In the Netherlands there used to be some high-quality kayak builders e.g.VKN that built my Skarabee. Another one is Kanowerf Inuit Arnemuiden. Both yards are out of business for a long time now. From Rene I received an old prospect of the Inuit yard. I selected some sections about the most interesting boats: Inua and Amarok:
I was just curious and made an appointment to see an Amarok that was for sale. Actually I thought the Amarok may be a stable and maneuverable boat that could be ideal for short day trips and for giving instructions. When I arrived and had a look at the hull it appeared different as I had expected: the hull was round bottomed with a clear V-shape in the middle. The keel was straight from stem to stern. I tested it shortly on the water and indeed it wasn't so manoeverable at all. Primary stability was also not as firm as you would expect from a kayak with a large 60 cm beam. But because of these qualtities the boat feels like a real sea kayak. The end of story is that I took her home:
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| Upswept stem and stern |
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| strong V and round shaped chines |
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| straight keel |
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| skeg slider and compass recess |
Today I made a short trip of 12 km with her with some club members. I was especially interested to check the speed: would she be slower because of the shorter length? I didn't notice a difference compared with my other boats. Certainly no problem to keep up with the group and still some spare for an intermediate sprint. Stability was nice, I guess it must be very good in waves and troubled water due to her seaworthy hull shape. The only thing was that the skeg didn't operate very smoothly. And the front bulkhead was just a few centimeters too far away for good feet support.
