Wavewalk Kayaks

Tagging the W as a canoe would be as technically correct as labeling it a kayak or a catamaran… It’s all of these and it’s neither, or shall we say that it’s basically a new watercraft with some canoe, kayak, and catamaran ‘genes’…

I’ve already written posts about canoing the W, and here are some new pictures:

The canoe paddle made from half a 9′ Mohawk double blade paddle outfitted with a T grip accessory is longer than most canoe paddles are, but it’s still a bit short for paddling standing in full comfort - if you’re tallish. We hope to be able to offer an extension for it soon.

And this is how you make a sharp turn - leftward in this case:

Leaning into the turn:

The left hull carries most of the W canoeist’s weight, and therefore it sinks deeper than the right hull, which carries little weight.

Being more submerged the left hull generates more drag than the right one, and thus it acts both as a rudder and a ‘pivot’ enabling sharp turns - that is relatively to this boat, which as a catamaran is a natural tracker. -The paddler paddles on the right side.

Going with your kayak over oyster beds, shells, sharp rocks, broken glass, metal debris and even concrete ramps can get its hull scratched. In most cases such scratches are negligible, and you need not pay attention to them. However, if you want to avoid getting your kayak scratched you’d better watch out for signs of such potential hazards in the water - especially if you’re fishing or paddling in shallow water. Needless to mention is the fact that fishing and paddling from a higher position than ordinary kayaks offer you can help a lot in detecting potential problems in the water ahead of time, that is before hitting them. This is yet another advantage the W Kayak offers you, and W Kayak paddlers and fishermen indeed stand up in their boats from time to time to look at the water around them.

When it comes to repairing scratches in polyethylene kayaks the methods are similar and depend on how deep the scratch is.

For superficial scratches we don’t recommend any treatment, but if you insist on doing something you can just flame the scratch using a hand-held, propane blow torch. You should apply the flame over the scratch slowly and cautiously until it disappears or diminishes considerably, while being careful not to overheat the area so as not to cause a local deformation. In any case, flaming alters the color of the polyethylene to a darker hue.

For deep scratches or ‘grooves’ it’s better to heat the end of a metal spoon and apply the hot tip gently and cautiously along the scratch, thus ‘welding’ the surface. Here too, you need to be careful not to overheat the area you’re working on since this would cause the polyethylene to deform. You’d need to protect your hand that’s holding the spoon with a thick glove since metal conducts heat and you might get your fingers burnt.

Keep the work area free of any flammable materials and make sure you’re not accidentally directing the flame at yourself or at other people. Don’t allow children or pets nearby.

If you’re not experienced in working with a propane blow torch you may want to reconsider such a project because it can be dangerous.

As for cracks in a polyethylene kayak, those are rare, and they must be properly fixed. Just flaming or welding won’t be enough to fix a crack, and you’d need to patch it - preferably with an internal patch that you’ll weld over the entire area. This is necessary since even if welded the hull in the cracked area will be weaker than in other places, and it could reopen while you’re paddling your kayak or fishing from it - with dire consequences. If the crack appears above waterline you can reinforce the patch with rivets, but we recommend not to use rivets when making repairs below waterline because we think that drilling holes in the hull below waterline is simple too risky in the long run.



A prospecting customer recently asked me if we offer oarlocks for the W.

We offer neither oarlocks nor oars because there’s very little demand for rowing solutions, as most people nowadays prefer paddling.

Rowing used to be a popular recreational and sporting activity in the 19th century, and many fishermen still use a wide variety of small rowing boats and watercrafts for fishing. Practically speaking, paddling has too many advantages over rowing for anyone to consider switching from paddling back to rowing for applications such as touring or fishing, especially in the ocean or fast rivers.

However, rowing offers a type of physical exercise that paddling doesn’t, and it shouldn’t be completely ruled out as an option, especially on flat water.

It’s possible to install oarlocks in the W kayak and turn it into a nice rowing boat: Not as fast as one of those long rowing shells, of course, but very stable and comfortable. You’ll be able to launch, row and beach it where rowing shells are not an option, and you’ll be able to row standing as well - I tried it and it’s fun!

Those who know the difference are likely to ask themselves why bring up such a comparison when flotation and stabilization have nothing to do with each other. Well, this is true but some people tend to be confused by the looks of side flotation in certain canoe models and in the W Kayak.

