Paddlewisers, I thought I'd share my good news with y'all: I have a new boat on the way! I've been paddling a Dagger Edisto for the last 14 months or so, and sold it a couple of weeks ago in order to raise the rest of the money for a new boat. The local dealer's demo day was last weekend, and I paddled all the Dagger, Perception, and Wilderness Systems boats that were there (plus some Ocean Kayak SOTs, though I want a decked boat). I wanted something more "performance" oriented than the Edisto (which is a fine boat, but a little more on the rec boat end of things for my tastes, though I know people use them for some pretty advanced stuff). I LOVED the Dagger Meridian and Latitude (but didn't feel like scratching the kevlar Sitka they had, but no one had paddled yet). The Meridian is a nimble and responsive boat that feels really fast for being only 16' long. Now I know what it's like to paddle a boat in which a rudder is superfluous (maybe a skeg, too). The Latitude was also nice. Somewhat faster (and 18" longer) than the Meridian, but not quite as maneuverable. But, the problem for me is that much of my paddling is on local rivers, and I hear the sound of river rocks and gravel on gelcoat in my nightmares, so my wallet thanked me as I moved over to the plastic boats. I have to say that the Perception boats didn't do much for me. The Eclipse just didn't fit me well, and Shadow was too small. Same thing for the WildSys boats --- just not a good fit for me. The Dagger Atlantis was long and fast (for a plastic boat) and surprisingly stable, but turned slowly, and didn't feel very responsive. The boat I ended up ordering (and I'll have in 3-4 weeks) is the Dagger Magellan. The Dagger boats fit me very well (especially with their "less agressive" optional thigh braces) and the Magellan seemed the best compromise in tracking, speed, and maneuverability. It was very responsive to a lean. It had the least initial stability of any of the boats I tried, but it's secondary stability was solid and comfortable. It just felt "right" from the moment I got into it. So, now the hard part begins --- the wait! Thanks for listening to me ramble on. Cheers, Steve =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Steven Jarvis sjarvis_at_dicksonstreet.com Fayetteville, Arkansas USA =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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