A lady I know is getting ready to purchase her first kayak. She is 4' 11'' and weighs about 140. She has been taking lessons in a Dagger Meridian SK. She does ok in it but since she has not paddled anything else she wanted to try some other boats. Since demo boats are hard to find down here in South Texas, she would appreciate any help in narrowing her choices. She is particularly interested in the Perception Shadow (in fiberglass). Any information would be appreciated and especially any comparisions of boats to the Meridian SK that she has been paddling. Thanks for you help. Mark J. Arnold MJAkayaker_at_aol.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Mark- I would highly recommend looking at the Looksha Sport. I have one myself, 5'7 125lbs. and find that I fit perfectly. The boat is only 22.5" in width which makes me feel like I am paddling a boat made for me and not the average male. Also, the length is 14'4", not too long not too short. I can stuff enoough gear for my two week San Juan trip as well as I can easily lift the Looksha up on my car without any help. The boat chine is unique to any design out on the market because you have nice initial and secondary stability. Sea Kayaker magazine reviewed the Looksha kayak "The Looksha as one of the cleanest looking plastic boats on the market! I would suggest having her try the Looksha Sport. In fact, I would suggest have her try as many designs as possible. Thanks and good luck! Alexa Shuman Outdoorplay.com The Paddlesports Community http://www.outdoorplay.com 1.800.99 4 GEAR -----Original Message----- From: owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net [mailto:owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net]On Behalf Of MJAkayaker_at_aol.com Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2000 2:29 PM To: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subject: [Paddlewise] Small Paddler Boats esp Perception Shadow A lady I know is getting ready to purchase her first kayak. She is 4' 11'' and weighs about 140. She has been taking lessons in a Dagger Meridian SK. She does ok in it but since she has not paddled anything else she wanted to try some other boats. Since demo boats are hard to find down here in South Texas, she would appreciate any help in narrowing her choices. She is particularly interested in the Perception Shadow (in fiberglass). Any information would be appreciated and especially any comparisions of boats to the Meridian SK that she has been paddling. Thanks for you help. Mark J. Arnold MJAkayaker_at_aol.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Hi Mark, I've owned a Shadow for about nine months now (I'm 5'7", 150#) and am pretty happy with it. I can't compare it to the Meridian SK but I'll tell you what I like and dislike about the Shadow. At first it seemed unnaturally tippy to me but within five minutes on the water I compensated for that. It edges nicely and you can put it on it's ear where it feels very stable. It seems to take a bit more of an effort to get going than I was used to but once I do get going I can sprint at 6 knots fairly easily. It's well built and has all the normal fittings of a production boat. The Keepers footpegs are a bit on the small side but they can be adjusted while in the boat if you're barefoot. The seat is pretty comfortable once it's padded out with some closed cell foam but it extends about 2-3" over the cockpit coaming which makes it difficult to lean back too far. The kneepads placement is well thought out. The rudder is easy to deploy just by extending your paddle back and flipping off the keeper holddown. One thing that may be a drawback is the small storage areas fore and aft of the bulks. It's not an expedition boat but will do nicely for a weekend trip or an extended trip of a week or so with careful packing. The hatches and bulkheads haven't leaked a drop. One thing that annoyed me is that their brochure states the weight as 53 pounds and it certainly seemed heavier than that to me when I demo-ed it, but the paper work that came with the boat didn't jibe with the brochure and I think was 5-8 #'s heavier than the brochure. I assume they weigh a bare hull for their brochure without rudder, seat, hatch covers, deck fittings, etc. So if 53 #'s is the upper limit your friend can carry, just be mindful that it's going to be about 10% more. Hope this helps and if you have any questions, just yell. -Nick *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:10 PDT