By Terry Wilkison
I watched Wavewalk’s latest S4 stand-up driving video. It’s a good Video! I alternate between standing and sitting. My swivel seat’s profile is small enough that it doesn’t keep me from enjoying the benefit of the Wavewalk Kayak PWC style of seating, it really just adds a backrest. I have damage in my T6 and T7 vertebra from the past 12 years of deploying to the Arabian gulf conducting anti piracy and drug ops in RHIBs at high speed. They are incredibly capable craft but you take a beating. I really enjoy the S4’s comfort and handling.
Speaking of which I went out today for 10 hours! The fish are around but they are finicky and what works is changing day by day. I went out 5 miles to a buoy and found bait and huge schools of skipjack tuna. I caught perfect small sized skip jack and rigged him up on my big rod. He was very energetic and some very large fish ate him within 5 minutes. Unfortunately it cut three 150lb fluoro, probably a Galapagos shark which are common. I was able to make bait easy but it was small in comparison to what I normally get so I had to redo my rigs. With the moon phase the currents are running upwards of a full knot which makes bump trolling live bait very challenging. I caught one very small yellowfin, maybe 5lb. And missed several other bites trying to figure it out. Most excitingly was I had ANOTHER Marlin come and circle my S4, a striped marlin probably 150lb or so. He almost got my live bait which I did not want to deal with! This boat is lucky!
I’ve got my new loading procedure down now. I’m using a cheap truck bed extender from amazon and abs pipe as rollers. In the bed I’ve put a u bolt in the front of the bed with two pulleys to give me a little advantage. I can back down and slide straight to the water and load back up without getting wet and no lifting! I will try to get a video at some point and some better pictures. I’m jotting notes too as at some point I want to have an improved version of the extender built (a little longer) right now my
back brakes are still getting wet with saltwater….
I’ve attached a few pictures. It was a beautiful day with scenes straight out of a national geographic movie. Thanks for designing the S4 so I could enjoy it! Oh and by the way my 10hour day on the water cost me only 35 dollars. 2 gallons gas, 2 stroke oil, 40lbs ice, 2 liters of water a couple canned coffees and breakfast. Judging based on economy and capability no other craft that I know of comes close to what the S4 provides! The only problem is I. spending to much time fishing for my wife’s liking!
Tight Lines!
Terry
Thanks Terry,
Awesome!
As far as I know, 10 hours in a Wavewalk is the world record for a single trip in the ocean in these kayaks. Wow!!
BTW, the absolute record belongs to Clint Harlan, from Missouri, who paddled his W500 over 340 miles https://wavewalk.com/blog/2012/08/10/paddling-340-miles-in-83-hours-in-my-11-ft-long-w-fishing-kayak-by-clint-harlan-missouri/
It’s possible to turn a Wavewalk into and RHIB by attaching large-size inflatable flotation tubes on its sides, such as seen here with the W700 https://wavewalk.com/blog/2016/09/04/wavewalk-700-rigid-inflatable-boat-rib/
No need for those with the S4, I guess 🙂
I watched a couple of videos on YouTube that show RHIBs outfitted with high saddle-seats with a pneumatic shock absorbing system. These boats were designed especially for rough seas.
Your pickup truck looks good with that truck bed extension – I think this thing could work on an SUV too.
Yoav
Good stuff, Terry. I’ve been thinking about putting a swivel on one of my 500’s and found one online that is exactly the same as yours, so just ordered it. Don’t know yet if I’ll attach a chair to it (I don’t really need one), or just glue some foam paddling on top. Just being able to swivel around easier should come in handy while playing fish.