P&H Custom Sea Kayaks Blog
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At OP&H, we create custom sea kayaks & canoes and try to make it as beautiful, unique & everlasting. Apart from this we even sell decks, accessories, and more. We have a blog dedicated to showing you all that we've done for the past years.
P&H Custom Sea Kayaks Blog
3M ago
Words by Doug Cooper
For over 30 years, I have been happy paddling Diolen construction sea kayaks, many of which I have chosen to get made up in a more robust ‘heavyweight’ layup for work and expeditions. This has all changed now, though, with my current mantra being ‘light is right’, and with the new P&H Ultralight construction option available to enjoy, there has never been a better time for this paradigm shift in my sea kayak construction choice!
What has led to this change of thinking, though, and could light be right for you as well? It has certainly revolutionised my sea kayaking exp ..read more
P&H Custom Sea Kayaks Blog
4M ago
As you may know, we get to train a lot on rescues and if possible, we like to do this with external partners. We are one of the few that gets to train with professional, non-SAR shipping. For that we have to thank our social media and the network that comes with it. At this point we are befriended with some captains and their crews, who are actually sharing the same interest in safety at sea. We let the videos of our two last exercises speak for themselves, two different ships from the same category, both dredgers but with a different approach. There is always the “why”, obviously. To be short ..read more
P&H Custom Sea Kayaks Blog
9M ago
Words by Doug Cooper
Photos by Doug Cooper & Pete Astles
Every year, my good friend Pete Astles from Peak PS and I block out two weeks in our diary for a Scottish sea kayaking adventure – the primary aim is to get away from it all and have fun. Last year was no exception, and on a warm and sunny June day, we found ourselves in the Northwest Highlands just north of Ullapool on a stony beach, getting ready to set off for 8 days ‘away from it all’. It was that usual start of a trip; two big piles of kit sat alongside two empty sea kayaks, the two of us wondering if it would all fit! Kit for ..read more
P&H Custom Sea Kayaks Blog
11M ago
words: Carmen Kuntz
photos: Rok Rozman
In Slovenia, we are spoiled. We are used to paddling on water so clear you can see the bottom of the river or sea. But looking down and seeing dandelions, clover, and grass dancing in the current… is a whole new water world to discover.
This is an intermittent lake, a rare phenomenon worldwide, but a common occurrence in Slovenia. This isn’t a flood event or any reason to panic. This happens a couple of times a year when the underwater aquifers fill up and overflow, covering the farm fields with a layer of clear, clean spring water. Locals have been liv ..read more
P&H Custom Sea Kayaks Blog
11M ago
Celebrating a decade of the Bay of Fundy Sea Kayak Symposium fills us with overwhelming joy and pride as we declare this year’s instalment to be our most exceptional offering to date. Beyond being a mere paddling event, the symposium has blossomed into a vibrant gathering, uniting community members, local businesses, passionate paddlers, and skilled coaches for an unforgettable weekend filled with extraordinary experiences on and off the water.
P&H Leo MV at the Argyler River
The exponential growth of camaraderie, community dedication, and shared enthusiasm is a source of immense pride, m ..read more
P&H Custom Sea Kayaks Blog
1y ago
As a proud owner of a Cetus, I have been on many sea kayaking adventures, exploring the outer Hebrides, the caves of South Wales, and the coastlines of Scandinavia as far north as Tromso in Norway. However, I always thought that a longer, expedition-style sea kayak was necessary for these types of trips – which I realise might be a common misconception. That is until I was told to check out the P&H Volan.
I have wanted to paddle a Volan since its release, and I was curious to see if a shorter kayak could still provide the speed I needed for group paddles and solo missions, while als ..read more
P&H Custom Sea Kayaks Blog
1y ago
: words – Carmen Kuntz
.: photos – Rok Rozman
Hiking trips are great – you have all you need on your back. Bike trips are cool too – with everything neatly tucked into panniers. But when it comes to comfort, carry capacity and the ability to cover some solid kilometers… nothing beats the kayak. Regardless of whether you are a lover of saltwater or whitewater, the kayak is a vessel that allows you to pack all your gear inside your mode of transportation. And this opens up a world of multi-day adventure possibilities.
This spring we had a thirst for on-water exploration, but couldn’t decide be ..read more
P&H Custom Sea Kayaks Blog
1y ago
Now, I’m far from being a seasoned sea kayaker, in fact, I’m actually a whitewater kayaker, but when the opportunity came up for a few days of exploring in Scotland with good pals, I wasn’t going to turn it down!
For anyone here that’s also a whitewater kayaker, you may know that I’ve been fortunate enough to work all over the world with TV wildlife presenter, Steve Backshall. It was a big birthday for Stevo this year, and we wanted to make it a memorable one.
This would be unlike any trip I’d done before, mainly because a beautiful 102ft sailing boat known as Lady of Avenel would be our home ..read more
P&H Custom Sea Kayaks Blog
1y ago
You may recall that in March of 2022, we set about raising funds for the DEC to support their relief efforts in Ukraine – unbelievably, a year has passed since then!
With your help, we ultimately raised over £88,600, and as a result of this significant contribution, in February of this year, Work for Good (the platform which manages larger donations to the DEC) named us as one of their ‘Sales Fundraising Stars’.
Sadly, the situation in Ukraine continues, leaving many in need of aid. If you wish, you can still donate to the DEC directly on the following link: https://donation.dec.org.uk/ukrai ..read more
P&H Custom Sea Kayaks Blog
1y ago
We make many boats each year between our rotomoulding facility and head office in Cheshire, and our composite workshop in Derby; both have very skilled teams using some sophisticated equipment, and sometimes quite basic skills in a sophisticated way.
In my 52 years in this industry, I have seen some exceptional skill and craftsmanship from our team, from our suppliers, and from some competitors, much of which most of our customers would never see or understand.
I am so used to it that I wrongly take it for granted, but occasionally, something I see makes me realise just how far we have travell ..read more