WAVEWALK KAYAKS

Sometimes we need to congratulate and even salute W kayak anglers for special achievements, even if those are the result of fishing trips where no kayaks were used…
This is the case with Ben Ciliberto’s amazing catch:

“Had the pleasure of spending two hot days on the Susquehanna river near Wiiliamsport PA with Mike O’Brien chasing carp with a fly rod. July 15th was an amazing , resulting in a lot of action and two beautiful carp– 16 and 18 lbs — taken and released on an O’Brien crayfish pattern.

The difficulty finding a feeding carp, presenting the fly, hooking and playing the strongest of fresh water fish, makes it that much more rewarding — thanks Mike for a most memorable outing!

Ben”

We made it to the lake and recorded some video. This is the first time the wife or I have attempted using the video feature of her Nikon camera.

I hope you can see that using the oars is quite easy and the kayak tracks extremely well. I also like the control that you have with the oars, you can make position adjustments using one oar without putting down your fishing rod. The oars that I am currently using are aluminum 6 1/2 ft. I tried a pair of 5 ft wooden oars and they didn’t work as well for me.

You really get some weird comments from others who have never seen a kayak like this one – some good some not so good. My reaction to those who don’t like it is that – it is different strokes for different folks.

This was the first time my wife had ever been in a kayak and it has been many years since she has been a row boat of any type. She felt very comfortable and did not find the kayak to be unstable.

She had no trouble getting in or out of the kayak and says that it would be great exercise. All of this coming from a woman who will be 62 in Sept. I think that says a lot about your product.

Dave

<< Read Dave’s initial W kayak review

Dave Baumbaugh drove all the way from Pennsylvania to Sharon, Massachusetts, where Wavewalk is located. He wanted to make sure that he won’t be buying the wrong fishing kayak… Upon his arrival Dave took one look at the W500 on display, and said: -”The picture you have on your website isn’t doing justice to this boat!”  Then, Dave declined our offer to take the kayak for a test ride, saying: -”I can see it’s what need just by looking at it.” When we attached the 11.4 foot long W500 on his big pickup truck, the boat looked so small it nearly disappeared, and Dave drove back home with it.

Says Dave:
I am still in awe at how easy this kayak is to handle and how stable it is.
First time in the kayak on the water and I spent about two hours just getting the feel of it. I tried paddling and even stood up and paddled, I think that if I am going to do much of that I’ll need a longer paddle.
I had no problems getting in or out of the kayak and even tried it from a dock and didn’t get wet. All of this was on a lake. My next venture will be to a very large river to see how well it does there. I am anxious to see and feel how the twin hulls react where there is significant current and rocks/boulders.

What really got me going was that I mounted a set of oar locks and now the electric motor guys better look out. It is simply amazing how fast you can go with out a lot of effort.

The one pic is from Easter when we had the family over and as you can see the kids had fun in the kayak. The other pics are so you can see how I attached the oar locks and the stabilizer bar between them.

From Wayne Taylors’ picture on the web site I could see that you placed your locks at the third rib and I used that as a pattern. Since I have the W500 I don’t have the vertical height at the top of the compartment that Wayne’s old W300 had. To compensate for the angles I used a 2X4 and measured in an 3/4 inch from the edge and the used a skill saw set at 45 degree to cut my stock. I also used 1/8 X 2 in aluminum stock as backing material on the outside of the cut 2X4 and inside where the nuts go. All of my material is 12 in long and I ended up with the sides flexing to much. I solved that by using a piece of 1/8 X 2 X 28 1/2 inch aluminum stock and I drilled a 1/2 in hole in each end for the oar locks. That little trick took out all of the hull flex and now I can apply as much pressure as I need when rowing.

I also made a rod holder using a plant stand that straddles the saddle perfectly and slides under the edge of the cockpit.

I have had it out three more times. Once fishing and the others just getting the feel of it, even caught and released some fish (no camera with me). I even tried it in the river and soon learned that the river trips will definitely be warm weather trips. Although, I have yet to take on any water the river was just to swift to row or paddle against it. We’ll see what happens when it comes down a few feet and warms up a little.

Dave Baumbaugh

New: Watch movies of Dave’s fishing kayak rigged with rowing oars >>

Tim Kerr, from upstate NY, wrote for us this great kayak review, and now he’s making his first steps in the movies
Here is what Tim writes about this movie:
-”I had a blast riding the waves in Lake Erie. Reminded me of those Winslow Homer paintings of fisherman. I think this is what the Wavewalk kayak was meant for–a fantastic way to enjoy a summer day along Presque Isle. Now all I need is a waterproof camera!”




Ben Ciliberto is a kayak carp fisherman from Pennsylvania, who got his first W300 last year, and this year ordered two more…

Ben doesn’t like to sit at all in his kayak – He prefers to stand up as much as possible, and that’s why he designed and built this amazing stand-up fishing rig.
Says Ben: -”The rig is great for stability, getting in and out, a rail to grab if you get tipsy, and holds everything – I’ve completed it on all three W kayaks now—third one in half the time.”