By Chris Henderson
Light is the name of the game.
I have been hunting hard and had another great hunt in the W700. I haven’t found the time to get the motorized S4 ready. I need probably another 4-5 hours of work on it but have been struggling to find it.
I hunt mud flats. They are not like your typical muddy beach. These flats are the result of silt and mud that is deposited at the mouth of a river meeting Puget Sound. These kind of mud flats are incredibly rich in sea life and have huge shrimp and clam beds. The result is a mud that can be firm one minute and the next you are up to your knees. Much deeper than that and you are stuck. In addition, the tide moves in and out at a very good pace most days. Sometimes it will move up to 14 feet in 6 hours. That means you have to move, a lot. Motorized boats are able to hunt the edges of these flats but really can’t take advantage of the flats themselves. They can get stranded if they don’t move their boat fast enough. If you go high and dry in a boat over 100lbs. you will not get it out until the tide comes back in. I met a fellow at the boat ramp who was admiring the W700 and said he spent the night last year out on the flats because the tide did not come back in far enough for him to get his boat out.
This is where the W700 shines. It drafts shallow, cuts the waves when the weather turns nautical, and it is light! I can easily drag it across even the soft mud and not get myself stuck. It is the perfect tool for where I hunt. Plus there is no trailer to mess with! On this hunt you can get a feel for the mud and how it is the right tool for the job.
Thanks Chris,
Congratulations on this successful hunting trip 🙂
Nice movie! It certainly conveys the mobility challenges in this muddy environment. If can walk on this mud, you can’t drive a boat through it…
I guess we’ll have to keep waiting patiently for your mud motor S4 premiere as a hunting (or fishing) boat 😀
Yoav
It is certainly a challenging place to hunt. However, the benefit of that is that there are not a lot of people willing to do it. That keeps me going there! (and the ducks of course)
S4 project got put on the back burner for bit but it is still on the list. Close to getting it done.
Chris,
I’m very excited about your motorized S4 project, and I’m sure many others are watching it.
After playing with a motorized S4 in waves and rough water, I’ve become more aware of the unique possibilities that this new watercraft offers.
Legally, the S4 is a kayak, and we call it a skiff in order to help people see what it can do for them in this capacity, but in performance terms it’s neither, because it exceeds both. Big time.
I love watching videos of people who drive their Jon boats through mud, fast rocky streams, shallow creeks and marshes, thanks to mud motors. These videos are about fun and freedom 🙂
I have no doubt that the S4 powered by a mud motor will offer hunters, fishers and campers better means to go where they want, and it will break new ground.
Well, maybe not new ground, but at least new mud and new water 😀
Yoav