Submitted: 01-03-2003 by strosaker
Great sea kayak! Absolutely beautiful lines and one of the best looking kayaks on the water. The quality of the lay-up is good. Stability is good but I am used to narrow kayaks. Speed is good too. I've never had a kayak that had a bow that behaved so well in the waves. The kayak is a lot of fun to surf. Paddling it in rough conditions and long distances is a pleasure. The ocean cockpit fits my 5', 10" and 165 lbs body great, but it scares a lot of my friends who aren't used to it. The low back deck is great for lay-back moves. The hatches are bone dry. The bungee, toggle and deckline layout is perfect.The bad thing about this kayak is the skeg system. Launching and landing in 3-6 foot surf is the norm here in So Cal, and in the surf, sand is driven into the skeg box, which causes the skeg to jam frequently. To make matters worse, the hull has a sudden amount of rocker from the skeg box to the stern, which makes the kayak skeg dependent for good tracking and to avoid weather cocking. As a result, I threw the skeg away, cut out the skeg box, and modified the hull with fiberglass and epoxy to get rid of the excessive rocker in the aft few feet and follow the natural keel line. Now the kayak tracks well and doesn't weathercock without the skeg. The seat was pretty good, but that bulge in the front and center of the seat was more than I cared for , so I threw the seat away and made a custom foam one that is more comfortable for me. |