Tom and Jenny’s W Kayak Adventure in a Storm
Tom and Jenny on another day - enjoying surf paddling.
Tom Buddington recently wrote us from Florida:
-”Just thought I’d post a follow-up review after having several more experiences with this truly unique boat. Recently my daughter and I were caught out in what I estimate were 25 knot winds (higher gusts I would bet for certain) and the river became dark and menacing (Gosh it was so calm and peaceful moments before!). The waves were like a white water washing machine. It just happens with those out of nowhere summer storms; I try to be careful, especially with my daughter with me, but you might not ever go out if you worried about the possibility of a storm that wasn’t even predicted. THAT’s the moment of truth. 30 minutes of dark weather paddling at first into and against 20-25 knot winds and 2-3 foot storm slop and then having it on your tail (which is worse in my opinion). We just strapped on our PFD’s NICE and TIGHT and worked it with the Wyak. And she kept us out of the water and got us home. I was impressed the whole time with the stability of the W kayak in serious conditions. We used her best attributes (those twin hulls) and the geography of the Indian River Lagoon and ducked into a safe little cove and waited for things to get calm (we were in the middle and had a long way to go to get to that cove mind you). I can’t stress enough that the ability to alternate between significantly different positions (i.e., standing to riding and a few others) in the W kayak and use different muscles made this one a story with a happy ending. Would have been wiped-out exhausted in any other boat that day.
I speak from the perspective of a guy who loves the water and lives on the water and has been a waterman for, oh, say 30 years. I have 7 other boats of differing designs, 2 of which I have committed to sell to make way for my next Wyak . The W is an incredible craft and I like it.”
And here’s another picture of Tom and Jenny surf paddling at the beach:
Tags: children, florida, kids, storm, strong wind, surf kayaking, tandem kayaking, tandem paddling, windage
June 26th, 2008 at
First I thought the top picture was supposed to be related to some storm…
Marco
June 26th, 2008 at
It’s definitely the perfect boat for kids, including grown-up kids
April
June 29th, 2008 at
“First I thought the top picture was supposed to be related to some storm…”
And THAT would have been great drama. But at the time we were workin’ the paddle and aiming those beautiful twin bows to the nearest shore (thinking how my wife would klill me if we made the evening news as a Coast Guard rescue)! Camera stayed in the port bow hold! It was a cool time.
Cheers!
Tom Buddington