Submitted: 09-15-2004 by Ryan
I bought the AE kayak for the same reason as many others -- space. I live on Galveston Island on the Texas gulf coast in a small condo and was tired of seeing everyone else have fun in their kayaks. People think I am crazy when they hear that I primarily fish the flats in Galveston bay in my inflatable kayak. It took a lot of creative rigging to attach a small cooler, storage box, rod holder, etc. but it works well. I am always careful in casting, etc. But the kayak is so well built I am not that worried about a puncture. My complaints: The inner inflatable section has a tendency to get bunched up within the outer zippered compartment, leading to an area of decreased firmness and drag from wrinkles in the outer skin. The stern and bow frames can be slightly out of alignment and create tracking problems if you do not pay close attention during setup. The kayak is wider than comparable hard shells and this impacts speed. Finally, since the kayak is inflatable, I can't mount hardware to the kayak that requires screws, bolts, etc. This is really only an issue for fishing, though, and I can usually find a creative way around the problem. Overall, great kayak for those with space/portability issues, but I would recommend a hard shell kayak if you have space and the ability to transport. |