Submitted: 03-19-2012 by leeloo67 
Decent low cost tandem kayak. Depending on what you are looking for the length and weight may be an issue, as it was for me: it is 18' and 92 lbs. With RA and a bit of an anterior deltoid issue this just wasn't right for me and my young daughter. I had to move/load the kayak by myself which is not easy. Because of the distance between the cockpits, if my daughter was having trouble up in the front cockpit, like opening a snack or water, I'd have to head for shore and get out to help her.
My review score isn't reflective of the above problems but I wish I had thought of all that beforehand. For healthy adults and/or older kids the kayak would work just fine (especially if you have a larger vehicle too). In fact the long distance between the cockpits pretty much makes it impossible to hit paddles like in shorter tandems. Plus ours had a rudder which should be required for ALL tandems from the factory. The material is very thick and solid, and ours was old and obviously stored outside for a while and the hatch covers and all were still in great condition, and there was no leakage anywhere nor between the bulkheads.
For the price even new this is a lot of boat for the money. Paddled surprisingly smooth but was nearly impossible to turn without the rudder the way I was using it (again, should be required!). |