I’ve been looking at the Old Town Heron 9 in the local Decathlon as a replacement for my ancient fibreglass boat. It looks like it ticks all the boxes: short enough to fit in the back of my van, capable of moving a bit faster than my sit-on-top slug and Decathlon are asking not too much over £300 with a spray deck thrown in.
I can’t find any online feedback on that model so does anyone here know any more? I’d be using it for mainly coastal and estuary paddling.

Thanks in advance for any (useful) comments.

I can’t comment on the specific model you mention but I personally like Old Town kayaks and canoes. I had an old town canoe a few years ago bought second hand and it took a hell of beating on some shallow, rocky rivers and 6 years later is still going strong with its current owner who likewise is putting its through its paces.

Their canoes are certainly well made. Not much info for you I’m afraid but that’s all I’ve got. I’d certainly buy an old town kayak if I were in the market.

I have a Z Pro Tango 2 up for grabs in you fancy a foray into the inflatable world…

http://www.headtothehills.co.uk/reviews/239-z-pro-tango-inflatable-kayak-review.html

http://zprokayaks.co.uk/Zpro/Tango200B_Inflatable_Kayak.asp

Much more portable, very sturdy, can be paddled by one or two people and can handle most types of water (including coastal and surf). Also comes with pump and two paddles. Used twice, and £260 if you fancy it!

Thanks for the offer Holster but that would be too similar to my sit-on-top. I want a boat I can sit inside for those colder winter paddles.

Old Town make solid boats but unless your sit on top is particularly slow, I wouldn’t count on the Heron being much faster. I haven’t paddled one but 2.9m long and 72cm wide isn’t exactly slim. Any kayak that’s sold with the promise “… can track well yet maneuver with ease” sets off my suspicions! Old Town call it light weight but 17.7kg may be heavier than your fibreglass boat?

It’s apparently “designed for having FUN on the water” – if that’s all you want, no problem, but if you want a boat that will actually take you somewhere I would suggest something like a Perception Carolina. But it might not fit in your van.

OT but tonight in Fort William almost every sixth car heading north had kayaks on the roof, guess they are up for the impending storm and white water on Sunday!

Thanks Greybeard, those are the suspicions I had about the Heron. I’d continue using the old fibreglass boat but it’s an old style slalom boat and so low and flat topped that it only takes four inches of chop to have water splashing into my lap. The spraydeck I’ve got is perished and no-one makes them in that size any more.

The spraydeck I’ve got is perished and no-one makes them in that size any more.

Of course they do. How old is your old style slalom boat? Unless it’s extremely old, or they’ve changed the cockpit size for some reason since I was last involved (which seems unlikely) then it’s the standard size cockpit for fibreglass boats – literally thousands of boats made with that size cockpit. Spraydecks to fit very readily available – it’s just that ones for plastic boats are more readily available and likely all you’ll find in Decathlon, and you need to try somewhere more specialist.

Paddlefest on in the Highlands this weekend. But alas not much water on the cards. Heron is slow, lots of other fun options.

Check out – http://www.nswatersports.co.uk and http://www.northeastkayaks.co.uk

I did ask at a local kayak specialist but they weren’t able to find a suitable spraydeck. I bought the boat nearly new a bit over 20 years ago.

<groundhog day>

The spraydeck I’ve got is perished and no-one makes them in that size any more.

Of course they do. How old is your old style slalom boat? Unless it’s extremely old, or they’ve changed the cockpit size for some reason since I was last involved (which seems unlikely) then it’s the standard size cockpit for fibreglass boats – literally thousands of boats made with that size cockpit. Spraydecks to fit very readily available – it’s just that ones for plastic boats are more readily available and likely all you’ll find in Decathlon, and you need to try somewhere more specialist.

</groundhog day>

Not sure what happened there. I pushed ‘SEND’ and went upstairs. When I came down the text I’d written was still in the reply box so I assumed it hadn’t gone and pushed ‘SEND’ again. Now edited.

Two online spraydeck suppliers you could look at at are Reed Chilcheater and Phoenix spraydecks. Either will make a deck to order if they don’t have one that fits.

PS if you’re used to a slalom boat you would find the Heron a tank

Now edited.

To make me look stupid 😈

Nearly new 20 years ago? A bit newer than my 27yo one in the back garden which I’m supposed to be taking to the tip, and well within the timeframe when I was racing those. Very standard size – I presume your “specialist” just deals with plastic boats, you need somewhere slightly more specialist than that. Good suggestions above – I did think about mentioning Reed as my most recent deck was a fully custom job from them, but you should be able to get one off the shelf – another supplier worth trying is http://www.desperate-measures.co.uk/ as I think they still do slalom kit (or if not I’m sure they’ll be able to tell you who does).

Oh, and my latest custom Reed job is for a sea kayak which is ~6 years old, which a slalom size deck also fits.

PS if you’re used to a slalom boat you would find the Heron a tank

Not really a problem. The slalom boat was never ideal for the use I put it to but it was local and reasonably priced when I bought it and I didn’t really know what I should have been looking for. Something suitable for distance paddling would be nice but if it fits in the van rather than on top I’m likely to use it more rather than just jump on a bike as usual when I’ve got a couple of hours to myself. Moon on a stick?

Depends what you mean by distance, and what conditions you’ll go out in,
but from the sounds of it you’d be better off with a secondhand sea kayak
(P&H & Valley have a good rep)

An old school white water boat, like a Dancer, Corsica or a t-canyon would work too, and should be cheap as chips second hand (£100-150ish for one in decent nick)

That Old Town is more of a flat water pootler, really. It’s not long enough to be terribly fast, and it definitely isn’t manoeuvrable with that hull design

Depends what you mean by distance, and what conditions you’ll go out in,

Last Tuesday afternoon was typical. Two hours out in the Solent in my sit-on-top in calm conditions heading west from Lepe beach. According to the map I got 3.5 miles in just under the first hour before stopping to have lunch on a quiet bit of shore. The paddle back took a bit longer as the tide was falling which meant I had slight current against me.

Any idea what speed a reasonably efficient touring kayak should be capable of with constant brisk effort?

My last paddle I did 7mph for just under an hour 🙂 – though that was in a boat over twice the length (and just over half the width) of the Heron! Depends what you call a tourer – http://www.epickayaks.com/product/product/epic-18x is sold as one, and people I know average more than 6mph in one of those. Something more realistic like a Perception Carolina you could probably manage 5mph in, depending on how well trained you are and how good your technique is. That is of course doubtless still too long to fit in your van, but unfortunately with kayaks you’re not going to get something short which is good at covering distance at a good pace – that’s basic physics.

It’s looking like my best bet for now will be to stick with the fibreglass boat I’ve got and invest in a good quality spraydeck, custom if it needs to be and maybe make up some kind of skeg for open water paddling.
Thanks to everyone who’s taken the time to reply.