WAVEWALK FISHING KAYAKS BLOG » stabilizers

Another Good Day For Wayne Taylor Kayak Bass Fishing In Florida

W kayak — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:12:03 +0000

Fishing for bass has been Wayne’s passion for decades.
However, fishing out of an ordinary fishing kayak was out of the question for him, as it would be for most anglers. Several years ago, when he was 68 years old, he got himself an early W300 model, and outfitted it with a pair of rowing oars – He needed the extra precision in positioning his kayak for casting, and for reeling in the big ones.

Back then, the stabler W500 series was merely at an early research and development stage at Wavewalk.
Having a somehow impaired sense of balance, coupled with a talent for design and craftsmanship, Wayne created a pair of DIY outriggers to fit his his W300 kayak.

Wayne recently wrote us: -”I haven’t made any more modifications to my Wavewalk. It’s set up perfect for me.”

Bass in Fish Net

Three years ago, Wayne sent us this video showing him rowing his W300 kayak with deadly precision, from a fish’ standpoint (or should we say ‘swim point’?…).

Reade more about kayak bass fishing >>

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 >>

Brian’s Folding Outriggers for Motorized Kayak

W kayak — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 22:42:27 +0000

Brian Vickery, from California, is a fisherman and photographer who has special reasons to look for absolute, no-nonsense stability in his kayak, as well as total comfort.

Those of you who’ve visited our blog before already know that Brian has a genius and a passion for kayak outfitting and rigging projects-

Says Brian:

-”I have been away having left shoulder surgery, total replacement, so I am presently thinking of no more paddling for me at all. Dr says “mild” shoulder work in a few months PT time.

I put my W kayak in the water this morning and tried-out the folding amas. Wow!, when I tried my hardest to make it tip , I could not. Just like standing on a concrete floor. Solid, solid as I never thought it would be. That is saying a dickens of a lot, coming from me. I could not budge it at all.

I did find it was a tad hard to keep course though. Once the turn was made tho it kept good tracking. I think that with the two batteries and motor gone, it will sail well with a Genoa jib, and NO mainsail.

Cheers,, Brian”

Brian's sailing W500 Kayak

More on Brian’s electric motor setup for his kayak >>

NEW: read more about motorizing fishing kayaks >>

How to Save Money When Buying a Fishing Kayak

W kayak — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 15:50:44 +0000

Fishing kayaks can be expensive, and when you start adding the cost of all accessories you’ll find they actually cost much more.
However, by buying a Wavewalk fishing kayak you can save a lot of money (up to $1,350) just on accessories:

Rudder: Our kayaks track better than any other kayak, and require no rudder. You save $220 – $300
Kayak Seat: Our W Kayaks are yak-back free, and require no special seat added. You save $80 – $200
Kayak Rack: Our kayaks are easy to cartop and fit any car rack – No need for a special kayak rack. You save $50 – $500.
Outriggers: Our W500 kayaks are stabler and safer than other kayaks that are equipped with outriggers. With the W500 you don’t need outriggers, even with an electric trolling motor. You save $100 – $350.

Rudders are a pain to operate, they slow you down, and get stuck in shallow water and weeds.

Kayak seats are bad for your back, and can turn your kayak fishing trip into an unpleasant experience. They are even likely to get you to quit kayak fishing in the long run, because of back pain and discomfort.

Kayak racks need to be installed on your car rack, and when they’re there you can’t use your car rack to carry other things.

Outriggers are a pain to install, they slow you down, and they limit your kayak’s mobility and maneuverability. Plus they’re one more bulky thing to carry.

BOTTOM LINE: Rudders, yak racks and outriggers are annoying, and kayak seats are bad for you. Aren’t your health and peace of mind priceless?

How Effective Can A Fishing Kayak’s Outriggers Be?

W kayak — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:07:56 +0000

Your fishing kayak’s stability is key to your success and fun in kayak fishing, and the outriggers may help in achieving better stability, but at a price.

By effective we mean how much stability can a pair of outriggers add to your fishing kayak’s initial lateral stability, and what are the drawbacks for using outriggers or that purpose, if any.

First, you need to understand what makes your fishing kayak stable (or unstable), and here is the skinny:

The kayak’s total amount of buoyancy, or roughly its volume is what defines its overall load capacity, or in other words, what weight it can carry without sinking.

All kayaks are symmetrical, which means that every kayak has a longitudinal axis, or center line – It’s the line that divides it in two identical parts: left and right. Each part is buoyant, obviously, and its characteristics are what defines that kayak’s lateral stability. These characteristics are:

1. Buoyancy (roughly the volume of each half), and

2. The distance of that kayak-half’s center of buoyancy from the kayak’s center line.

For this purpose it’s enough to say that the half-kayak’s center of buoyancy is the point at the center of that half-kayak’s mass. If this definition isn’t clear enough, let’s just say that the center of buoyancy is the point that best represents what that half-kayak can do in terms of keeping that side of the kayak from sinking in the water.

To make a long story short, a kayak’s stability can be simply defined by a number that’s the result of multiplying each half’s buoyancy times the distance of its center of buoyancy from the kayak’s center line.

That number would give us a relative answer as to a kayak’s initial stability: The more buoyancy on each side, and the further apart the kayak sides’ centers of buoyancy are – the stabler it is. It’s something that’s easy to understand intuitively, and reading this article about kayak stability will explain to you what makes the W fishing kayak stabler than the widest fishing kayak out there.

Going back to outriggers, what each outrigger does is two things:

1. Increase the buoyancy of each of that kayak’s halves, and

2. Displace the half-kayak’s center of buoyancy further away from the kayak’s center line.

This is why outriggers can increase your fishing kayak’s stability, and the bigger they are, and the more remote from your kayak’s center line – the stabler you’ll be.

And here are the drawbacks of using outriggers in fishing kayaks:

Extra cost – A good pair of outriggers doesn’t come cheap

Lack of efficiency – In order to properly stabilize your fishing kayak, outriggers would have to be attached to its middle section. This is impossible because doing that would prevent you from both paddling and fishing. This is why outriggers are mounted in the back of fishing kayaks, where they cause less disturbance to paddling and fishing, but at a price of offering no extra stability towards the kayak’s bow, and considerably less stability in the area where you sit, paddle and fish (or stand up, if you’re an over optimistic person…)

Extra weight – With its attachment bars a pair or outriggers can weigh a lot, and that comes on top of your fishing kayak, fishing gear and tackle you need to get tom and from the beach.

Extra complexity – In many case you’d have to attach the outriggers before launching, and detach them after beaching. It can take precious time.

Reduced speed – Outriggers generate quite a bit of resistance, especially since their hull speed is much smaller than the main hull’s speed (I.E. they are much shorter than the kayak itself). In addition, outriggers create a windage problem, which can be a nasty experience for you when the wind picks up, and for some reason it tends to do it almost every time you go out fishing…