By Steve Lucas
Author: microskiff cat
The 700 – More than a surprise
By Kent Johnsen
Finally, the Indalsälven river here in Undersåker is open for navigation!
Although I had paddled my Wavewalk 500 last year, paddling the 700 for the first time was more than a surprise for me… Life is wonderful!
I really like my 700 R, it is a part of nature 🙂
First impression from our Wavewalk 700
By Jon Cohen
Massachusetts
My W700 arrived on last Monday. My son wanted to head out to the nearest pond straight away but the rain put a stop to that. The weather was much improved on Wednesday afternoon so we headed out for our first trip! We carried the boat out of the house (happy wife 🙂 ) and easily loaded it on top of our SUV. I ran nylon tie-down straps through the pad eyes and secured the boat to the rack.
We arrived at the pond, removed the straps and had the W700 in the water in 5 minutes.
My son and I stepped in and pushed off from the shore. Good call on recommending the 9′ paddle. Paddling was easy. So easy that my 13 year old volunteered to take over.
There was a fair amount of wind but it didn’t seem to cause us any problems. We spent a very comfortable (no back ache) hour on the pond, stepped out (dry of course) and loaded the boat back on our SUV in no time.
My son decided he was cold so he headed in to the house as soon as we got back home leaving me to remove the boat from the SUV. No problem! It is so easy to handle. I took it down and slid it across my yard to the storage area at the back of my house.
We’ve been out three times so far and I already caught my first fish of the season!
Looking forward to many more fishing trips in my W!
Wavewalk 700 paddling trip in Hilo bay, Hawaii
By Jerry Wheeler
Pahoa, Hawaii
Took my W700 to Hilo bay and to the river. Just paddling, no fishing today. Recreation on the Kayak without fishing suites me fine, and I left my fishing rod on the bottom of the boat. I shot a video in the choppy waters. It was a fun day on the waters, but for only about 4 hours. The sun was a bit harsh.
Here is the video and some pictures,
[ADDED LATER] –
“…I felt safe that day on the waters. The beginning of the voyage I paddled the protected part of the Bay behind the 3 mile jetty. The W700 performed very well. It will take you the distance even at an easy pace.
Eventually I decided to take on the unprotected coast line. So I got out there so far and decided to take a break and have a snack. Heading back I was fighting quite a bit of chop and swell. So I decided to kick it in gear and paddle hard so it wouldn’t take forever to get back. The W700 is amazing. It will pick up and go.”
Reentry from deep water
This deep water reentry demo video is long overdue –
The footage was contributed a few years ago by Berny Marsden from the UK, who designed and built a DIY wooden stitch-and-glue Wavewalk, with some help from Wavewalk’s design team 🙂
Berny named his DIY Wavewalk “Banana Split”, and his boat’s dimensions and load capacity are comparable to those of the 700 series.
In this video, Berny hops into the cockpit directly, in a straight angle.
It’s also possible to get in from a sharper angle, in a position that’s more aligned with the boat, as well as climb in from the rear.
Note that if there is some water in one of the hulls, the extra weight on that side can make reentry easier if you do it from the other, lighter side.
We’ve decided to publish this video for the benefit of our clients who dive and practice spear fishing.