One man's rush to jump on the kayaking bandwagon

Heath, Kate, and I headed down to Charleston again this year for the East Coast Canoe and Kayak Festival. As usual, it's all about trying gear and adding to my dream list.

Last year's focus was on paddles. This year was all about boats. I like my Explorer, but I've grown a lot (skillz, not weight) and would love to transition to a more responsive boat. I'm also on the lookout for a new boat for Heath.

According to the Wilderness Systems rep I spoke with, the Zephyr is an old Mariner design that was "cleaned up using CAD". I remembered liking the RM version of this boat last year, but it really turned me off this time. The cockpit is too tall and I just could not connect with the boat. The initial stability was high, but it has the same flopping from one chine to another that my Tsunami has. I asked the rep is they would consider creating a lower volume version and he said that they had received many similar requests.

I really liked this kayak last year. I thought the fit was perfect. What a difference a year makes. It just didn't do anything for me this year. It felt stiff and unresponsive.

The fit was fine, but the back deck was very high. This boat felt neither fast nor maneuverable. I already have an Explorer. Why would I want another one?

The flat lake was probably not the best place to demo this boat. It did nothing for me.

The Quest LV was unmemorable.

Once you get rid of the silly glitter, the Cetus is a nice kayak. It tracks well yet responds to even the slightest edging. P&H seems to have found just the right mix of tracking and maneuverability. I wish I had a better sense of how the handling changes as the chop starts to pick up. The only negative is the skeg control. It took considerable pinching effort to unlock the control so that the skeg could be moved. I just don't see how this is an improvement over the older design. While there was nothing that was obviously wrong, the cockpit fit is lacking. The location of the skeg line seems to reduce the amount of space available for my thighs. Even with the skeg control and cockpit fit, this is currently the one kayak I'd most like to own. Unless...

The Cetus LV was just a little too LV for me. The P&H rep I spoke with said that this was still a prototype version and the production version would likely be a little closer to the normal Cetus. If that's the case, then the Cetus LV is the kayak I'd most like to own.

I paddled a Capella RM on a windy day on a large lake last spring and did not like it. The cockpit was too big, it didn't track well, and skeg didn't seem to help. I was expecting this to be the same way. I was mostly wrong. The tracking was much improved, but still not what I want. It was very maneuverable.

Overall, it was a great day at the show. Heading back to David's place for some home smoked ribs was the perfect ending.