Try before you buy kayaks

[janeb]

Does anyone have access to a Hurricane Tracer 165, Wilderness Tempest 165Pro or Prijon Proteus seakayak to trial paddle (or have any experience with these boats)? I am looking to buy but would like to have some more information first. The retail outlets seem reluctant to allow trial paddles or do not have these boats available. And yes, this is about sea kayaking - a form of walking on water really . . .

[andrewbish]

Have you tried posting at http://www.seakayakforum.com ?

[phan_TOM]

A good idea would be to find out if there is a nearby retailer or sea kayaking club that's having a demo day or event & then just go along and talk to people who have experience with kayaking from both a paddlers and manufacturers perspective. You'll have a chance to jump in a few kayaks and have a paddle, find out what size and shape suits you etc (which is a very personal thing) & most kayaking clubs are more than happy to have newbies come along and ask questions and spend some time paddling/falling out of their kayaks

I've been to a few demo/paddle days now and I always learn a few skills and get to drool over the sexiest new models that are coming out, plus it's good fun.

Any reason you have those 3 models as possible purchases?

[sandym]

Not sure where you are located. We are in Sydney area and had the same problem when we recently bought new sea kayaks. All the stores we tried refused to allow us to demo any boats, which seems crazy given the cost of a new sea kayak.

In the end, we found Peter McIntyre at Kayak Factory Direct in Gosford would let us demo the boats we were interested in (cost was $60 - which is taken off the purchase price if you buy). So, if that is not too far from you, you could try Peter.

We ended up buying a couple of Prijon Marlins, which I really like, but I can't say I am an expert on all things kayak. We came from a double Feathercraft which while super stable and great for taking on airplanes (its a folding boat) is kind of a tug to paddle. The Marlin seems so sleek and fast compared to the Feathercraft.

My recollection of kayak shopping was that the Marlin Tracer had a retractable skeg that took up a lot of storage space in the rear cargo compartment, which seemed a big deal to us as we like to go on long kayak trips where you need lots of space for water. But, you've likely already thought of that.

My brother has the Prijon Millenium - not on your list - but, comparing paddling the Millenium to the Marlin, I found the Millenium has far more initial stability and is a bit slower to paddle. Can't say about secondary stability has I really haven't put the Millenium through it's paces.

Good luck with your search. There are so many amazing places to kayak in Australia.

[janeb]

I am in Adelaide, and the reason for my short list is that I am a smaller paddler. I have looked at the Prijon Millenium. IT offers good space and stability but is quite heavy and, for me, slow. The kayaks I am interested in are all light, fairly stable and fast.
do have contacts in local clubs etc already, and have tried 2 other sea kayaks, but we have only 3 kayak retailers in the state, none of which do demo days, hence my urge to look further afield. Thanks for all the posts. I will try the seakayakforum.