For the benefit of these people we need to explain that indeed flotation and stabilization are two different functions:

Canoes and kayak are outfitted with flotation in various forms - from inflatable bags to closed cell foam. The flotation element/s is lighter than water and impermeable, and its purpose is primarily to prevent more water from getting into the boat in case it is strongly leaning sideways or turned over. Flotation can be applied inside and/or around the boat, and it is basically intended to serve as means of recovery.

Stabilizers are floating devices on the boat’s sides, and they touch the water nearly all the time. Their purpose is to prevent the boat from leaning too much sideways, and they do it by offering extra lateral buoyancy. Stabilizers contribute both to the boat’s initial (primary) and secondary stability, meaning that they enhance both the feeling of lateral stability as well as the actual stability of the boat. Stabilizers are also called outriggers and sponsons, and they act as means of accident prevention as well as comfort enhancers. Large size outriggers can in some cases increase the canoe or kayak’s load capacity.

The side flotation modules on the W Kayak’s sides are not stabilizers, and they never touch the water in normal conditions. Their function is the help preventing the W Kayak from completely overturning in case it capsizes, and simply help it float above the surface if it did overturn and water got in. In such case the location of the side flotation modules helps turning the boat back.

If the W Kayaker or kayak fisherman bailed out quickly enough and the boat leans strongly on its side without him/her pulling it down the presence of a flotation module under its side can make the W right itself without help.

A standup paddling board surfer asked me whether he could use his single blade, extra long standup paddle-surfing paddle for paddling a W Kayak. -Standup padding surf boards is becoming trendy in the board surfing community, and I find this question to be interesting.

Surfers’ paddles are single bladed and look like extremely long canoe paddles. They are usually made several inches longer than the paddle-surfer himself, and would work well for standup paddling a W Kayak. However, using such a long paddle would be uncomfortable in the lower W positions, which are riding (mounted), sitting and kneeling.

The picture below shows me demonstrating standup paddling in a W kayak using a single blade paddle made from one part of a Mohawk two-pieces double blade paddle equipped with the T-grip extension handle.

These single blade canoe paddles (or shortish standup paddle surfing paddles, if you prefer…) are 5′ 3″ or 5′ 1″ long, which makes them slightly longer than regular canoe paddles are. They are good enough for standup paddling - unless you’re exceptionally tall (I’m 6′). However, since these paddles are shorter than the surfers’ standup paddles they also work very well for the lower paddling positions, that is as a regular ‘canoeing’ paddles, which is what they were basically designed for.

Yoav

The W is a great boat for kayaking and kayak fishing, but it’s also easy to paddle with single-blade (canoe) paddles - both in solo and tandem modes.

The 9 ft long, two-pieces, dual blade Mohawk paddle we offer can be turned into two canoe paddles using the T-grip kit: Each of the two canoe paddles is good for canoeing in the lower positions (Riding, Sitting and Kneeling) and long enough for paddling standing up, as shown in this picture:

Paddling with a canoe paddle is fun, and it can be easier than kayaking when there are two paddlers in the cockpit.

The W tracks better than canoes, and it is stabler than canoes its size, which makes it easy to use in canoeing applications - even for small children:

When it comes to fishing, a short, single blade paddle offers the advantage that you can simply drop it in the cockpit as soon as you need to grab a fishing rod that’s showing signs of action… -You don’t even have to find paddle holders.

Another advantage that a canoe paddle offers is when you need to paddle through areas with many low hanging branches that could make handling a kayak paddle more difficult.

Although it’s still winter, which means that here in New England we can’t do much paddling or fishing, it’s nice to remember that in a few months we’ll be able to hop back into our W kayaks and ride them into the waves…

Brandon, a W Kayak fisherman from Cape Cod landed this 37 inch, 30 lb striper off a beach in Chatham, MA, casting only 30 feet from shore.

-”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

People sometime ask whether the W kayak offered a good solution for disabled people and people with severe problems in their legs who would like to go paddling and kayak fishing.

The answer is that the W Kayak is capable of offering unsurpassed stability due to the fact that it enables paddlers and fishermen to use the full potential of their legs for balancing.
If a paddler or fisherman has a problem that prevents them from walking it’s unlikely that they’ll be able to use their legs for balancing their W kayaks, not only in the standing position but in all other positions as well.
As its product info page states, the W may not even fit people with serious knee problems - for the same reason.

