Wavewalk Kayaks

Rod Ratzlaff, a Colorado kayaker and eclectic outdoorsman, got his W500 earlier this year, and we already published his ‘first impression’ kayak review on this blog.
Since then, Rod wrote a full featured article about his W500 kayak, and kindly contributed a copy to our website.

Rod’s article has insightful observations and reflections, great pictures, and interesting links, including to his own website that’s definitely worth visiting.

Rod and his wife Toni worked together on some unique modifications and outfitting projects, including a sophisticated rudder system - Rod needs it when he sails his W500 with an umbrella! (you must see that!), a truly amazing spray deck (fairing) and an equally amazing cockpit cover, a great looking seat pad, a portable electric motor, and other smart and artistic items…

My favorite work of art is the W logo sewn on the spray deck

Yoav

What is Fishability?

Dictionaries define fishable as an adjective meaning ‘that may be fished in’. By extension, the noun fishability can be used to describe the usefulness of a fishing craft for catching fish, from the angler’s well being and performance standpoints.

Basically, you can catch fish just sitting on a log in the middle of a pond, or a river - so being able to cast a line and catch fish from some floating object doesn’t automatically mean it scores high in fishability. Similarly, the fact you’re catching fish from your kayak, and you know other anglers who fish from kayaks, doesn’t imply your kayak or similar ones score high in fishability. In fact, they might score very low.

How to Measure Fishability?

Different anglers require different things from a fishing boat, and value different things when they rank the qualities of a fishing kayak. Such attributes and priorities can be subjective, but it’s possible to use them as well as professional design standards to create a universal fishability score system.

The Fishability Score System

Since fishability is a multidimensional notion, a fishability score should refer to the different factors that contribute to the kayak’s fishability according to their relative importance.

However, since little data are available about anglers’ exact preferences, such score system should not be portrayed as scientifically accurate, and therefore should not use numbers or other standard grading method.

Fishability Factors

Stability

Fishing kayaks are wider than average kayaks are - anyone can see that. The reason for is that being wider makes sit-in and sot kayaks more stable, and stability is a basic, very important attribute that any fishing kayak should offer. The problem is that being wide doesn’t necessarily make a sit-in or SOT fishing kayak stable enough. In other words, those fishing kayaks’ fishability is diminished by the fact they are not stable enough for most anglers to feel fully confident while fishing from them. This is why you’ll see an increasing number of sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks outfitted with outriggers, and other sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks who are excessively wide - to a point where paddling them becomes too difficult, even with a rudder.

When stability is concerned, W fishing kayaks score much higher in fishability than any other fishing kayak does, whether sit-in or SOT. It’s possible to say that W kayaks are the only kayaks that are stable enough for fishing.

Comfort

Comfort in the ergonomic sense is by far the most important attribute a fishing kayak has to offer, and the main factor which determines its fishability. This is because kayak fishing is practiced as a sport, and a leisure activity, that is for fun. As such, it is required to enable a pleasant, relaxed and non-painful fishing experience to the user, and that’s where sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks fail completely. The reason for this failure is that all sit-in and SOT kayaks feature the same sitting arrangement comprising a seat and footrests, that lock their users in a single, uncomfortable, non-ergonomic posture called the L-Position, without offering them a chance to get some relief by switching to other positions. This leads to a range of undesirable physical sensations ranging from fatigue and discomfort to leg numbness, leg pain, butt pain, and back pain (yak-back). In some cases the impact can be back injuries.

Another discomfort factor is the wet ride: Being forced to paddle and fish while getting continuously splashed and sprayed isn’t acceptable for many anglers, who won’t fish from sit-in and SOT kayaks for this reason.

These ergonomic problems are obvious, and most people perceive them as a turnoff albeit the efforts of kayak manufacturers and vendors to play them down and dismiss them. As a result of these problems, not too many anglers are drawn to kayak fishing, and out of those who start practicing this sport many end up quitting - sooner or later.

In other words, sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks’ fishability score is very low, if only for these reasons. In contrast, W fishing kayaks feature a comfortable saddle offering multiple, interchangeable positions, including standing and full stretching. This is why W kayaks are the only ergonomic fishing kayaks, and therefore the only truly fishable kayaks in the long run.

