WAVEWALK FISHING KAYAKS BLOG » launching

W Fishing Kayak in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico, By John Castanha

W kayak — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 20:45:05 +0000

We have a house in San Carlos/Guaymas in Sonora, Mexico approximately 150 yards from the water, but getting to it is the challenge: cobblestone streets, rocks, and sandy beach.
I contacted Dennis Vircks of Huntington Beach, CA for details of his overland transport. The “Dennis Vircks W Kayak Dolly” utilizes a Wheeleez (WZ1-42U) low pressure tire, 32” of ¾” thin wall copper pipe (aluminum was not available), 2 trailer hitch pins, and a ratchet tie down.

Paddling feels natural – turning is easy.
Paddling standing up after about 10 minutes on the water. I have never been considered overly athletic, but standing up is do-able. This thing is stable! It would not be a problem to stand up and cast.

Susie, Lele and Nani – “the girls of the Sea of Cortez”.

In the next 2-3 weeks we will be honing our paddling skills, touring, installing the transom mount and testing a 2HP-4stroke, installing flushmount rod holders for trolling, and in general, getting ready for Dorado (Mahi-Mahi) season.

Tight lines and calm seas to all,

John & Susie
Sonora Fishing Kayaks, Tucson, Arizona

Using A Trailer For Kayak Transportation, By Gary Thorberg

W kayak — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:45:10 +0000

I own a small, lightweight trailer that I use for transporting my motorized fishing kayak together with my electric bike.

: Fishing kayak and electric bike attached on trailer

When I transport my W kayak on the trailer, I can launch it directly from the trailer to the boat ramp “boat style” -

: Launching a motorized fishing kayak from a trailer, on a boat ramp

Gary Throberg
Minnyaks
Minnesota

Riding Tropical Storm Irene In The Stand Up Kayak

W kayak — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 00:05:26 +0000

Earlier today we took the W500 kayak to the beach at lake Massapoag, a 1 square mile lake in eastern Massachusetts, on the path of Irene – a tropical storm at that point in time.
The wind was blowing at 35 mph, with long gusts of up to 55 mph, beating the waters of this small lake to waves between 1 and 2 ft high.
Such waves are almost unnoticed when you’re paddling the W500, but paddling standing up against such powerful headwind isn’t easy, as you’ll see in this movie:

Can you jump up and down, and from side to side in the W500? -Absolutely!
Can you fall down with all your weight without losing balance at all, and rise to your feet instantly and with zero effort? -Absolutely!
-Watch this classic video and see for yourself:

The paddler in both videos is middle aged, non athletic, 6 ft tall (1.84 m), and weighs 200 lbs (90.7 kg)- He’s neither a small sized, lightweight guy, nor an athlete who just graduated from college.

The 28.5″ wide W kayak offers unrivaled stability – Much more than any other kayak, including extra wide ones, and even kayaks outfitted with outriggers.
What’s the technical explanation behind such unrivaled stability? –
Read more about stability in fishing kayaks, and the patented invention enabling this super stability >>

True stand up paddling requires a kayak that fulfills a number of basic requirements. The W kayak is the only kayak offering true stand up paddling – Interested to learn more about stand up paddling? – Continue reading >>

W500 Kayak Stand Up Paddling From A Paddler’s Standpoint

W kayak — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 01:25:57 +0000

This is the first W kayak movie shot with a camera mounted on a helmet…

The basic idea is to convey what it feels like to launch and paddle this kayak. I couldn’t resist the temptation to rock the boat a little, to demonstrate some of its stability.

First Impressions From W500 Fishing Kayak – Paul Harrison, Mississippi

W kayak — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 01:16:01 +0000

I’m very satisfied so far.

First trip straight to the Gulf of Mexico beach near Biloxi, MS. Practiced in a protected cove for 30 minutes or so, no problems with launching, beaching, and seated paddling (of course I’ve read all the advice and observations of others). Very stable and secure and comfortable. Will need to practice tight radius turning. Then out past the rock jetty into 1 to 2 ft choppy waves. No problems there either, straight on or side on to the waves … with the wind and waves, or against, no big problems. On way back into the cove did a little standup paddling. Was successful but practice will be needed here too for secure fishing and paddling. Amazingly there were 100s of people at the beach but no other paddlers. Guess they didn’t want to get wet and cold (water still warming up). Not a problem for me.

Next took W500 about 4.5 hrs north of MS coast to a remote wildlife preserve lake filled with cypress trees and logs. Beautiful day. Launched across a pile of floating logs and limbs at the bank and slid right over them without wetting my feet. Did a little fishing with no luck due to muddy water conditions. Great paddling, will need to decide anchor scheme so I can stay on a promising spot with less trouble in wind or current. Can really see that the W500 is comfortable and fun to paddle, but it’s real strength is allowing the average person to do OTHER things on the water like fish, hunt, explore, wildlife & bird watching, camp, etc. It will be great for river and beach cleanup days that are held in our area, due to its mobility, stability, and payload. A lot of fun and scenic river float trips are in our area too that I look forward to.

Paddled the bayou behind my home for the first time today and was able to have a comfortable standup session of about 30 minutes with no problem. Nice to see what is going on out ahead, fish tailing, birds, etc. Great exercise too.

BTW, it’s not very cool but my first kayak paddle is two 5ft (cheap) wooden canoe paddles spliced together, overlapped about 1ft, with two hose clamps. I can adjust the length until I decide what length paddle I really need. Total cost about $6 (already had the two paddles).

thanks … Paul

My W500 fishing kayak at Cypress Grove