~12 Birding boat quest

Where to buy

– Last Updated: May-12-06 10:58 AM EST –

Outdoorplay.com will ship you a kayak with no shipping charge. I am presently waiting for my Sundance 12' (in sand color - the only place I found that color btw). It should be here (Kentucky) today or Monday, after ordering last Friday. I got the Package deal, with an adjustable paddle, half spray skirt, PFD and a cockpit cover delivered for less than $800.

Yes it would!

– Last Updated: May-12-06 11:46 AM EST –

And that would be the color of my boat as well.

thanks for the tip
Budd,

Many thanks for the heads up on the great deals at Outdoorplay. $549 with free shipping and no tax is mighty tempting for the Sundance 12.

I agree, rudders are good for birding.
I have one on my solo canoe and it’s great for keeping the boat pointed in the desired direction when I put the paddle down to use the binoculars, get a drink of water or whatever else I need my hands free to do.

OT Loon’s and birding.
I’m not a birder in the sense of keeping a book and score on the birds I see and identify, but I do enjoy watching them. Today, I was fishing a 1200 acre lake near my home that’s also a bird sanctuary…closed to boating November to March for migratory birds. The place was teaming with birds, roseate spoonbills, greater and lesser herons, and these white shore birds with a yellowish crest. All were beautiful.



My fishing craft is a Loon 138. Its very quiet in the water, no annoying hull slap, only the sound of the paddle. Being the fisherman that I am, I hung up near an island in the lake and, in retrieving my line and hook, got within 5 or 6 ft of nesting birds before they noticed. Even then, they only fussed at me, didn’t fly away and stopped when the saw I was not a threat. In other kayaks and canoes, I haven’t been able to get that close. The Loon appears to be a stealth boat.


revised short list
Hey you left out the Pirogue. they are great birding boats and canbe made light too.



As far as the OT pack I don’t think you have to worry about oil canning much. And if it does oilcan a little it is easy to fix and won’t hurt the performance much until you get aroung to fixing it.

Close to wildlife
I have always been amazed that wildlife do not seem threatened by a 'yak. I have paddled up to deer on the bank of a pond and all I got was a quizacle look. Last time out I saw what was either an immature Eagle or a very large hawk by the side of Duncan Pond in the Land Between the Lakes. He was in the grass by the side of the pond and looked at me as I went by, but did not fly away.



Clint

Not to mention all the water snakes and,
at the lake I described, alligators 8-12 feet long, think there are so many of the latter because of the birds. Its real fun when you dip your paddle in the water and a big ol’gator flops over and splashes you, or you nearly run over the head of one.

Pungo
I do a lot of birding from my WS Pungo 140. It has plenty of stability. It isn’t a white water boat, but for everything else, it works fine. I would think the 120 would also be a good birding kayak.

Jim

pirogue
I just re-read your original post and realized I had no idea what a pirogue is, so I googled it. How handy are you? Check out this website

http://www.unclejohns.com/boat/default.htm

I’ve not built a pirogue, but living in
Southeast Texas and having parents from Lousiana, I’m familiar with them and have talked to a number of folk with them. Great boats for shallow water, though can be a bit tippy and are not fast paddling craft, the flat bottom isn’t too great for speed. Two sources for free pirogue plans are bateau.com and the Louisiana State University Ag Center. If bateau.com doesn’t have the plans, try googling “cheap canoe”. The cheap canoe plans are pretty detailed, the LSU plans are pretty basic, but the boat is a simple one to build.

Sneaking up on birds and pirogue stuff
My trick to get close is to use a single bladed canoe paddle. Paddle and steer without taking the blade out of the water. Talk about stealth, you can sneak right up next to the birds if you want.



I’ve built an Uncle John’s Pirogue, his little kit takes all the hard work out of it. You just chose how long you want it to be. I’m fixing to build my second.

down to 3 finalists
I had an interesting weekend. Friday night I went and saw the OT Pack canoe, the Perception Sundance 9.5, OT Loon 100 & 120, OT 111 & 140 Predator. (Sadly, no regular OT Loon 111.) Just sitting in them in the store, I was able to eliminate the Sundance 12. The seat is attached to the molded hull in the same manner as the Liquid Logic Stingray 12. While the Sundance didn’t flex as much as the Stingray, it did stress the entire hull when I sat in it. Obviously, sitting in one on a hard floor is going to be more stressful on the boat than sitting in one in water. But, I would be concerned about the longevity of the seat attachment points over time, given that I’ve already seen a Stingray made this way with the seat adjustment strap ripped right out of the thin plastic.



The Loon derivitives seemed constructed much more robustly, and a Loon 111 Classic is definitely on my short list, even if I have to order one from LL Bean.



Sat. morning, I finally sold my miserable little Feelfree Loma I, 9.5’ play barge to the 2nd person to look at it. For his purposes, it’ll do fine, but for me, it was an exercise in what I don’t want in a mini-yak. Saturday, I also got to see and sit in a Hurricane Santee 116 Sport. I had thought I was safe in going to see this, as they originally told me they only had it in red & white. Well, when I got there, I noticed another one in green. Ooops. Handling it in the store, I was struck by what a sweet little boat it is. I’d had that feeling paddling the regular Santee 116, the previous week. But, to my way of thinking, they really got it right when they opened up that cockpit. I mentioned this in another thread, but if offered either the exquisite Bell Rob Roy or the Santee 116 Sport for the same $$$, I might well opt for the Santee 116 Sport. I doubt if I’d ever really make much use of the bulkhead storage, but just having bulkheads might make it float a lot better if it ever went paddler side down. Given the stability of this great little boat, that’s an event that I think most unlikely.



So, my 3 finalists are:

OT Loon 111

OT Pack canoe

Hurricane Santee 116 Sport



Honestly, I’m sure I could be quite happy with any of these great little boats. At this point, I’m suffering from analysis paralysis. Would the Santee be worth half again as much to ME as the Loon? That’s hard to say.



Anyway, thanks again to all who have contributed to this thread. I do appreciate it.

bought a used OT Pack canoe
It’s funny how life works. I’d given up on finding a used boat that fit what I wanted. I was resigned to paying nearly full retail for a Santee 116 Sport, or ordering a Loon 111, and waiting weeks for it to come in. Then, this morning there was an ad on the local Craigslist for a used OT Pack canoe for a reasonable price. A tense drive on winding back roads through the pouring rain, and now I’ve got a Pack canoe to compliment the Penobscot. I doubt if this will be the final chapter in the quest for the ultimate solo birding boat. I have a feeling that journey ultimately leads to a Poke boat or a Compass Cayak. But, the Pack should be quite capable of dinking around in areas where I’d likely not even put the Penobscot in the water.



Thanks, again, to all that responded to this thread. You helped educate me, and refine what I thought I was looking for.



Mike

Have fun
with your new toy, and don’t forget to let us know when you see the ivory bill!