100 Boats In 100 Days: Day 54 - Wilderness Systems 'Pungo 100'

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Day 54 - Wilderness Systems 'Pungo 100' - On my birthday!

Holy man I was tired today!

I can't deny it, yesterday's Catalina for lunch trip kicked my rear. I would have very happily slept in this morning but Jen had plans for my birthday so I knew I better get my paddle in before work because we'd be heading out right afterward. So at 6:30 AM I dragged my sore body out of bed and went down to the Aqua Adventures docks for an hour of paddling in what turned out to be the Pungo 100. Talk about juxtaposition, yesterday it was 46 miles of open ocean in an 18' touring boat and today it was tootling around the bay in a 10' plastic rec boat. Thank god for the tootling rec boat today though, I'm not sure I could have handled anything more. As it was my sore and tired arms could only manage about one hundred yards of paddling before I had to put the paddle down and take a break. I managed to poke all the way around the perimeter of the marina then over to Mariner's cove where I scooched down inside the Pungo and took a five minute nap to regain my strength. The Pungo 100 tracks surprisingly well for a 10 long boat and moves along fast enough to cover some water on an outing. If relaxing paddles on sheltered water are your thing then a Pungo can fit the bill.

Pungo 100 Review

Manufacturer = Confluence
Brand = Wilderness Systems
Model = Pungo 100
Material = Plastic
Type = Recreational
Length = 10'-0"
Width = 30"
Weight = 48 lbs.
Capacity = 300 lbs.

Location = Mission Bay to Mariners Basin and back
Time = 7:00 AM
Distance = about 3 miles
Duration = 1:00
Avg. Speed = N/A
Conditions = Mostly cloudy and nice

1 comment:

KentFebruary 25, 2010 at 12:43 PM
I am 5'7" and 225 lbs. I am planning on buying the Pungo 100 to use for exercise. Will this boat fit my needs or should I go with the Pungo 120?
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What's this all about

I was inspired by a Southern California paddler, Mark Sanders, who last year managed to paddle one hundred days in one calendar year. Paddling an average of almost two days a week is quite a feet for the average person that has to maneuver around work and family schedules to find the time to paddle, and I was impressed. Late last year as Mark’s paddle reports number 94, 95, 96… came in on the CKF club e-mail list I got to thinking that because I live so close to the water and as a instructor/guide at Aqua Adventures I have access to an entire fleet of kayaks, canoes, and other paddle craft, there is no excuse for me to not paddle almost every day. So, on January first of this year I set out to paddle something every day. Not necessarily always a kayak, because of the nature of our fleet we have open canoes, surf skis, and paddle boards available too. I figured it’d be good to mix it up on a different craft now and then to broaden my skill level in those areas, and just to get a little variety. To keep myself honest I set a minimum time limit of one hour to be sure that I couldn’t just dip a blade and call it a day. By mid March I had only missed five days in the year and was on track to finish my first hundred days within a month.

As I paddled up to our dock one morning before our Southwest Kayak Symposium I eyed the huge fleet of boats and boards that we have pondering what an enormous chore it is to keep all of those boats floating, much less in top operating condition. Then a thought struck me that I could paddle a different boat every day for almost a hundred days just from what we have on the dock. A quick count from water level gave me an estimate of about 85 boats in our fleet of rental/demo equipment. Add a half dozen more demo boats in the store we already have about 90 boats that a person could paddle. After thinking about it for a bit my plan was hatched to try to do just that. – Paddle 100 boats in 100 days -- To add to the challenge I want to rule out any duplicate models of boats we have, meaning that I will be paddling 100 completely different boats (brand, model, material, etc.) during the 100 day challenge.

With so many boats in our fleet it’s a constant challenge to familiarize myself with the specs and performance of each boat. With experience one can predict what a boat will be like by looking at it but nothing compares to putting your butt in the seat and giving it a go. Throughout this endeavor I will be taking note of my experiences in each boat and sharing that info on this blog, kind of a mini review. Before anyone pays too much attention to my reviews they should remember that this is FAR from a scientific study. I won’t be paddling the same course in the same conditions to allow for a truly head to head comparison of each boat. More importantly, because not every boat is designed to fit me (height, weight, strength, experience, etc.) not every boat will perform as it might for a person that is the appropriate size and skill level. The truth remains that nothing, absolutely nothing, can take the place of paddling a boat for yourself. So, take my reviews for what they are (my personal experience and opinion) and use that to gain just a little more info about these boats, then get out on the water and give them a try for yourself. If you have tried out a boat I mention in this endeavor please feel free to share your experience with me via this blog.

100 Boats In 100 Days

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Day 54 - Wilderness Systems 'Pungo 100' - On my birthday!

1 comment:

What's this all about

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