On the other hand, people who suffer from back problems that prevent them from using ordinary kayaks may find the W kayak easy to get into and out from, and they are likely to appreciate the comfort offered by its 14.5″ high saddle.

Sometime, on a fishing, paddling or camping trip you may have to leave your W Kayak outside overnight.  Naturally, you’d like to secure it against theft, as much as possible.
The easiest and most effective way to do it is by using a long chain and two padlocks:
You take the chain and make a tight, vertical loop around the cockpit - between the hulls. You close the loop with one padlock, and tie the remaining part of the chain in a loop around a tree, a fence or your car rack, then secure it with the second padlock.
Sometime you can secure both loops with a single padlock, or better - use both padlocks as double security for both loops.

Nothing can prevent determined thieves from cutting the chain or breaking the padlock, but this system would require some premeditated effort on their part.

It’s also recommended to detach all deck mounted rod holders and other removable gear, and keep it with you together with your paddle, fishing tackle and personal equipment.

You can go paddling in tandem in your W Kayak, and by tandem we mean two adults, providing none of you is a big person (see Wavewalk website for details). However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you can go fishing in tandem, and again, by tandem we mean two adults onboard.
Although it may be possible we would hesitate to recommend it for the following reasons:

First, paddling requires less personal workspace than fishing does, especially if one paddler or both use single blade (canoe) paddles, which are shorter than double blade ones.

Second, paddling is a regular and repetitive action with little or no surprises. Even if you paddle in moving water (E.G. river, surf) you can assign strict roles to each of the paddlers, and by doing so increase your efficiency and minimize unpleasant surprises.
In comparison, kayak fishing can turn chaotic instantly if one of the crew needs to fight a big or strong fish. It’s important to remember that when two persons are onboard the W Kayak is less stable than when only one person is.

Third, fishing involves the use of hooks and other sharp objects. If both fishermen are experienced the risk is minimal, but if they are novices there is a risk that someone might be accidentally injured.

Fourth, fishing sometime requires a lot of additional gear, and with a second adult fisherman onboard the storage space in the W Kayak becomes considerably smaller.

As for fishing in a tandem composed of one adult and one child, it is a very rewarding experience that many W Kayak owners enjoy on a regular basis.

A big and powerful fish may be smaller and altogether weaker than you, but being in its natural element while you’re not gives it an advantage that may compromise your kayak’s stability, get you somewhere that you don’t necessarily want to go to in long a ’sleigh ride’, or make you lose the fish because you’re too busy controlling your kayak.

This is a maneuver that Jeff McGovern and myself developed together as a ‘think tank’ and ‘R&D team’. It’s called the ‘Combat Position’, and it’s possible to execute only in a W Kayak:

Upon realizing that you have a business with a big fish you need to swiftly reposition yourself along the saddle in the riding position (’Mounted’) and as forward in the cockpit as possible, with your knees tucked into the front hull tip openings - see ‘1′ in the illustration below.
As a result of this change in weight distribution your W kayak’s bow will dip in the water (see ‘2′) while the stern will come out of the water (see ‘3′).

In this position your W kayak will be ‘planted’ in the water and offer maximum resistance to unwanted change, whether such change is tilting sideways or going forward.
Being in this position will free you from the need to balance your kayak while you’re fighting the fish, and let you focus on your fish whose capability to outmaneuver you was reduced to almost zero.

All the fish could do now is swim forward or sideways, and since your W kayak will generate a lot of drag in this position the fish will soon get tired and become less of a problem to reel in.

Imagine you have a big boat, one that’s too big to beach. Well, you may actually own such a boat, and in such case you should be really interested in reading this post…
Obviously, you’d need to tender this big boat with some kind of small boat, usually a dinghy.
Why a dinghy? Because you need the thing to be really stable, protect you well, and enable you to carry provisions on board. For these reasons a traditional SOT or sit-in kayak might prove to be a bit problematic.

You may also want to use the little auxiliary boat just for fun and relaxation - maybe for paddling, or to go fishing in shallow waters. In this case the classic dinghy might be a bit awkward because rowing is OK for a short time if you really have to do it, but most people consider paddling to be more fun.

So, what’s the solution?

