Well it was a cold but beautiful day here in the Washington DC metro area so I ran over to my brother’s house to ‘borrow’ the night-heron hybrid I made with my nephew this last summer.
He had to return to college and I was concerned about dust and bugs and other things that happen to a boat sitting fallow….and what the heck….i had never taken this thing out for a ride and was aching for the opportunity to see how it works.
Anyway, pleased to report a great paddle and a surprisingly wonderful handling boat that really has a very interesting paddling character compared to it strip built cousin.
So for anybody considering a night heron hybrid, in a word. High praise. A couple things that I would highlight:
- Night heron’s are fast with a strong paddler. No trouble making this boat move an extra notch when you need it.
- The hybrid version of this really tracks strong and is much more responsive to leaned turns. Most of the paddle was done in a breezy, puffy flat water with wind 11 knots in the lulls and gusts to 17. But compared to its strip built cousin, most of that was managed with a little bit of lean and no skeg. The only time I needed the skeg was in a breeze with a rear quartering wind where she wanted to round up…a little skeg and she tracked just fine.
- A little bit roomier than the equivalent strip build. I need some knee bend to be comfortable and it just felt like there was a little more volume where it mattered.
- On this build, we went with hatches each of which are held in place with 6 toggles. Definitely the way to go if you need a waterproof hatch. My other boats have straps and they just are not capable of ensuring that tight, uniform down pressure required for a waterproof hatch. I was a bit concerned with the look initially….but I think it came out ok.
- While certainly heavier than a 100% strip-built boat. It’s light compared to a production boat. But I like the fact that where its likely to get scratched its sturdier and its painted, so will be easier to keep fresh looking and fix up to look like new.
- This is the first hybrid I have built so surprised how much I enjoyed it and seems to maximize the nice features of a stitch and glue hull (strong, hard chines/solid tracking, easy to build) with the beauty and curves of a strip built deck….which is the part of the boat you spend most of the time seeing.
Anyway, it was a gas getting some air and a paddle in... even though it did not get over 45 degrees here today….but spring is coming and this pandemic thing looks like it may be winding down. And yes, I did return the boat after the paddle.
Be safe.
h