Page 28 – STABLE KAYAKS AND MICROSKIFFS MADE BY WAVEWALK

Fishing offshore for 10 hours in my S4

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

More offshore fishing with Terry »

Driving the S4 standing up

This piece should be entitled Driving the Wavewalk S4 motor kayak skiff standing up, at full speed, in the ocean chop, while shooting video.

The Wavewalk S4 is the world’s most stable kayak, and the stability and control it delivers in rough water surpass the stability and control that a Jon boat or micro skiff offer in such conditions. This is achieved through the combined effects of the twin-hull (catamaran) built and the ergonomic jet-ski style saddle-seat. The S4 is more seaworthy than many bigger boats since its driver and passengers can balance themselves easily and effectively, even when going in the ocean chop.

Last year, when I visited Larry (Captain Larry Jarboe), in Key Largo, I saw him driving his S4 standing while holding in his right hand a rope attached to the bow. This year, after experimenting driving this way, I found that the stability and control I achieve surpass those that the extremely stable Riding position offers. This statement might seem strange to many people, including those who drive their S4 in the chop, but consider this – When it comes to very small vehicles and sporting equipment, the height of your center of gravity is not necessarily the most important factor, and your ability to balance yourself effectively is what usually determines the performance level you can achieve.

Here are some examples to illustrate this notion –
A pair of skis offer the skier standing on them better stability and control than a luge does.
A standard bicycle offers its rider better stability and control than a recumbent bike does. If you ride your bike on a rugged terrain, you’d tend to prefer doing it standing.
A sailing board offers the user who stands on it far better control and much higher performance than a sailing kayak does to the person sitting in it.

Technically speaking, I hold the strap attached to the bow in my right hand, and I steer with my left hand holding a U-jointed (articulated) tiller extension. Shifting my body weight adds a lot to my balancing capability. The ability to gain some extra leverage on the tiller extension by hold it next to the side of my body makes steering even easier.

The lower part of my legs touch the saddle, so that I can lean on it if necessary, such as when making a sharp turn at high speed, or tilting the boat into a big lateral wave. This is not a typo – You can do it when you drive an S4, and it works.

While driving this way, I wanted to shoot video using my cellphone. in order to do this I let the strap enter my fist from below (next to the pinky, and made one loop around my hand. This freed my thumb, index and middle finger to hold the cellphone, and even point it in different directions. Grabbing the strap does not require force, and the main advantage it gives is offering a fourth reference point, in addition to one’s two feet and their left hand that’s grabbing the tiller extension.

Note that all this requires practicing before things become easy, intuitive, and fun.

Interestingly, waves look smaller when you’re standing 🙂

More on designing fishing kayaks that offer the best stability »

Captain of my new Wavewalk 700

By Warren Richardson

Virginia

I picked up my W700 at the trucking terminal Monday because I didn’t want to wait for them to deliver it to my house. It’s been in the water twice now, and I love it. It’s amazingly fast for a kayak, that thing zips across the water. Went back out again last night. I’ve now carried it on top of my van, and on the trailer behind.

Wavewalk 700 (W700) kayak car-topped on van, for easy transportation

W700 fishing kayak transported on trailer

W700 tandem kayak stored under the roof of a garage

More kayak fishing and paddling with Warren »

Swivel seat for my Wavewalk S4 motor fishing kayak

By Terry Wilkison

After a few weeks of looking over the net for a seat and reading the other blogs I settled on an HDPE folding bleacher chair from amazon for 26 bucks.
I had the stainless swivel bracket from another project. I really like the way it turned out. Doesn’t add much weight and I can turn it to adjust my position from driving to fishing. Cant wait to try it out this weekend!

More offshore fishing with Terry »

S4 projects and another fruitful fishing day

By Terry Wilkison

Well another fruitful day of fishing thanks to my S4! went out at 2am and fished one of the wrecks off the west side of the island and scored some nice aweo aweo and menapachi. Once the sun came up I headed 3 miles south to hunt for live bait and was able to find a small school scoring 4 nice opelu. I caught the bonita about 5 minutes after sending the first bait out. after him I had a larger tuna on but he kept switching directions in a way they don’t normally and the hook must have opened up the hole and it pulled about 15 minutes into the fight. After that something cut me off through 100lb fluorocarbon (most likely a wahoo). I made my way to to the spot I’ve grown fond of and sent out another opelu, 20 minutes later I caught the yellowfin. I got a scale the other day from amazon so I can add legitimacy to my fish stories, the Bonita was 12lb (average) and the shibi was 25lb, nice eating size. I ended up trading the bonita for some ribeye steaks (steak brings a premium here) and will divide up the shibi with friends. The red fish are a treat for the wife. The pole holder in the saddle hole works good, I’m only running 12 lb drag so I’m not to concerned about it. I’m down to fine tuning my setup now. Still playing around with ideas for a truck ramp but not sure if it will really be better than my dolly setup…. I can launch straight from the bed now I just have to walk the boat up the ramp when I get back, my main problem is the extra weight of the fish! A problem I’m happy to have!

More offshore fishing with Terry »