Both my daughters have Umiaks which are their first boats and should be adequate for a year or two more if I'm lucky. I have an old Klepper Tramp II in delicate condition that I used to play around in and use as a first timer boat for people that just wanted to know how it felt to be in a kayak on the water without necessarily being in the water. It's 16' fiberglass and very stable, looks like a red torpedo in the water! Also have a Northwest Mariner XL with a rudder that is a great all around fiberglass boat. On one of Bill Lozano's trips I used a Mariner of his and finally found a used one myself. Used this one for a couple years on all kinds of water. One thing that's hard to get used to is the hatch covers. They are fiberglass lids with neoprene covers. I'm always very cautious about the lids blowing away when their off. And its sometimes a bit of a struggle to fit the neoprene covers back on correctly. My favorite and newest boat is a Wilderness Systems Shenai. It's kevlar with VCP hatch covers. It has the best fit and feel of any boat I've been in. Handles well, maybe a bit better when loaded down. Future plans include a WW playboat! Jim *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net ***************************************************************************
Shaughnessy wrote: > Also have a Northwest Mariner XL with a rudder that is a great all > around fiberglass boat. [snip] One thing that's hard to get used to is > the hatch covers. They are fiberglass lids with neoprene covers. I'm > always very cautious about the lids blowing away when their off. It would be prudent to glass a loop onto the inside of the hatch (it's inside the neoprene, yes?) and run a piece of parachute cord to an attachment point inside the compartment. A lost hatch could be a real disaster. If the neoprene is inside the glass hatch, I guess you'd have to mar the exterior of the boat with a hatch leash. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:32:46 PDT