Deck and Cockpit Functionality

Sit-in kayaks have tiny, restrictive, and therefore less than adequate cockpits, and SOT kayaks feature no cockpit at all, since in essence they are just paddle boards outfitted with backrests and footrests. This greatly reduces these kayaks’ fishability, since it makes it hard for anglers to fish out of them comfortably when handling gear, tackle and fish are concerned.

Remember: In order to score high in fishability, a boat or kayak should feel great to fish from, and ‘possible to fish from’‘ simply isn’t enough.  The only fishing kayaks that feature a real, full size cockpit and deck are W kayaks, and this is why they are truly fishable.

Storage

Fishing requires gear and tackle, as well as space for storing fish. Sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks feature hatches, which are too small, not absolutely watertight, and hardly accessible to the angler once he or she is seated in the kayak.

This is clearly unacceptable in fishability terms, and the golden standard is set by W fishing kayaks that offer plenty of internal, dry, and always accessible storage space.

Mobility

Mobility is about being able to start a fishing trip anywhere, go wherever you feel like, and beach whenever and wherever you want.

When compared to most bigger boats, fishing kayaks offer advantages in accessing certain spots, mainly in shallow water, and obviously in no-motor zones.  Still, sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks don’t offer the same degree of mobility that W fishing kayaks offer, because W kayaks enable launching and beaching in places where launching and beaching other kayaks is too hard. In addition, while going over obstacles present an absolute barrier to other kayaks, W kayaks offer ways to overcome such restrictions in mobility.

It terms of fishability, W kayaks score considerably higher than sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks.

As for pedal-driven fishing kayaks, those score even lower than regular, paddle activated sit-in and SOT kayaks.

Stand Up Fishing and Paddling

Being able to fish while standing up is an important aspect in evaluating a boat’s fishability, simply because standing up is natural, and especially desirable if you have you spend long hours fishing seated.

While certain kayak manufacturers claim some of the sit-in and SOT kayaks models they offer are suitable for stand up kayak fishing, nothing could be further from the truth: Some small stature, athletic people may be able to stand on one of those kayaks, and even cast lines, but this is far from being enough to have any of those kayaks qualify for stand up kayak fishing, because of serious safety issues:

When you stand in or on a small boat you will inevitably lose balance - sooner or later, and there are many things that can cause you to lose balance, including a moment of inattention, and catching a fish… So this is not a matter of if, but rather of when. And when anglers attempting to fish standing in a sit-in kayak or on a SOT kayak lose their balance, they fall overboard, and can lose some of their fishing gear and tackle. The result of such probable accident can vary from ‘unpleasant experience’ to drowning.

Fishing standing from a sit-in or SOT kayak is hazardous, and so is paddling standing in them, and therefore these boats score zero in stand-up fishing and paddling.

In contrast, W fishing kayaks are not only much stabler than sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks, but they also feature a 14 inch high saddle. This means that a paddler or angler standing in a W kayak and loses balance is likely to fall down on the saddle, in the most stable riding position, and avoid an accident in most cases, as well as losing fishing gear.

Tracking

Tracking is a factor that’s not related directly to fishing, as it can be measured only when the angler is paddling. However, we think it should be included in the fishability score system since it is a critical factor in paddling, and by that also affects both the kayak’s range of operation as well as it safety: A kayak that tracks poorly might become too hard to paddle in strong wind, and get out of control as the paddler suffers from exhaustion.

Sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks track very poorly, to a point where most of them require their owners to outfit them with rudder systems. Such systems are by no means ideal solutions, as they demand constant attention, and impede the kayak. A rudders might become altogether unusable in shallow water, and leave anglers struggling to control their kayaks in strong wind without any assistance. that is to say that sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks are prone to windage problems, and score very low in this fishability factor.

In comparison, W kayaks track exceptionally well, both in calm weather as in strong wind, regardless of the direction from which the wind is blowing. W kayaks require no rudder at all, since anglers who paddle them dispose of a range of effective means to control their directional stability (I.E. tracking) through changing location along the saddle, and by leaning into the wind.

This ability makes W fishing kayaks score high in the Tracking factor on the fishability score system.

