The P&H Badairka Explorer was my first sea kayak (and will probably my last). This classic design of Derek Hutchinson had become legendary now. I acquired a nice, almost new Baidarka. It is almost identical to the P&H Dawn Treader Odin I started my second sea kayak life with. However this is the 'real' one: with the curvy ends and with the smaller ocean going cockpit.
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| Collecting the Baidarka, beautiful lines! |
Of course I know the drawbacks of the design as I described in the Dawn Treader Odin posts: Low initial stability and not very maneuverable. For that reason I will continue to take the Shadow for the real sea kayaking in difficult circumstances. But for many other trips the Baidarka is a nice boat. It feels so familiar to me as it was my only sea kayak for over 10 years in my first sea kayaking era.
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| At the first trip |
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| Old fashioned deck pump |
This Baidarka is build in the old fashioned way with an open space behind the seat. Not good to common safety standards but the deck pump is very useful. The build quality is simply good as you would expect from P&H. Both yellow and white gelcoat look like new. The two hatches with the traditional small round VCP lids are leak free as they should (while the Zegul is still not watertight...).
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| Nice Swede form hull |
A variable skeg has been built in later. It is leak free but the control handle is behind the seat. Not very beautiful but it works for now. May be I will make changes to the boat later. I did fit a hard foam plate to the front bulkhead to get a nice foot brace. The seating is comfortable with ample space for legs and feet. The small cockpit gives good support to the knees for easy rolling. It rolls indeed quite easy.
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| On a trip from Medemblik to Stavoren v.v. |
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