Day 60 - Prijon 'Seayak'

The first kayak I owned was a Seayak. It was the first purchase I made when I moved to South Florida from Wisconsin ten years ago. At the time my apartment was sparsely furnished with items loaned to me by friends, even my bed was a borrowed mattress on the floor. I didn't have a microwave, and my dishes consisted of a single complete setting of bowl, plate, knife, fork, and spoon. But having just completed a long canoe trip down the entire length of the Wisconsin River the summer before, there was nothing I wanted more than to get back on the water. Somehow all of the things most folks consider necessities took a back burner to a new kayak.

After finding a local kayak shop in the phone book (Atlantic Coast Kayak Company) I stopped by for a visit and timidly demoed a couple of kayaks sharing space with alligators in the freshwater canal next door to their store. I quickly realized that some instruction would be a good idea so I booked a class. The next weekend I found myself in a basics class taught by an energetic instructor (suffering from a terrible cold) his name unfortunately I have long forgotten. I was hooked on the Seayak though and shortly there after spent the better part of the first three paychecks from my new job to take a brand new yellow Prijon home to my empty apartment. The rest is history.

Today my brother Aaron has that very kayak and is still using it with his wife to explore the small lakes, rivers, and Lake Michigan shore line near their home in Manitowoc WI. When I climbed into the cockpit of the new Prijon on our dock this morning the fit brought back memories of that old boat, but things have changed with the Seayak over the last ten years. They've added a front deck day hatch which is an excellent idea, the bow seems to be fuller volume than I remember, and the rudder is a new and improved design. My outing for today was a two hour private lesson with a gentleman named Steve. We did a review and tune up of strokes he's learned over the last couple weeks and then paddled over to Mariners Cove to work on solo capsize recovery techniques. Paddling the Seayak brought back memories of my first outings in the canals behind my place in Fort Lauderdale but one thing I didn't remember is the Seayak edge turning as well as this one did today. Of course I didn't know how to edge much back then either. I still enjoy paddling the Seayak but the depth of the cockpit (and resulting height of the seat back) are much deeper than I prefer these days. I also prefer a kayak a bit narrower than the beamy 24" that the Seayak measures at it's widest point. It should be said though that anybody looking for a stable, easy edging, super tough, comfy kayak shouldn't turn their nose up at the Seayak.

Seayak Review

Manufacturer = Prijon
Brand = Prijon (imported by WildWasser)
Model = Seayak
Type = Touring
Material = Plastic
Length = 16'-1"
Width = 24"
Weight = 58 lbs.

Location = Mission Bay (private lesson)
Time = 9:00 AM
Distance = N/A
Duration = 2:00
Avg Speed = N/A
Conditions = Partly cloudy and nice

*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

*Day 58 - Delsyk Design 'Nifty 430'

Surf's up. That's why I got up at 5:00 this morning in order to get to the beach for a sunrise session before work. A relatively low tide allowed me to get in to one of my favorite spots where glassy smooth waist to head high waves kept me and one other guy on a long board entertained for over an hour. Having so many waves to share with only one other person gave me quite a work out and I finally had to leave when I started feeling a bit tired and sloppy on the waves. I happened to be in my Mega "Air Force" surf kayak but that's not important because that's not the boat I reviewed today.

We still have the truck full of kayaks left here by one of our friends to try out so I had every intention to get back on the water after work tonight to give another one of them a go. That was until I rolled in to the parking lot at Aqua Adventures this morning and found my friend Greg hanging out with his boat on top of his truck. Apparently Greg was so excited about the coastal tour Jane has scheduled with the San Diego Kayak Club on June 20th that he decided to show up, ready to go, a full week early. Not wanting to leave Greg all dressed up with no place to go I figured it was the perfect excuse to squeeze in another hour paddle before I had to be to work.

This time I grabbed the 'Nifty 430' from the truck and we paddled out the jetty and around the OB Pier and back. Mercifully Greg slowed down a bit in his Ikkuma so I could keep up in the 14 foot long boat, but even then we still held a comfortable 4 mph pace. The Nifty 430 is designed by Mike Neckar who is the founder of Necky kayaks and operated the business before it was bought out by Johnson Outdoors. To look at the boat it's not hard to see the familiar lines and multi chine hull so common on Necky boats. This boat has ample rocker making it quite maneuverable, add plenty of width and you get a lot of confidence-inspiring initial stability. With the multi chine hull edging is smooth and easy to hold resulting in easy turning. I didn't have trouble keeping the boat going straight without the rudder but anybody who does need it will appreciate the Sea Dog rudder system that comes with the boat. These easy to adjust 'gas pedal' style rudder controls offer a solid base to push on and excellent control of the rudder with a tip of the toe.

This boat is somewhat simple in its no frills trimmings as compared to the tricked out fancy outfitting that come with the kayaks manufactured by the big name companies today. But anybody that can appreciate a good handling boat, and can pass on luxurious bells and whistles, should consider this kayak.

Nifty 430 Review

Manufacturer = Delsyk Design
Brand = Delsyk Design
Model = Nifty 430
Type = Touring
Material = Plastic
Length = 14'-0"
Width = 24"
Weight = 58 lbs.

Location = Ocean Beach Pier loop
Time = 7:20 AM
Distance = 4.58 miles
Duration = 1:03
Avg Speed = 4.3 mph
Conditions = Partly cloudy and nice

Day 57 - Prijon 'Marlin'

Day two of trying out the truck load of Prijon boats. Not having a lot of experience in the new Prijons I want to make sure I give them a proper shake down so today I took the Marlin on the surf zone loop out the jetty and over to Dog Beach and back. This route gives me a chance to see how boats handle in flat bay water, open ocean swell, and breaking waves.