W kayakers usually report excellent performance of their boats under wind, mainly because it tracks well and offers various means for power-paddling and counter-affecting the wind.

Here are some tips that can improve your W kayak’s performance when you’re paddling in strong wind:

1. Paddle only in the Riding Position, and lean a bit forward, with your knees lower than your hips - That would give you extra power.

2. Paddle from the middle of the cockpit, as much as possible -

• If you paddle from its rear it would raise your W kayak’s bow and expose it to the wind, and the boat will turn away from the wind.
• If you paddle from the front of the cockpit, the stern will go up, and the kayak will turn into the wind.

3. Lean your W kayak into the wind - That would make it harder for it to affect the course of your W kayak.

4. Cover the front of the cockpit - That would improve the cockpit’s aerodynamics. Any waterproof fabric or plastic sheet would do for that matter. Every W kayak comes with a preparation for a cockpit cover that’s easy to use, and you can cover the cockpit in seconds.

5. Apply short J strokes on the side from which the wind is blowing, and more powerful strokes on the lee side (the sheltered side) - That would help you track.  You may even hold the paddle not from its middle, so that you can apply longer strokes on the lee side.

6. Any object protruding from the deck is exposed to the wind, and therefore generates additional drag - Dismount deck mounted rod holders, and store your fishing rods inside the hulls whenever possible. A milk crate would act as a small sail that’s controlled by the wind, so you’d better avoid using one.

7. Keep paddling in a steady pace and a straight course - This is not about one-time corrections, but about minimizing your effort and getting there. Precision and efficiency are as important as power.

8. Again: Remember you can move fore and aft along the saddle, and by that control the angle in which your W kayak will point relatively to the direction from which the wind blows: Paddling from a forward position will tend to point the bow into the wind, and paddling from a backward position would tend to point the bow sideways and away from the wind (not a desirable thing).

Here is an instructional video on the subject:

NEW (June): Roxanne’s W500 Trip to the Backwater of the Farmington River, Connecticut (+Movie)

Roxanne Davis from Connecticut is a seasoned kayak fisherwoman who has owned and rigged two early models of the W300 series, and reviewed them. Now she got a new W500, and this is her initial review:

-”I can say three things about it so far: “I LOVE IT” - The room in it is just perfect.”

-”I was on Rainbow Reservoir testing my W500 on a very wind day, and more boat traffic then I had expected. It handled like a dream, tracked great, and pushed threw the winds, with gusts up to 25mph, and constant 15mph. I was amazed how well I could paddle into the wind with it without killing myself.”

-”Most motor boaters don’t care about the laws and wakes… I Had a big 18′ Deep-V powerboat fly by on plane about 20′ from me, and I rode the 2′ wake with no problem. Then I went back to fishing, turned my head just in time to see the next wake hit me, (not even sure where it came from??) I didn’t panic, and let it hit sideways, and the W500 just gently swayed up and over the wake, and down, and then over the second wake with ease.
The W300 would have handled it also, but not as smoothly as the W500 did.
I’m really going to have to take it on the salt now, that wake gave me the confidence this baby can take it!!

I applaud you Yoav,  you’ve taken the best yak in the world, and made it better!”

-”I broke the W500 in with 15 Smallmouth Bass, nothing huge, just fun.

She’s been officially Slimed!! 

Rox”

Rox’ new W500 with her special side rod holder

Rox’ W500 with a transducer mounted

Don Rainey is a seasoned kayak fisherman who decided to switch from traditional fishing kayaks to the Wavewalk kayak because his back and legs wouldn’t let him go on…

Don tells in his fishing kayak review that it took him some time to master his new W kayak, and he found out that not only was his back and legs feeling good, for a change (which he had expected), but he could in fact fish under conditions that would have previously forced him to stay home, including strong winds and chop:

“All fish were caught in extremely windy conditions with a good bit of a swell going on. I probably wouldn’t have ventured out in those conditions with my old kayak.”

