Submitted: 01-12-2001 by jms
The boat handles well and looks great. It is a high volume boat and is a little large for me, 5'9", 160 pounds. I have used it extensively in the Gulf of Mexico, 10,000 islands, on camping trips. It carries a large and heavy load. It has a tendency to weathercock, which can be counteracted with careful load distribution and with edging.I also have paddled the boat on Central Florida rivers and creeks. The boat carves edged turns nicely, allowing me to maintain full power strokes while negotiating river bends. I built the boat with additional strengthening ('glassed deck and bulkheads, through-bolted deck hardware, additional deck ribs, additional 'glass inside hull), resulting in a total weight of 52 pounds. Two friends of mine, weighing over 200 pounds, have paddled the boat in open water conditions, and the boat handles better for them than for me. It has less of a tendency to weathercock. It does track nicely and handles well with a following or quartering sea with little tendency to broach. In 2 to 3-foot chop, the high-volume bow will rise and fall to the water with a slap. |