that some of the world’s best paddlers share the same view of his kayaks. Justine Curgeven, of This is the Sea fame, paddled a rudderless and skegless version of the Solo across Bass Straight (ie mainland Australia to Tasmania), a true testament to its paddling credentials.

Now I’ve yet to paddle it myself, so I can’t review it. I can tell you it looks damn sexy though, has incredible attention to detail, and that I will most definitely be reviewing it as soon as I can get some time in it!

For sales, a test paddle, or just more information on Nadgee kayaks , visit Sydney Harbour Kayaks.

Nadgee Kayaks - beautiful!

Tags: Nadgee Kayaks, sea kayaks