Another observation from Jeff, following yesterday’s fishing trip:

-”I saw two other fellows out in kayaks toward the end of the my time on the water.  By then is was blowing pretty hard out of the south.  Both of them were in sit on tops.  We headed in about the same time, right into the wind no way to avoid it.  Slow going for sure but I never paused and just paddled back with that walking pace stroke.  The other guys started out with me but fell way behind as they struggled with the waves and spray.  The W just churned on in. I got wet mainly from paddle drip but that was minimal.  The two guys were soaked and their reels would need a major cleaning thanks to being drenched from the salt spray.  They did not say too much right away because they were too winded when they got in.  I was already packed up in the Ranger and ready to go.  The younger man looked at the W and then at his off brand sit on top and just asked.  OK, where the heck did you buy that thing?  I passed along the website info.  The young man had only been kayaking maybe six months, his buddy maybe two years.  After seeing the W and then we talked about set up expenses I think both of them might be considering a W down the line.  Both men should be far better candidates for the boat than I was.  I don’t think either fellow topped 160 lbs and they were just a hair shorter than me.  Had the wind not been blowing so hard I could have given them a quick trial ride.

Jeff”

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…

-”Today was windy, very windy. in fact the hum of the wind through the racked rods got too loud after an hour or so.  Paddling the W in the wind is much easier than any kayak I’ve tried. No it’s not fast since none of them are, but the effort feels far less.

I had no problem going into the wind to get across the intercoastal and staking out on the other side was quite simple.  Pointing the boat with my back to the wind gave me casting distance that had to be seen to be believed.  That is along with the fact the W power cast is already really far.
Funny there were no other yakers out at all today.  One fellow stopped by while I was getting the W prepared to go out.  He made the comment about how he now believed what folks said about me going out under less than ideal conditions.  I mentioned that the W made it much less of an issue.

Slow day for fishing only three small reds, none of which would have made a legal meal.  But as always another adventure trip in the W, those are always worth it.

–Jeff”

Rudders are almost a necessity in modern SOT and sit-in fishing kayaks, simply because most of these kayaks have become so wide that they lost the ability to track, which is essential for any water craft.

The increase in width is the kayak manufacturers’ response the the demand for more stability, and it comes at a price of lesser speed and poor control, I.E. lack of tracking capability that’s often coupled with lackluster performance when it comes to maneuverability.

Interestingly, no W-kayak paddler or fisherman has ever felt the need for a rudder. This fact is amazing, considering the W-kayak is shorter than most kayaks out there, and considering the fact that people are using it for multitude of applications in a wide range of aquatic environments, including long trips in the ocean, big lakes and wide rivers, where good tracking capabilities are an absolute necessity.

So what’s the problem with rudders?

First of all, they cost extra money, and good rudders cost a lot.

Second, and more importantly, they slow down your kayak, and are often cumbersome and difficult to handle. After all, there are other things you’d like to do when you’re in your kayak, such as paddling or fishing, rather than steering with a rudder.

Third, and that’s really too bad for paddlers and fishermen who go in shallow water - Rudders have a nasty tendency to get stuck in the bottom, or bump into rocks or branches down there, or get entangled in sea weed, so they limit your range of paddling and fishing.

And fourth, like any mechanical device, rudder systems can break, and their cables can get torn. This problem can turn out to be anywhere between unpleasant and dangerous, especially if you’re far from shore and the weather is getting nasty, the wind is picking up, it’s getting dark, the tide is getting strong etc.

In sum, rudders seem to be yet another necessary evil that’s imposed on the sit-in and SOT kayak fisherman, and W-kayakers and kayak fishermen should be thankful they don’t need to purchase and use such devices.

Nevada, that’s right.

Harry Smallwood from Nevada took his new W kayak on a long RV trip down to Baja, and back.

He sent us pictures, and a concise review of his new W kayak.

Thanks Harry!

Bevans is a kayak fisherman and paddler from Texas who contributed this new, exciting W fishing kayak review to our website.

In his review he tells about his first experience with his 2008 W fishing kayak, paddling standing up, and stand up kayak fishing adventures.

Bevans’ W fishing kayak is rigged simply and efficiently.

-Thanks Bevans!

Tom and Jenny on another day - enjoying surf paddling.

