RE: [Paddlewise] Seaward Kayaks

At 08:53 PM 8/30/99 -0400, Robert Woodard wrote:
>Nick Gill wrote:
>
>> if the retailer won't let you try i'd question their committment
>> to sea kayakers and their needs. I can't imagine not buying a sea
>> kayak I hadn't paddled - they're all so different and expensive.
>> Will this attitude also prevade their after sales service?
>
>I can agree, but at the same time see the retailer's position as well. The
>retailer has many kayaks in their rental/demo fleet, but none from Seaward,
>even though they sell them. The Seaward is a higher end, more expensive
>kayak and from my up close inspection, appear to be very high quality (If
>someone has had any bad experiences with Seaward, I'd also like to hear that
>as well).

I agree with Robert.  I help out at a friends kayak shop almost every weekend
and during the week helping teach lessons.  He opened the shop in May of
this year and has a rental fleet of plastic boats and sells boat from
Prijon and
Seaward.   He bought four of their models at the beginning of the season.  He
really wanted to try out the Endeavor as he was thinking he might like it as
a personal boat. The first time he tried it, it got a scratch from the
loading dock.
He can't really sell it as new so the decision to keep it as a personal
boat was
made for him.   He also has a Quest, a Navigator, and a Passat  but so far 
nobody has been serious about buying one.   As a new business he just 
can't afford to let any casual shopper demo one because if it gets scratched
he can't sell it as new.   He is reducing the prices on all his new boats in a
week or so and wouldn't hesitate to let someone try one of the new boats
if they seemed serious about buying.  BTW, the shop is in Ithaca, NY if
the originator of the thread is interested.

I have paddled the endeavor a few times and it's a really nice boat.  The 
Seaward boats are very well made and have all the finishing touches and
options you'd expect from a top of the line boat.    I also demo'd both the
Quest and the Ascente at the sea kayaking symposium in Maine.   They're
two very different boats.  I really didn't care for the Ascente all that
much but
the Quest is an amazing boat.   At 19' it tracks as well as anything I've ever
paddled and the extra length gives good initial stability without compromising
speed.  The boat seems to glide forever and is quite fast.   Once you put it
on edge it carves a nice turn.   I thought that overall it felt a lot like
the Current
Designs Extreme but I think it felt faster.   For a long distance
expedition the
Quest would be hard to beat.   The Ascente on the other hand would make a
better day boat.   I probably wouldn't consider the Ascente without demoing
the Vision, Navigator, Endeavor, and Tyee as well.   They're all just a
little bit
different (especially the Endeavor) so trying all off them would be a good 
idea to determine what you like best.



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