I have 6 inch floats. Each has a 2kg [about 4.5 lbs] of buoyancy. I have these in a light alloy tube, so they don’t sag.
We use these in a set of 2. They are detachable so can be replaced with the standard flotation modules for calm sea.
I made up 2 sets – one with six buoys on each tube and one with 12 giving 24ks and 48kgs of buoyancy respectively [roughly 52 lbs and 105 lbs].
We have tried the set with 6 buoys each and the W500 floats about 3 inches higher when full of water.
We have yet to try the 12 buoy set.
Dennis,
Wavewalk New Zealand



I have two sons, one 10 and one 8. I put one of them on one end of the cabin, myself in the middle, and the other son on the other end of the cabin. The one sitting behind me faces the opposite direction so he can fish out the back of the boat. When we weren’t casting into the weed beds, we were trolling around the lake. I was the trolling motor and my kids each would put a pole in the water on opposite sides of the boat. This boat is just roomy enough for me to fit myself and the two kids in the boat so we can all go fishing at once. It is incredibly stable. This particular lake is a water ski lake so we often had boat wakes to deal with. Boat wakes make me nervous in a traditional kayak, but they are no concern in the W500.

I took it out for it’s maiden voyage last weekend. I went to Manresa State Beach just outside Watsonville, CA. Anyway, the plan was to go fishing but surf was quite large that day and given my inexperience with the W500, I was worried I’d lose my tackle. So I left all the tackle in the truck and just took the W for a joyride. My 8 year old and I dawned our life jackets and paddled out to sea thru 4 foot waves! The waves were going over the top of our heads. But keeping the W500 pointed straight into them, I was able to safely paddle out thru the waves. I had some water to bail out of the boat but we got thru the surf just fine.
Coming back in, we weren’t so fortunate. We made it all the way to knee deep water (really shallow water) when a wave dumped us. In retrospect, I should have jumped out of the boat sooner. But, practice makes perfect.
Your product proved to be superior to anything else out there. I just needed to learn how to use it.

Sam Wire

Update: Read Sam’s story about his recent fishing trips with his 2 sons >>

Yesterday and today I tested the wavewalk.
I am happy with the W. It is very stable, I went far away from the beach, I enjoyed standing up, I think it’s going to be very important to people who own a Wavewalk, and also the ability to lie down and sunbathe.
It is fast like a normal touring kayak, and to me it is perfect.
I’m not a fisherman, but today I tried trolling. I hooked a big fish, but it broke the wire and ran away!
Danilo

The weather has been very rough for the last month – not cold but continuous storms.
It finally settled yesterday. It is now getting colder but is quite settled.
When I say cold – in this part of the country it never gets very cold. We have 1 or 2 frosts each year but it seldom gets much below a daily maximum of 10 degrees C (50 degrees F).
As a consequence of the storms, I haven’t been able to get out in the sea in the kayak, but all is not lost.

Boxed W fishing kayak on top of Dennis' SUV, New Zealand

I took the W500 out on the Sunday after I received it. I spent part of Saturday making a wheel so that I could push the kayak over the sand.

Dennis' DIY wheel for his W500 fishing kayak

The day was overcast and the sea was rough but I decided that I had to give it a go.
The waves looked small from the shore but 20 yards off shore I struck breaking waves about 2 to 3 feet high. I was really impressed how well the W500 handled them. I would not have taken them on with my SOT.

Out past the breakers was a swell of between 4 and 5 feet, and I was really impressed at how comfortable the kayak was in those conditions. I paddled out about half a mile then parallel to the shore for a while and then headed back in through the surf. I didn’t try standing.

Paddle clips

About a week later, desperate to go fishing, I took the W500 to the local harbour, no joy with fish because the anchor kept dragging in the strong current and strong wind – both in the same direction. However I saw a guy standing up in a board (supping) so thought I would have a go at that. I paddled up wind for a while then stood up and let the wind push me back downwind while I experimented with steering by leaning. Had a great afternoon and came home even happier with the W500.

The weather has been rotten so I have not taken the w500 out for a while until last weekend – I went fishing but not kayak fishing.
I belong to a local surf casting club which has a competition weekend each month.
The May competition was last weekend.
Because of the very rough sea, club member all headed to the local harbour to fish. The harbour is very shallow, and there are only a few places where you can cast into deep water from the shore.

My favourite spot is a toing beach at the bottom of a tall clay bank. At some time someone has cut a short driveway from the top of the bank to the beach so that a small dinghy can be launched there.
The problem with the spot is that there is really only room for 2 people (we all fish 2 rods).

The solution – I loaded my W500 on my ute (pickup), and when I reached the fishing spot I loaded surfcasting rods, sand spikes (rod-holders), bait, waterproof coats, an extra change of warm clothes, fishing box, chair, and enough food to last me through the night, and paddled the W500 across to an island in the harbour. It held all the gear easily and it was an absolute breeze to paddle even in the strong wind that was blowing at the time.
The fishing was wonderful, and although I intended to stay from about 4pm when I arrived to the 4am high tide, I ended up heading home at about 9.30pm.

Fish Dennis caught with the participation of his W kayak...

Limit on this variety in this area is 9 fish. They must be over 27cm (9 inches) to be of legal size, but 30cm (12 inches) to be accepted for weigh in by the surfcasting club. These fish – snapper – are great sport fish. Even the small ones put up a great fight, and they are the most preferred variety for eating in the country.

Dennis' W500

Dennis' anchor trolley

New: Read Dennis’ account of the first time he paddled his W kayak standing up >>
Dennis catching a 100 lbs eagle ray, at night, with his W kayak >>

The W500 S model is a bare bones, economic kayak for paddling in very shallow water – less than 1 ft deep.

We do not recommend using it in deeper water, since it’s the only W kayak model that comes with no flotation at all – not even internal, cast urethane foam in its hull tips. This means that in case of a bad capsize, it could be lost.

However, outfitting the S model with side flotation modules is very easy, even for inexperienced owners.

As for casting urethane foam flotation in its hull tips, it is possible too, although we recommend that only experienced outfitters carry out such a messy project.

The W500 S model is good news for shallow water fly anglers, who sight fish in skinny water and require no rod holders in their kayaks. These hunter-anglers will find in it a a low-cost, super-stable, stand up fly fishing kayak, offering more storage than any other kayak on the planet, and best of all: 100% free from back pain, leg numbness, leg pain and other ailments typical of all sit-in and SOT kayaks that force their operators into infamous the L position.

The W500 GF2e H and GF4e H are the top of the line in saltwater kayak fishing today:

The two models feature only high, deck mounted rod holders (2 and 4, respectively), that put your precious tackle further away from the salt’s corrosive action, thus offering you to fish in choppy saltwater with much splashing and spray around.

No other fishing kayak in the world comes close to putting such a distance between your fishing tackle and the water.

You are free to choose any combination of tall RAM deck mounted rod holders from the following selection:

RAM-119 and RAM-301 tube rod holders, and RAM-114 and RAM-117 rod holders that are equipped with a safety latch.

More info on these deck mounted rod holders >>