Tom Buddington recently wrote us from Florida:

-”Just thought I’d post a follow-up review after having several more experiences with this truly unique boat. Recently my daughter and I were caught out in what I estimate were 25 knot winds (higher gusts I would bet for certain) and the river became dark and menacing (Gosh it was so calm and peaceful moments before!). The waves were like a white water washing machine. It just happens with those out of nowhere summer storms; I try to be careful, especially with my daughter with me, but you might not ever go out if you worried about the possibility of a storm that wasn’t even predicted. THAT’s the moment of truth. 30 minutes of dark weather paddling at first into and against 20-25 knot winds and 2-3 foot storm slop and then having it on your tail (which is worse in my opinion). We just strapped on our PFD’s NICE and TIGHT and worked it with the Wyak. And she kept us out of the water and got us home. I was impressed the whole time with the stability of the W kayak in serious conditions. We used her best attributes (those twin hulls) and the geography of the Indian River Lagoon and ducked into a safe little cove and waited for things to get calm (we were in the middle and had a long way to go to get to that cove mind you). I can’t stress enough that the ability to alternate between significantly different positions (i.e., standing to riding and a few others) in the W kayak and use different muscles made this one a story with a happy ending. Would have been wiped-out exhausted in any other boat that day.

I speak from the perspective of a guy who loves the water and lives on the water and has been a waterman for, oh, say 30 years. I have 7 other boats of differing designs, 2 of which I have committed to sell to make way for my next Wyak . The W is an incredible craft and I like it.”

And here’s another picture of Tom and Jenny surf paddling at the beach:

“I got about four hours of water time with the 2008 W again this morning. It was predicted to be a windy day so I headed out early. There were a number of cyclists heading over to the coast this morning and I spoke to some of them at a convenience store on the way over. Of course the W drew a crowd and created some interest with the upright riding position.
As with the other trips so far this boat worked very well. Being able to slide back and forth really helped to hold in the wind on the sandy areas as I fished.
An interesting note is how easy this boat is to paddle into a strong wind. Not real fast of course but you don’t wear yourself out making progress.
When I paddled in around 10:30AM there was a group of kayakers getting instruction from one of the guides at the fish camp. They were facing me on the water and his back was turned to me as he spoke and demonstrated paddling techniques. As I got closer I noticed them all craning their necks looking past him at the W. He went on not seeing he had lost the interest of his crowd. As I came in and then pulled the W up the stairs from the beach they just stared. The silence was broken when one of the folks stated “we want to rent one of those kayaks, they look like fun”. Ahh very nice moment. Had I been paying better attention I should have pulled in standing up…
–Jeff”

Once you get used to your W Kayak you’ll find that you’re likely to be out paddling it and fishing from it on windy days, when other kayakers and kayak fishermen prefer to stay at home or simply can’t use they kayaks because of ‘windage’ problems.

Thanks to its exceptional, ‘catamaran’ tracking capabilities the W kayak has less windage issues than traditional SIK and SOT kayaks, including sea kayaks. In addition, your ability to move fore and aft along the saddle as well as lean sideways give you effective means to counter affect the wind.

• Side Wind

You’ll be able to track well while a strong side wind is blowing once you’ve mastered the following things:
1. Position yourself in the middle of the cockpit (not in the back for this matter). In case of exceptionally strong side wind you can even position yourself a notch forward and by that let the stern ‘trail’ behind the bow. Generally speaking, you will find that your location along the saddle can help you in more than one way.
2. Lean into the wind, similarly to leaning into the turn - You can use the difference in the hulls’ height to act as a powerful ‘rudder’ that would help your W kayak track.
3. Apply the appropriate paddle stroke on each side of the kayak, that is use a weaker and regular style stroke on the side from which the wind is blowing, and a stronger, longer stroke on the lee side. By doing so you will compensate for the wind’s tendency to deviate your boat from its intended course.

• Head Wind

Interestingly, much of the headwind passes between the W hulls, and eddies have a lesser effect on it than they have on monohull kayaks that have broader hulls.

You can paddle against a strong head wind in the Riding position (recommended) or one of the Kneeling positions.
The more you lean forward the more power you’ll be able to apply in your paddling.
The paddle itself might become a mini ’sail’ when a strong wind is blowing, therefore it is advised to keep the paddle at a low angle above the boat, regardless of the direction from which the wind is blowing.