Submitted: 08-22-2000 by Richard Agins
Having just returned from a five-day wilderness paddling trip in New York's Adirondack Mountains, I can only express delight with the Loon 138. Other than the fact that it's somewhat heavy, I found very little to complain about. I was able to easily maneuver through beaver meadows, marshes, channels only a few inches deep and also, to cover great expanses of open water under windy conditions with minimal drift and only moderate effort. I thought about retro-fitting the available rudder, but since it would be needed only a minimal percentage of the time, I ultimately decided against it. (A skeg would be nice, though.)The generous size of the cockpit makes it easy to enter and exit, and leaves plenty of room for grabbing photo equipment and spreading out lunch on your lap. As is so often the case in life, when something is good at everything it may not be great at anything, but there are many specialist-type kayaks out there for those with narrowly-focused needs. The Loon 138 is a keeper! |