*Day 59 - Feelfree 'Corona'

The surf was still up so this time I caught up with Otto and Larry (Otto's dad and driver) up at Torrey Pines where there was nothing happening with the surf so we doubled back to Tourmaline where the south facing beach was catching what remained of the south swell and where my friend Thom was waiting for us. Again I surfed my Mega and Otto got his first chance at real kayak surfing in a Valley Rush. Otto picked things up fast and within twenty minutes was catching waves with ease. His rolling abilities allowed him to challenge himself with some of the bigger sets that came in. But again this hour in the surf was all for fun and neither of these boats was on the list to be reviewed today.

This afternoon we needed to go over to Bonita Cove on the north end of Mariner's Cove to pick up a couple of SOT tandems that we rented to a church picnic for the day. Rather than take the time to drive over, find parking, load up, drive back, and unload, we decided to paddle over and tow the boats directly back to our dock. I had one last Feelfree boat to demo so I opened up Sean's trailer and pulled out the Corona tandem for the job. Thankfully this boat has a wheel built into its stern and we didn't have to lug it down to the dock, instead I pulled it down like a 13' long wagon. After grabbing a couple tow lines out of the shed we were off to collect our cargo.

The Corona paddled OK with Otto in the front seat and we made the one mile run to Bonita cove with twenty minutes of steady paddling (about 3 mph). After we reclaimed our rental boats Otto had the idea of paddling one of them back solo allowing me to test how the Corona paddles solo. (Of course he let me tow the other rental boat as well... smart kid) With the wind giving us a little push we made the run back to Aqua Adventures in another twenty minutes. Of course this made for only forty minutes of paddling, so after getting all the gear put away from the day's activities I went back out alone and did a loop around the marina to round out the hour paddle I promised to give each boat. This second solo run allowed me to see how the kayak handled without a second boat in tow and I must say I didn't notice the difference, it felt a bit on the slow and sluggish side either way.

I must say that I like the seats on the Corona they give cushy support right on your lower back and don't sit so high as to push you forward on your PFD. In addition the molded in seat attachment bars create a stronger seat attachment system than I've seen in any other SOT. Two 8" hatch covers in the deck provide easy access to storage inside the boat as well.

Corona Review

Manufacturer = Feelfree Kayaks
Brand = Feelfree
Model = Corona
Type = Sit On Top Tandem
Material = Plastic
Length = 13'-8.5"
Width = 32.5"
Weight = 68 lbs.
Capacity = 617 lbs.

Location = Mariner's Cove tandem rental retreival
Time = 5:30 PM
Distance = N/A
Duration = 1:00 hours
Avg. Speed = N/A
Conditions = Mostly sunny and breezy