Rusty

If you've bought a new boat from Valley Canoe Products recently, you ought to know this.

I store my boats upside-down, outside. Within two weeks of taking delivery of my new Nordkapp a rust stain appeared on the deck, clearly coming from the skeg slider.

After getting no joy from the dealer, I rang Valley and spoke to Pete Orton. It seems they had a bad batch of skeg sliders.

The threaded component in the plastic handle has been made of MILD steel, not stainless, so it rusts. Pete's not sure how many boats are affected, and other manufacturers might have a similar problem.

I'm being sent a new slider and cable sheath which I'll attempt to instal. If I can't, then I'll be picking up the phone again.