The Marlin fit's me a little looser than I prefer it's rather high at the thigh braces which should accomodate fairly large people but leaves a guy my size reaching to get contact under the deck. That loose fit probably had a lot to do with me not feeling entirely in controll of the boat in the surf zone. It may sound strange, but in my mind I felt like the boat was being moved by the waves not like I was being moved by the waves. The boat's tendancy to drop abruptly from the flat bottom on to the chine was another factor that kept me on my toes with a feeling like the boat was doing what it wanted not necessarily what I wanted. By the end of the session, as I learned to trust the boat on edge, things did improve and I was able to play around in the soup quite a bit. One thing I must say is that the Marlin moves along quite well when paddled upright on its flat center hull. I didn't have to work hard to maintain a comfortable cruising speed above 5 mph.

All this being said I think the Marlin would be worth a look for anybody looking for a tough fast cruising boat with a roomy cockpit. Once again I must say that I like the large capacity day hatch (with neoprene tube) on the front deck.

Marlin Review

Manufacturer = Prijon
Brand = Prijon (imported by WildWasser)
Model = Marlin
Type = Touring
Material = Plastic
Length = 17'-0"
Width = 22.8"
Weight = 59.5 lbs.

Location = Jetty -> Ocean Beach Pier -> Dog Beach -> San Diego River loop
Time = 6:00 AM
Distance = 4.92 miles
Duration = 1:04
Avg Speed = 4.6 mph (This includes surfing time my cruising speed was over 5 mph)
Conditions = Partly cloudy and nice

Day 56 - Prijon 'Poseidon'

On Tuesday we were visited by the owner of WildWasser the US importer of Prijon kayaks. He's in the midst of a loop around the western states showing off a sampling of what Prijon has to offer. His next engagement on the west coast isn't until next weekend so we arranged for him to leave his truck full of kayaks here for a week while he flew home to Colorado rather than just kill time out here. That means that I have a whole pile of boats to play with for the next several days.

I figured today I'd see if I could find someone in the Thursday Evening Paddle that was interested in paddling the tandem Poseidon with me. As luck would have it a woman stopped by to just check things out on the dock thinking that she couldn't keep up because she hadn't paddled much and has been experiencing shoulder problems. I offered a ride in the front of the tandem so she could come along and have some fun on the water and she accepted.

The Poseidon is incredibly stable and was pretty nice to paddle. One thing I didn't care for was how close together the cockpits are which meant we had to be sure to stay perfectly synchronized to avoid whacking each others paddles. We also did a little sprint race against Sabrina and Kate who were paddling another tandem only to discover that the Poseidon isn't exactly what I would call a fast boat. I do love the deck mounted day hatches that access a roomy neoprene sock that held all the snacks I brought along for the relaxing evening of paddling on Mission Bay.

Poseidon Review

Manufacturer = Prijon
Brand = Prijon (imported by WildWasser)
Model = Poseidon
Type = Touring Tandem
Material = Plastic
Length = 17'-0"
Width = 26.75"
Weight = 81 lbs.

Location = Mission Bay - Thursday Evening Paddle
Time = 6:00 PM
Distance = N/A
Duration = 2:00
Avg Speed = N/A
Conditions = Partly cloudy and nice

*Day 55 - Wilderness Systems 'Tempest 165'

At Aqua Adventures the plastic Tempest 165 has begun to be refereed to as "Otto's Boat". This is the boat of choice for the 15 year old budding Greenland skills aficionado for most of his paddling and rolling practice. It's also the boat Otto used to viciously attack my Anas Acuta a couple weeks ago. You can tell that Otto is the one who usually uses the boat by the fact that the hip pads are firmly attached in the cockpit to keep his skinny rear from sliding all over the seat. It was the luck of the draw that put me in the Tempest for the Wednesday Morning Paddle and I squeezed my (not as skinny) rear into the seat being a bit too lazy to remove the hip pads. The trip went off without any big surprises and when we arrived back at the dock Tim, from my home state of Wisconsin, was already there anxiously awaiting the private lesson we had scheduled at 9:00.

The Tempest 165 edges turns very well which is one of the things I wanted to work on with Tim so I stayed with it for the lesson. Good edge turns and respectable speed are two of the things that make the Tempest 165 worth considering. It also comes with the famously comfortable seat and outfitting system that Wilderness boats are becoming known for. Like I've said about Tempests before, it's hard to beat one of these boats for out-of-the-box fit and comfort.

Tempest 165 Review

Manufacturer = Confluence
Brand = Wilderness Systems
Model = Tempest 165
Material = Plastic
Length = 16'-6"
Width = 21.5"
Weight = 56 lbs.
Capacity = 300 lbs.

Location = Mission Bay - Wed AM Paddle and Private lesson in Quivira Basin
Time = 7:00 AM
Distance = N/A
Duration = 1:30 then 2:00
Avg Speed = N/A
Conditions = Mostly cloudy and nice

Sorry about the thin reports

The season is upon us at Aqua Adventures. With all the activities around the store, big crossings, and my birthday I haven't had much time to post. Even today I have the Wed AM paddle starting in 15 min running till 8:30 followed by a private lesson from 9-11:00 AM, a full day in the store, topped off by rolling practice from 7-9:30 PM. I should have a little time tomorrow morning to get things up to date before the 8:30 AM roll out of the store runs into the 8:30PM cleanup of the Thursday evening paddle.