Submitted: 12-14-2004 by Lyndall Frantz
We bought the 15 ft. 6 in. Bell Yellowstone tandem in Royalex a few months ago. I wanted a boat to use in twisty, shallow and gravel bottomed rivers. (We also have a 17 ft.Wenonah Spirit II in Kevlar that works wonderful in bigger water, but seems a little too fragile and too long for the uses that we plan on for the Bell.) So far the Bell is great! It turns on a dime due to its ample rocker and short length, but has plenty of room for day trips. It paddles fine as a solo boat, but I am still trying to perfect that aspect of paddling. We are not happy with the cane seats. We are used to the buckets in the Spirit II, and we can't seem to get as comfortable in the Bell after 3 or 4 hours. Perhaps a padded seat with a small back rest might help. The seats are also sloped down in front and that makes us feel like we are trying to fall off the front. Perhaps they are designed that way to make it easier to lean back on when we kneel, but we haven't tried that yet. The finish on the Bell is first class. I recommend this boat for day trips and river travel. |