Read Cap’n Ron’s story about the beautiful ‘Ninja’ - his 42′ sailing boat, and the little green W Kayak that tenders it.

Sometime you feel like trolling - just dragging your fishing lines in the water along a known or new course, and you don’t feel like doing it paddling.
In such case it’s really easy to outfit your W kayak with an electric trolling motor. If you choose a basic model it could cost less than $100, with the deep cycle marine battery and charger you could reach $250.

A weaker motor would drain your battery more slowly. Make sure the battery you’re planning to buy fits at the bottom of the hull, where it would not destabilize your W kayak.

Attaching the motor to your W kayak is quite easy:
You can make a transom style preparation for a mount from a simple wooden board and four bolts, as shown in this illustration. Just drill, attach the board and fix the motor to it using the standard transom mount that comes with your motor.

There’s something really enjoyable about being to paddle your W kayak standing - It adds another dimension to your experience, and makes you view the world around a little differently.
Just imagine going down a snowy slope on a snowboard or skis for the first time after all your life you’ve been used just to sledding.
Except there’s a little bit more to paddling standing because you’re doing something that’s been not only impossible but forbidden as well…
As for jumping in your W kayak, that’s something that I can find no parallel to.

I feel a little sorry for some kayak fishermen who claim they can fish standing on top of their SOT kayaks:
-Can they do it when the water gets choppy? (No)
-Can they do it if there’s a strong wind blowing? (No)
-Can they do it in full confidence (No)
-What happens if they lose balance (They inevitably go overboard)
-Why would anyone want to try standing on a SOT when it requires so much attention just to keep your balance? (Beats me)

Yoav

This little video might take a few seconds to appear:

In a nutshell, the speed of this 25″ wide, 124″ long W kayak is comparable to that of 12′-13′ monohull kayaks, depending on their design: Fishing kayaks are normally much wider than other kayaks, and therefore slower.
This figure is the result of many tests we ran over the years, and many paddlers including amateurs, professionals and customers have confirmed it independently.

It’s important to remember that when comparing the speed of two boats you need to be proficient in paddling both of them. For example, it would be plain stupid to ask a canoeist who has never paddled a kayak before to evaluate the speed of a 20′ long racing kayak… Similarly, you don’t expect a sea kayaker to be able to appreciate the speed of a fast canoe if he or she has no canoing experience at all.
Therefore, before you try to check how fast your W kayak can go you have to spend the time necessary to become a proficient W paddler, and that can’t happen in a day since W canoing is somehow different from regular canoing, and W kayaking is very different from regular kayaking.
Expect the expectable: There’s a learning curve in this process, as there is one for any new activity you’re undertaking.

Note that the smaller the boat the harder it’s penalized for extra weight - Don’t overload your W kayak.

In case you want to join a group of experienced sea kayakers on a trip you should know that fast touring kayaks are narrow and usually over 16′ long, which means they are likely to go faster than your 10′ W.

This is a link to a long technical article on this subject: http://www.wavewalk.com/KAYAK_SPEED_ARTICLE.html

Yoav

By ‘tandem’ we mean two adults, since paddling with a child onboard is less of a challenge, at least in the W kayak.

A lot has been said about kayaking in tandem, and it usually confirms the observation that kayaks are basically meant to be solo boats more than anything else…

However, paddling in tandem can be fun and rewarding - if it’s done properly.

First, you need to address the problem of balance, especially if your partner is not experienced in W kayaking (assuming you’re a proficient W kayaker yourself). The way to do it is mount (ride) the back of the saddle and then let your partner in (slowly) and position himself or herself as forward as possible - in the riding position as well.
You will probably need to compensate for your partner’s lack of experience by taking extra care of balancing the boat yourself - at least in the beginning.

The second problem is synchronizing your paddle strokes. It’s less of a problem if both of you are using canoe paddles, or if the front paddler is using a canoe paddle and you are using a double blade one.
If both paddlers are using double blade paddles the front paddler should just make slow strokes, switching regularly from left to right, regardless of tracking, turning etc. The back paddler’s paddle should follow the front paddle in parallel, touching the water a fraction of a second after the front one did, and getting out immediately after the front one.
The back paddler is also the de facto skipper, and he or she should take care of tracking, turning etc… This task can be quite demanding, especially in moving water, and this is why you’d better practice tandem W paddling on flat water first.
It is very helpful to be aware of the possibilities offered by the extra long W paddle in terms of controlling the length and direction of the stroke, J strokes etc.

