We shot this video in Westport Point and Horseneck Beach, two locations in Westport, on the southern coast of Massachusetts.
Driving the S4 with the 6 HP Tohatsu outboard is exhilarating – fun beyond belief, regardless of what you do.
The boat handles very easily, and inspires confidence at high speed and when going through other boats’ wakes. Based on our tests, we can say that experienced drivers can drive it with a more powerful motor.
Hawaii
I didn’t register my S4 as a motor kayak yet. I’ll probably get it done within the next two weeks.
Here’s a pic of our first outing!!
Took a lot of getting used to the tandem paddling, but we managed to get to our destination 🙂
The summer weather and water temperature have turned to perfect in Key Largo.
The water temperature is in the mid-Eighties and the wind has stopped blowing. Though it is August, the air temperature is only in the low Nineties. My wife and I have taken this time to explore the near shore reefs and out of the way places in our “backyard” in Garden Cove.
Garden Cove is located in the heart of John Pennekamp State Park and is directly adjacent to the Dagny Johnson Botanical Hammock State Park. We can visit both these parks from our Wavewalk stable twin hull kayaks every day without waiting at the highway entrance gate or paying the entrance fees. We can also harvest fish and lobster under Florida and Federal regulations but spearfishing is definitely prohibited. Thus, we have a fully stocked pantry of fresh seafood only a mile or two from our house beside the only commercial docks on the Atlantic side of North Key Largo.
This is the perfect place to operate a fishing and eco-tour business featuring safe and portable vessels that require minimal effort to paddle or operate a motor from. And, when business is slow, I can use these same vessels to harvest fish and lobster commercially in accordance with my State and Federal commercial fishing permits.
The Wavewalk S4 is the perfect kayak to motorize and use to fish or find new spots inshore or offshore. Almost every day, I find more areas to fish that most people overlook in their quest to go faster and further offshore.
It must be nice to be able to afford five or six hundred dollars a day of fuel expenses to try to catch a fish. But, I prefer to save my money.
A dollar’s worth of fuel runs my S4 all day. Or, we can take out a couple more S4’s with electric trolling motors and spend maybe twenty five cents more on our electric bill.
Yesterday, I invested a couple hours to catch some fish from our backyard pantry to eat next week.
The proof is in the pic.
Larry offers guided fishing and diving trips in the Key Largo and the areas that surround it »
This demo movie shows one person downloading a Wavewalk S4 from a vehicle’s roof rack, and carrying it from the parking space down to a rocky beach that we chose as a location for shooting video just because launching any other skiff from there would have been impossible.
Put the anti-ventilation plate (AP) on the Twister kit and was able to get one of my sons to go out (also a friend saw us test running and had to stop). I was pleased with the results. It handled well and the plate made a huge difference. I still need to work on some things.
The motor really started clattering. I am not exactly sure why. I added some gas to it from a can I had around and it may have been really old. I will drain all of that out and get some high octane gas and put in it for next time and see if that makes a difference. I may be just too much pressure on the $50 dollar motor that has lived as a pressure washer up until now. I am also going to move the AP so as to make the prop a little less efficient. I think that may make it a little easier on the motor (sacrificing some thrust). I was messing with the trim but not yet satisfied with where I ended up. And as luck would have it it was high tide so no skinny water to be had.
I will do more testing to get it dialed in. I think I have accomplished my goal of proof of concept. Some lights, registration, and a blind to finish and the I will be ready for the season.
More kayak rigging, fishing and bow duck hunting with Chris »
