Wavewalk Kayaks

As always, Jeff’s kayak fisherman’s mind keeps finding improvements and new ways to rig his W kayak.

Here is Jeff’s latest:

-”I was cleaning up my office this morning and came across this simple plastic TV tray. Hmmm I wondered and headed out back to the W. Not bad this might be something. Without the tall tackle pack in it the thing actually locks in place nicely under the rim providing a broader flat work surface, not to mention handy side pockets.”

As simple and elegant as ever…

Before…
After…

BTW, that kayak is Jeff’s 2008 model.

And in the same spirit, it’s fun to remember a somehow similar idea conceived a couple of years ago by John Earle, a photographer who worked on the cover of the inaugural issue of the MIT Sloan Magazine:

You’re planning to take your W kayak on a fishing or paddling trip in the ocean, and you may be asking yourself what’s going to happen if you have to launch it in big surf, and in such case how to protect yourself from getting wet.
Indeed, if you’re launching in big surf some spray might get the inside of your W kayak wet, and even splash you. This is why all 2008 W Kayak models come outfitted with a preparation for a cockpit cover:
You can use any waterproof fabric or plastic sheet to cover the front part of your W kayak cockpit and thus prevent spray from getting in. Once you’re past the breakers you can easily remove the cover, fold or roll it, and store it in the cockpit or on top of the hulls

This picture shows the cover protecting almost the entire cockpit, leaving some place for you to sit in the back, which is where you want to be when launching in big surf:

This picture shows the cockpit cover protecting just the front part of the cockpit. This is a preferable when you’re positioned in the middle of the cockpit:

Normally, even without a cockpit cover spray shouldn’t be a problem at all since if some spray gets in the water will be drained from the saddle to the bottom of the hulls, and you won’t have to sit on a wet surface.

If you’ve had some bad encounters with big breakers while not using a cockpit cover and there’s too much water in the bottom of the hulls for you to feel comfortable with you can easily drain it using a small bucket or a kayak bilge pump. Then you can dry the hulls completely with a sponge.

Unlike SOT kayaks, the structure of the W kayak enables you to clearly see the bottom of the hulls, and therefore water can’t be there without you perceiving it.

Similarly, when you’re going paddling in fast streams and you want to keep dry you may find the cockpit cover to be useful - without it getting you entrapped in your boat like a traditional kayak spray skirt might.

The W kayak cockpit cover is also useful in case the weather changes suddenly and you get caught in heavy rain, and it offers protection against cold wind.

(Added May 08, 2008) -

One of the typical things that happen with a good design is that after people actually begin using it they discover new advantages it offers, and new things it enables.

The 2008 model has already exceeded our initial expectations by offering two new positions:

Side-saddle , and Riding-over

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Original post:

I guess many have asked themselves what made Wavewalk modify our kayak design in the 2008 models.
The answer is a bit long:
First, we wanted to do counter affect the rising cost of shipping, and cutting two inches from the spray deflector’s top resulted in a 10% reduction in the overall nominal volume of the standard package we ship to the customer.
Second, we’ve noticed that some people preferred a more rigid cockpit rim, so we made it broader, thicker and more robust. Now they got what they wanted.
Third, we wanted to help small children (5-6 year old) paddle without having to stand up, and lowering the spray deflector offers just that.
Fourth, we wanted to make it even easier to step into the cockpit and out of it, and that’s really where one can say ‘the best gets better’.
Fifth, we thought that a deep and narrow hull was a perfect place to drag a powerful and energetic fish into while it’s fighting to get free. Lowering the cockpit rim enables the W kayak fisherman to swiftly ‘drag and drop’ the fish out of the water and into a hull with minimal effort, and let the fish calm down a bit before being taken care of - without causing a mess on the deck or worse - in the fisherman’s lap.
Sixth, we realized that although capsize and deep water re-entries are quite rare we’d better offer the paddler a more comfortable way back in, and again - a lower cockpit rim was the solution.
Seventh, a lower spray deflector enables W paddlers to move the paddle faster from side to side whether they’re canoing or kayaking their W.
Eighth, well, we felt we needed to show something new…

To compensate for the 2″ of protection lost we equipped all 2008 models with a preparation for a cockpit cover.
This means that W paddlers can paddle the 2008 models in the surf or in fast rivers as well as in bad weather while being better protected than they were before.

Yoav