[Paddlewise] Introduction and my new boat

Aloha!
Quick introduction:
I live on Maui and have been a Hawaii hiking enthusiast for years. On 
my hikes I would see inaccessable areas of the coast and dreamed of 
going there. My passion was futher inflamed by reading "Paddling My 
Own Canoe" by Audrey Sutherland, her accounts of paddling/swimming 
the North Coast of Molokai. I started searching for my kayak and 
reading how-to books. My fist Kayak was/is a used Cobra Tandem that 
came with a lesson for the whole family. While it became more 
difficult to get family members to join me, my enthusiasm continued. 
The sea kayaking books I had been reading pointed to skinny long 
boats, for "anyone with a bit of athletic ability" this was the way 
to go. Because of the warm water temps. and the heavy surf landing on 
boulder beaches plastic sit-on-tops are about the only kayak you see 
in Hawaii. My next boat is the Cobra Expedition. At 18'long this is 
the fastest plastic sit-on-top made. It has a very low flush deck 
that slices through waves and gives very little for the wind to 
catch. I paddled this boat quite a bit including a solo trip from 
Hana to Maliko Bay on Maui's North shore. I still had a dream though, 
of having a boat in a bag and paddling more distant shores. I came 
across "The Complete Folding Kayaker" and my search now began to 
include foldables (Audrey uses an inflatable for her travels). This 
brings me to my new boat.

Quick review:
On an impulse I ordered the Pouch e65 from Sierra Trading Post. 
Assembly - Putting it together the first time was a slow process. The 
video that came with showed the double with a few words in the 
beginning saying that the single was about the same just less parts. 
I bent some of the aluminum fittings by pushing too hard in the wrong 
places. I figures this out after some of the pieces came up too 
short. A pair of plyers fixed the problem easily. The next few 
assemblies have gone much better. The tips published by Ralph Diaz 
were helpful, the frame does tend to stick in the skin when taking it 
apart. The solution is to tie a rope from the bow/stern to a 
pole/tree/rock the frame then pulls right out.
Lightweight - my Cobra Expedition is advertised as 48lbs, the e65 as 
47lbs, not much difference, right? Wrong! I have not weighed the 
boats but the Pouch is WAY lighter! The Pouch accelarates much 
quicker with less effort and seems to glide longer. I can keep it 
moving with very light paddle strokes. There is more area above water 
to get knocked around by wind & waves so I'll have to see how it does 
in rougher conditions.
Stablity - I had to really work at getting this kayak to tip over, 
when I did go over I did not go under. My pfd kept me floating in the 
kayak on its side. The boat eventually filled up with water and I 
exited before it sank. I walked the boat to shore and dumped out a 
lot of water.
I need floatation bags!!! Anybody have experience or suggestions for 
online sources? NRS sells float/storage bags that measure 50"x30" for 
$50 and Mariner Kayaks has float bags about the same size for $30.
I next went out in some surf (very carefully without floatation) 
coming head on water stayed out of the cockpit. Sideways a breaking 
wave put a couple of gallons inside the boat.
I need a spray skirt!!! Ralph Hoen emailed me some info about the 
Pouch zip up. I have now emailed him twice wanting to purchase one 
with no reply. Anybody know what's up with Ralph Hoen?
Tracking/Manueverability - This boat is as hard to turn as my Cobra 
Expedition, this surprised me. I thought a 15' boat would be much 
easier to turn than an 18' boat. The Pouch also pulls to the right. I 
can keep it straight by leaning and sweep stroking.I don't feel I 
should have to do this in calm conditions. I really don't want to get 
a rudder, so I'll try it a few more times and see if I can figure out 
what the problem is.
Fit/Quality - I'm 6'1" and weigh 215lbs. The seat and backrest are 
very comfortable, though I feel the seat could be a bit farther 
forward. My feet can lock very securly to the rib with my knees 
pressing out on the coaming, or I can relax with my legs straight and 
my thighs fit into the middle rib where they can grab on if needed. 
The open cockpit and cotten top deck keep me cool. There were some 
scratches that I should touch up with varnish.
Packability - the long bag looks to be over 5' long and does not want 
to close all the way. I'm sure there are boats that pack smaller.
Durabilty - After I get my float bags & spray skirt I'll report on 
those heavy surf/boulder beach landings.

So those far off shores are looking closer with my boat in a bag! 
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