Wavewalk S4 skiff with 3 passengers on board, and a new Tohatsu outboard motor

By Captain Larry Jarboe

Will Akerstrom took this photo of the three explorers who ventured out of the depths of the mangrove forest. His wife, Margaret, is in the bow. My wife, Carlene, is the flag lady.

There is a rest of the story about our afternoon:

Will and Margaret come down to visit about 4 times a year. We had planned to take a trip out on the Line Dancer. Upon the routine engine check, I spotted a sheared motor mount on the port aft side of the engine. I delivered the bad news that the trip was cancelled but recommended a kayak adventure.

Will is not a small boat person but the ladies were game.

My S4 with the 4 stroke Tohatsu seemed like a good boat to do the job. Of course, it was.

Knowing the tide schedule, I chose the mangrove tunnel that I call Jurassic Park. The ladies were in awe (and, it takes a lot to impress my wife) of the strange animals and eerie quiet vibes in those narrow confines. I assured them that they need not be afraid of alligators and pythons as the crocodiles have eaten them all.

When the creek opened to the ocean, we saw thousands of fish and lots of lobsters in the shallows at the ocean opening.

We took pictures with my disposable flip phone but have yet to figure how to get them out.

My wife noted that the sun was going down soon and we would have to paddle fast to get back.

I said, “No problemo, senora.” One pull on the 3.5 Tohatsu, and we motored our way against the tide through and out of the tunnel.

Upon coming out of the main creek, we spotted Will at the public beach with his camera. He thought we were only going out for fifteen minutes not an hour and a half.

At least, it was not a three hour tour, a three hour tour with Ginger and Mary Ann and Gilligan…

My Wavewalk S4 in brown

By Lee Trolan

Virginia

We have our S4 down on the dock and I took it out on its maiden voyage on Powhatan Creek at Jamestowne.
Wonderful….
We are loving the S4’s stability in the water. Took the grandkids out for a tour of the creek. The S4 performs like a champ and I’m looking to put a minn kota electric motor on it this weekend to allow even further exploration of the creek.
Thank you for your up-to-date communications throughout the transaction and for a great product!

Review of the Wavewalk S4 – first impression

By Rafael Francke

California

Background

Rafael owns a catamaran yacht that he and his wife Heidi designed. For the past six years Rafael and his family have used a Wavewalk 500 as a tender boat for it, as well as a versatile fun boat, which they sailed with a DIY outrigger.
Rafael was looking to replace his Wavewalk 500 with a bigger Wavewalk 700, but he decided to order an S4 as soon as he heard that we were planning to offer such a boat. Rafael and his family waited patiently for several months for the S4 project to materialize, and they were among the first to receive their order. This is Rafael’s “first impression” review of his Wavewalk S4-

Outboard motor: I had no problem at all.

Sailing by wind: I tested the W S4 in light wind, and it handles very nice. Sailing without a rudder, and without a dagger board, I can control the direction by moving my location in the W S4 front and aft.

Very easy seating on the saddle.

Paddle: Too bad I didn’t order an extra long paddle, because I found that my common 8 ft kayak paddle was too short.

The W S4 is more stable than I expected. It’s a real pleasure.

One of our friends likes the S4 and he’s thinking of getting one too.

Read how a few weeks later, Rafael’s S4 survived a car accident, and how he repaired it »

UPDATE (August)

After Rafael repaired his S4, he and his family started using it in various applications –

Says Rafael: –
“The S-4 is alive and well, in the picture, last week the S-4 is decorated for a dinghy party.
There is a lot of interest in it.
In two days the S-4 is going on a camping trip to Oregon to see the Eclipse. We hope to use it on Shasta lake.
When on the water the S-4 is a very stable boat, using the 3 hp Yamaha it moves very nice.
It is little heavy to lift on to our “big” boat, but it pays back when in use on the water.”