Keith, The pictures don't appear on your site, but judging by your description, it is an Aquaterra (now Perception) Sea Lion. The black tube is a keelson, or hull stiffener. Poly boats can be a little floppy, and my 1987 Sea Lion was slightly hogged -- the ends were lower than the middle. I was told that this happened as the hull cooled after it was removed from the mold, and that the original from which the mold was made was slightly rockered. The Sea Lion was my first kayak, so my memories of it are a bit dim now, but as I recall it was a decent beginner's kayak. It was fairly fast, had good storage capacity, felt slightly tippy to a novice, but had good secondary stability. It is hard to hold on edge, however, and is not the easiest kayak to roll. Once the gunwale dips below the water, it wants to capsize fairly fast. Things to consider when buying a 10-year-old Sea Lion include the following: * Brittleness of the plastic. Depending on how it was stored, the plastic could be more brittle than in a new boat because of UV degradation. * Deterioration of the neoprene hatch covers, resulting in possible leaks. It might be possible to replace them, but that extra expense should be considered when negotiating the price of the boat. * Bulkhead leaks resulting from deteriorated caulking of the bulkheads. Important only if you get a lot of water in the cockpit, as after a wet exit. I had to recaulk mine after only a couple of years. Hope this helps, Chuck Holst 1995 Romany Explorer *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Jul 08 2003 - 07:40:06 PDT
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