The quest for the perfect boat has begun. I know there is no such thing but I am going to try. Drove the 4.5hrs to Rutabaga and arrived with a lot of other folks. I have never been to their shop and thank god the wallet was on lock down. Shannon helped me most of the time as I was pacing about the dock and small parcel of land next to the drainage pond. The boats I tried were the Kee 16 combi, Kee 15 and the Prospector 14.
The Kee 16 combi. The center seat in the high position with the right carbon footbrace length were perfect. No pressure on my bad hips. I am finding that a 32" wide boat is too wide now that I am paying attention to width. The shoulders are not as flexible as they once were so that is why width is important now. The boat didn't turn like I thought it would but on moving water it would be much better.
The Kee 15. After a few short minutes I had pain in my hips from the seat position and side footbraces. A nimble boat but too small. I was working hard not to fall in.
The P14. It was a nice boat with pretty close to the right width. I feel it didn't take much effort to move it about. I was not as comfortable as I thought I should though. Maybe another peg hole on the footbrace? Can you add another foot maybe 2 to the length of the boat as well?
All the boats were kevlar fusion and very light to carry. After the P14 I decided to walk the store, look at all the new/used boats available, try a new paddle, lay on the Exped Megamat 10 and look at all the products. I only have one complaint and that was the web seat in all 3 boats. It felt like I was just sitting on a seat frame and no webbing. I had a good time and thank Swift for bringing boats to try. Onto WPASCR.
Brian
The Kee 16 combi. The center seat in the high position with the right carbon footbrace length were perfect. No pressure on my bad hips. I am finding that a 32" wide boat is too wide now that I am paying attention to width. The shoulders are not as flexible as they once were so that is why width is important now. The boat didn't turn like I thought it would but on moving water it would be much better.
The Kee 15. After a few short minutes I had pain in my hips from the seat position and side footbraces. A nimble boat but too small. I was working hard not to fall in.
The P14. It was a nice boat with pretty close to the right width. I feel it didn't take much effort to move it about. I was not as comfortable as I thought I should though. Maybe another peg hole on the footbrace? Can you add another foot maybe 2 to the length of the boat as well?
All the boats were kevlar fusion and very light to carry. After the P14 I decided to walk the store, look at all the new/used boats available, try a new paddle, lay on the Exped Megamat 10 and look at all the products. I only have one complaint and that was the web seat in all 3 boats. It felt like I was just sitting on a seat frame and no webbing. I had a good time and thank Swift for bringing boats to try. Onto WPASCR.
Brian
