I’m feeling a little guilty that I didn’t have any exciting adventures to relate.
The first time out, I went to a lake with a shallow beach where I figured I could walk back to shore if I dumped the boat. I started out cautiously, right from shore, without getting my feet wet. I paddled in the shallow area for less than a minute, then headed down the lake (how’s that for quickly gaining confidence?), then all the way up to the other end (a mile?), then back down the . . . oh, oh! The breeze has kicked up. This could be trouble. A couple of mental adjustments and I was paddling into the wind and doing OK. Remember, I’m not a paddler, not ever a rowboat. I rested a bit in the lee of the eastern lakeshore then headed back to the beach 1/2-way down the lake where I dis-embarked, without getting my feet wet.
So far, nothing out of the ordinary. I initially found the boat to be tender, but that was me, not the boat. Anything that only weighs 59 pounds is bound to be tender when it’s reacting to a 235 pound novice, and the more I use it, the more compatible we become. It took a bit of adjustment to handle the paddle, which I imagine every new paddler experiences. And even though I got a couple of scares out there on the lake by digging in too hard, I didn’t dump the boat.
I haven’t been chasing fish. I realized I’m not going to be an avid fisherman but the lure is still there, and watching Fisheries pour three tanker trucks of keeper size trout into the lake whets the appetite.

I’ve constructed a rack for my car using the trailer hitch and a roof rack on the 2 door coupe. The T-bar trailer hitch rack is connect to the roof rack by two 2 X 6 spruce(strong and light) boards. Because the car is low, it is an easy chore for me to lift one end of the kayak onto the back rack and then lift and slide the boat into place on the racks. I have the kayak, strapped to the roof rack ,hanging above the car in the garage. Just lower the whole setup onto the car, screw it down and voila!

When I’ve put a few more miles on the boat and had some experience with the different situations that I’m sure will pop up, I’ll pass them on to you.

Jim



Read Gary’s full review of his rigged W500 fishing kayak >>

Gary writes:

“I took the W500 out for her maiden voyage this afternoon on our 14 acre lake.  The W500 was easy to launch and my feet stayed completely dry.  The launching area we have is totally unimproved and is rather steep.  Neither the steepness, nor the unimproved nature caused any problem with launching.  Landing was another story – I learned how to sit in the very back of the kayak to lift the front pontoons up out of the water.  On the 5th attempt I was able to drive the W500 far enough up onto the bank for me to get out of it – again with totally dry feet.  The 5 attempts were not caused by the Kayak not performing rather my timidity on getting far enough back on the W500 to adequately lift the front end sufficiently.

I had initially thought I might want to add an electric motor for powered use – NOT ANYMORE!!  Paddling the W500 is so easy and even going into a 10mph breeze it was almost effortless.  For those who say the W500 won’t glide and won’t track straight I say you are FULL OF HOOEY!!  Paddling couldn’t have been easier – in fact too easy – I’d like a paddle with a blade twice the size of the one I purchased.  It almost felt like I was overpowering the paddle blade and not being efficient.  I got the 9 foot paddle and I wish I had gotten the longer one.

Getting used to being in the W500 took about 1 lap around the lake (approximately a mile).  I learned quickly that when you first are starting and the kayak seems “Tippy”, grabbing onto the sides of the kayak is NO HELP.  Raising my hands and bringing the paddle up to my chest stabilized the W500 quickly.  I also found that as I became accustomed to being in the W500 (its like learning to ride a bike again) that if I would concentrate looking where I wanted to go or even looking to see if I could see fish ahead of me made all the initial “Tippiness” go away quickly. Looking at the kayak is of no help whatsoever.   I can say I spent over a hour in the W500 and I never got wet – I also haven’t tried standing up, but I have gotten comfortable changing where I was sitting, sliding up and down the seat, etc.  Don’t worry – sliding up towards the bow or all the way back to the stern will not cause any problem whatsoever and the kayak will not flip.  Trust me, I am a BIG guy (6’2 1/2″ and about 280 lbs), and if it won’t flip for me, it won’t for you either. Someone as big as 325-350 lbs should be safe in the W500, and no you won’t sit so far down in the waterline as to take on water.  Its not going to happen.  The Specs say the max load is 360 lbs – I say hooey – it will handle much more than that.

Now comes the rigging of the W500 for fishing.  I purchased 2 flush mount pole holders on eBay – no not the slanted ones like come on the W500 if you desire, but 90 degree ones.  I plan on using one very far back on one of the “stern” pontoons as the holder for my fluorescent flag and 360 degree light mast (all in one).  I am getting one of TekTite’s lights and installing it inside a piece of 1 1/4″ PVC (actually 3 pieces about 18 inches long each that will connect together using 1 1/4″ PVC fittings.  The flag will mount on a piece of galvanized rod that goes through holes bored through the PVC.  My fishing pole holders will be above deck mounts that are removable so if I am  fly fishing I can remove the ones which would tangle my fly line.  I am still trying to figure out how and where to mount my hand held GPS and where to mount my Fishin Buddy II depth and fish finder.

My wife bought me one of the huge frozen food bags from Costco to use as my fish bag.  Last I have to figure out what I am going to do for anchoring and which kind of boxes to use for storing lures, etc.  Rods will store easily.  The W500 has a large amount of storage space, it just will be a search to find the boxes, etc that are the correct size to fit the storage.

Pictures will be coming soon and please wish me good luck on trying to stand up the first time.

I have also figured out that I am going to have to get one of those automatic inflatable life jackets.  My regular one is TOO WARM for the amount of exercise you can get paddling a kayak.  My shirt was wet when I was done.  Wet means COLD in the winter, and I plan to use the W500 all winter.

Gary Johnson”

Read Gary’s full review of his rigged W500 fishing kayak >>

-”I wish it was from my Wavewalk” he says

More on Brandon and his W Kayak: Brandon’s F2 -including pictures of fish he caught from it