This video shows a couple of W kayakers paddling in tandem in the surf - Needless to remind the viewer that both of them have some experience in W kayaking.

Yoav

Seal launching can be a good solution if you don’t want to spend too much time looking for a better spot to start your paddling or fishing trip from. You can do it just for fun too.
This video shows an 8 year old seal launching his W kayak from a steep river bank. Obviously, if an adult launched from the same spot the splash would have been huge and some water would have gotten in through the open cockpit. Therefore, the kayaker or fisherman planning to venture into seal launching should cover the front part of the cockpit, at least for the launch.
We advise you to start learning to seal launch on a less steep slope, and slide over a shorter distance… You can seal launch from a dock or a deck too.

Also, leaving your cellphone, camera, GPS and fishing gear on shore the first time would be more prudent - stuff happens…

Yoav

A kayak is a small, personal boat designed for passengers to propel it with double blade paddles.

This definition satisfies hundreds of manufacturers and millions of people who enjoy using their sit-on-top (SOT) or sit-in, inflatable, folding or rigid, monohull, tunnel hull, outrigger or twinhull kayaks.
It would seem too inclusive for a small group of kayakers who believe that only kayaks designed to look like modern versions of the traditional Inuit boats are ‘real’ kayaks, but since this outdated view is becoming a rarity I’d rather not elaborate on it in this post*

Is the W really a kayak?
Well, as long as most people call it a kayak it is one, although it performs perfectly as a canoe**
However, people who call it a catamaran would not be wrong, and neither would those who see in it a new class of boats.

It is correct to call this boat a kayak since it covers a range of typical kayaking applications such as kayak touring, kayak fishing and kayak surfing.
However, it’s also used for other, new applications such as standup paddling, standup kayak surfing and standup kayak fishing, and it offers a new position called Riding (or ‘Mounted’) so it represents a new class of boats.
This new boat class that we call W is based on a patented technology explained in and protected by a U.S. utility patent. Being granted a utility patent means that it is recognized to be a new invention in the full sense of the word and not just another original boat design (I.E. outline) that’s protected by copyright or a design patent.

Wavewalk’s 2008 W Kayak models are the second generation of the first commercial W boat design out of thousands of other potential W designs based in this invention.

Yoav

*These issues and others are discussed in this article: http://www.wavewalk.com/KAYAK%20SEAWORTHINESS.html

** ‘Canoe’ even in the narrower sense of a small boat designed for passengers to propel it with single blade paddles.

http://www.wavewalk.com

Some activities like sailing and fast motorized boating require extra stability.
Products called ‘kayak sail’ are of little practical use because you can’t use them to go upwind, which is your main reason for using a sail in the first place.
Therefore, if you’re thinking about W kayak sailing you’d need a canoe or dinghy sailing rig that can take you upwind and is powerful enough to make sailing fun. Because it’s powerful, such rig requires a stable boat, and that’s where the outrigger/s solution can be applied.

Similarly, you can outfit your W kayak with a small electric motor, in which case it would not necessarily require extra stability.
However, if you’re planning to motorize your W kayak with a powerful gas engine (1.5 horsepower and up) you’d need to consider increasing your boat’s stability because when going at high speed it would become unstable.

Generally speaking, adding a pair of outriggers provides more stability, but a single outrigger can offer sufficient stability while being more practical in other ways.
The first problem with having an outrigger on each side of the boat is that in certain cases it limits the passengers’ access to and from the cockpit, for example when docking.
The second problem is that if you’re fishing an outrigger can come in the way of your fishing lines, and in case you have outriggers on both sides your freedom to cast all around the boat will be limited.
For these reasons we recommend using a single, large size outrigger rather than two small ones.
Such outrigger should be as long as possible so as to add minimal drag. It should also be voluminous enough to provide the buoyancy your W kayak needs to be stable even in extreme cases. Being heavy enough and placed away from the main hull/s will make it useful when the boat leans to the other side. The outrigger’s hull should not be as high as the hull in order to prevent the boat from leaning on its side.
The distance between the outrigger and the boat should allow you to paddle comfortably - we recommend at least 4 feet (120 cm).
This illustration represents a good single outrigger solution:

Yoav