I went to Huntington Harbor on Sat. I had no problems paddling my W500 in the sitting position. I had to paddle thru a deep area to get to a shallow part of the harbor. I paddled around in the sitting position for a while in that area. After I felt comfortable, I stood up and paddled in the standing position (in the shallow area, about 1 to 2 feet deep). On the way back, I had to paddle thru deep areas and paddled in both in the standing and sitting position.
I took it slow, and I found the W to be very stable. I think my experience with SOT, ATV and riding horses helped.
I didn’t take a fishing equipment on my first trip, and will not take any while I’m learning to handle the W. After that I’ll start using the W for offshore fishing.
W loaded on Tundra to head home. My wife made the red flags about 8 years ago that I used to clip to the handles of my SOT while transporting those kayaks.
Note that being an experienced kayak angler and outdoorsman, Alfred didn’t rush to catch the biggest fish out there right after he took his W500 out of the box in which it arrived.
On the contrary, he’s approached his W500 slowly and carefully, and has taken the time to learn how to operate it under safe conditions – as much as possible for someone who lives by the ocean.
Alfred is aware of the fact that since he’s never been in such watercraft before, there are new skills he need to acquire and perfect, and other skills that he already has, which need adaptation and fine-tuning to better serve him in his W500 kayak.
Yoav
Very instructive – I like it when people are being cautious with new gear.
Blue
Nice job on the maiden voyage.
It won’t be long before your sliming the yak good.
Congrats on the new 500, I can’t wait to see more.
Tight Lines and Paddle Safe all.
Rox