Year: 2015

By Jill Toler

North Carolina

Today was the day; the maiden voyage of Float-n-Fly. There was more float than fly since it was my very first water day in my W700 and only my second time ever in a kayak.

The sun was shining, the wind was blowing about 10-15 mph, and the mosquitoes threatened to hijack my voyage by sucking all of my life blood from me. Despite the wind and squadron of eastern North Carolina skeeters; also known as crop dusters, I pushed off the bank and into a most epic experience. I was immediately blown into a scraggly bunch of above water branches and then decided I better do something so that I could actually claim that I paddled my kayak. I tentatively placed a blade in the water when my Fishing Buddy called out to me and said that my paddle was backward and upside down. Go figure; I did mention that this was my first trip, right.

Lesson #1-It does matter how you hold your paddle.

I adjusted the paddle and started with a good stroke, then another, and then another. Perhaps this was going to work after all. I paddled around in a circle; not because I tried to, but because the wind was pushing me around and around. I finally got turned toward the bank and glided right through the shallows and up onto the grass. It was at this time that I realized I was still on the seat of the kayak and not swimming to shore. Major accomplishment made super easy by the stability of the W700. Fishing Buddy, who is an avid kayaker, gave me some pointers on creating good, productive strokes by turning at my waist and when to lift the paddle out of the water.

Lesson #2-I am not paddling for a world record and it’s not a battleship. Easy and steady will get me where I want to go.

I received some more pointers and great information from Fishing Buddy about turning around and pushed off from the bank one more time. I paddled all around about half the pond practicing the proper stroke so as not to wear myself out and headed to the shore to find out how awesome, or not, I was doing paddling and turning. I said, “How do I look Fishing Buddy?”. She said, “Really good Fishing Buddy.” (“Fishing Buddy” is the nickname we use for each other because she; Jan, has a twin sister named Jill, and my name is Jill.) If you are confused, it’s okay because even after 8 years the guys in our fly fishing club can’t get our names right either.
Anyway, after she proclaimed that I was doing a good job I asked her what else I needed to know. She said, and I quote, “get the hell out so I can try it”.
I knew I had chosen a winner.

I want to talk about the obvious virtues of the W700 that are specific for me.
The first thing is that I am a bona fide big girl who loves to fish and wanted a new adventure. Most kayaks are not made for big girls and most big girls aren’t going to try kayaking or kayak fishing because you are afraid to be embarrassed by not being able to get in or out of a kayak. The W700 solves this problem with the ease of getting in and out without squatting, waddling, rolling, or flopping. You step in and sit down. It’s just that easy.
Secondly, I never felt like I was going to roll over, fall out or flip over. I was plenty nervous at first but I got my butt adjusted and just sat there. Easy, peasy. I wore my brand new life jacket in case I went for a non voluntary swim, so I felt very safe. Next time I will try standing up; which my Fishing Buddy was able to do right away. She is way more awesome than I, but I will get there.

Overall, I am just amazed with the W700 and so happy that I got one of my own. I have attached some pictures to prove it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Joe Stauder

I think Wavewalk hit a home run!
It’s hard to believe Wavewalk could improve on the stability of the 500 series, but you did!
The new 700 series is the perfect size for two adults, & Zena (my dog), in fact my wife Susan would be along with us, but today she is behind the camera. You can see though Zena was moving around (as kids & dogs do) and there was no tipping issues at all.
The fish-ability out of this craft will be unsurpassed especially in bigger rougher water catching larger fish.
I was a little concerned about the weight of this new Wavewalk 700, however it seems to be a very manageable 80 lbs. due to the four carry handles & the slightly wider design.

Pictures from our first trip on the Susquehanna river in our new Sunshine W700 –

 

 

 

 

Fishing kayaks are the stablest as well as the slowest of all kayaks, but not all fishing kayaks are the same, and the W700 is the exception: It is the most stable kayak out there, and it is as fast as a good size day-touring kayak.

It is a well accepted notion among many paddlers and designers that a kayak can be either stable or fast, namely the more stable it is the slower it would be, and vice versa. This notion is the product of the world of mono-hulled boats, and it is true for this form of vessels, but it falls short of being applicable to multi-hulls such as typical catamarans and W kayaks, which are more stable than mono-hull boats of comparable size, while being faster too.

We’ve discussed these issues and similar ones many times in the past, because they are important. This time, we found an opportunity to demonstrate this principle in a video footage that Michael Chesloff shot of Ernie Balch testing the new W700 (see his review) –
Extreme Stability is shown by the fact that Ernie, a 65 year old big guy who weighs 300 lbs just steps into the W700 and paddles it standing up without any problem.
Exceptionally good Speed is shown through Glide, which is the ability of a kayak to keep going forward on flat water after its passenger stopped paddling. The distance the kayak covers from this point to the point where it stops is the result of the kayak’s initial speed and the resistance of the water to its passage.
Ernie is not a kayaking champion, and the speed he attains while paddling the W700 is normal for a Wavewalk kayak, that is better than what he would have attained in another fishing kayak, but what happens when he stops paddling is noteworthy, as the W700 keeps gliding over a very long distance, until it slows to a halt in a patch of thick aquatic vegetation:

 

Another beautiful thing that can be observed in this gliding footage is how well the W700 tracks without any intervention from the paddler, not even a rudder, which no one has ever installed on a Wavewalk kayak because these kayaks are unbeatable when it comes to another type of stability: Directional Stability, a.k.a. Tracking.

Interestingly, SOT fishing kayaks are sluggish, hard to paddle, and they can’t glide. The reason for this is not just that their hulls are extremely wide and therefore generate excessive drag, but there’s much  more, and the article The secrets of the SOT kayak’s underside explains it.

By Ernie Balch

New York

I spent all afternoon yesterday fishing in the W700 while my wife Diane fished from the W500. The W700 sits flat as a table while fishing, and it moves smoothly through the water when paddling.
Both boats fit nicely inside my van.

When I paddle the W700 it is quiet and it glides. It carves nicely like a canoe when leaned over. I can paddle down narrow meandering channels easily leaning the boat to carve turns. This method helps compensate for the great straight line tracking of the boat.
Diane had the 500 and I had the 700. Both of us paddled hard for shore and it turned out that the boats are evenly matched in terms of speed with their loads of 118 and 300 lbs… I could not catch her and she could not pull away from me.

Here are pictures and a video showing me and Diane testing the W700 –

 

 

 

 

 

And this is the video “Grandma Can Paddle!” showing Diane (a 64 year old grandma) playing with our new “Sunshine” W700:

 

 

By Scott Cargo

Colorado

I have done a lot of research before deciding on this product, and I believe that my wife and I will enjoy fishing together in this amazing kayak.

I received my Wavewalk 700 this last Friday.
Over the weekend I put the 700 on top of my SUV and went to the nearest lake to try it out.
The kayak is all pros and no cons!
It was so stable that I was standing and paddling within the first 30 minutes!
I took the kayak into shallow water full of weeds (some were sticking up out of the water) and didn’t have any problems.
Finally I decided to do some fishing and I love the fact that there is a large table in the boat for me to use (of course I mean the saddle) while fishing. I plan to get a GPS/Fish Finder and an electric trolling motor soon. This boat is going to be perfect for my needs and I look forward to its use in the years to come. I will be spreading the word to all my friends and fishing buddies about this amazing Wavewalk kayak!
Just WOW!!!!

Here are some photos that were taken by my wife during my maiden voyage of my kayak.