I am a new paddler and selected a Pungo 120 from Wilderness systems. I have been using it for about a month now. I would be intersted to know what other owners of the boat think about it. I have already checked out the Product Review section but would like more insight.
First off I paddle on Lakes, Ponds and rivers. I have found that it tracks well for me. It seems to go through choppy water with ease, it seems to slow down with the flat water. In addition I have difficulty turning (quickly anyways).
Thanks for your time.
love it
I own 2 Mallards which are the older version of the Pungo and when I went to Maine last year my friend bought a pungo because of that.
Great boat. Easy to paddle, tracks well. Thicj plastic that takes a ton of abuse but is heavy to portage.
Then last month I went to Kansas and paddled another friends new Pungo and it was the same beautiful paddle.
If I could find Pungos in Arizona, I’d buy them no hesitation!!!
Nice Boat
I bought one for Kathy last month. She saw one at the Santa Cruz surf kayak festival back in March, and she liked the phase III seating.
The seating is very comfortable. The large cockpit makes it easy to access and egress like a SOT, but dry inside…
It has a sort of built in “skeg” aft. That makes it track really well and gives it lots of glide, but that also makes it little hard to turn. Kathy mentioned that also.
To be honest, SantaCruzMidWife bought one to keep on her husband’s sailboat, and take her dog on trips. I figure she did her homework before she bought it, so it must be a pretty good Rec boat. She pretty much lead the pack in hers on one trip up to Lake Tahoe.
I would have to strongly recomend against taking it out on the open ocean, or class II+ whitewater, but if that is not on the agenda, it makes a lot of sense.
I love my Pungo120
It’s smooth, pretty fast, VERY stable, etc.
I have no problem leaning it a little for turns. It won’t spin but I think it turns fine. Maybe you could use your paddle as a kind of rudder by your hip.
We had our 2 Pungo’s (100 & 120) out last weekend with two first time paddlers and they did very well. I had no worries about them in the boats and both were poor swimmers. We paddled all over the Beaverdam section of Falls lake and had a blast. I let one of them try my Eskia and I jumped back into my 120. I SILL love that boat. It seems to glide very well between strokes and I even commented on that fact to my wife. I kept up with our new Elaho and the Eskia (yahoo!!! new boats!!!) and even challenged my wife with a sprint race. I lost but not by much!
I will NEVER get rid of that boat.
P
I have Both the 120 & 140
I had the 140 for a year before I got the 120. Extremely stable which lends to the turning problem. The 12 is a lot better on the turn than the 140 but it pales in comparison to other rounded bottom recboats with less keel. that being said I would put your boat up against any for lake and slow rivers.
Advice: 303 the hatch combing, buy the 1/2 skirt, and remember that scratches mean you had fun.
Enjoy and don’t over analyze.
Jay
thanks for all the input
Thanks everyone for all the input. I kinda wanted to see if my take on the boat matched the general consesus. As I mentioned earlier I am fairly new to paddling.
It sounds like I made a good purchase.
Love our Pungi!!!
My wife and I bought two Pungo “Classics” just over a year ago and love them. We were lucky in that ours came with the Phase 3 seating, but at $399 each, they would have been a bargain even with the standard seats. We’re strictly recreational paddlers and have had the boats out on the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, South Bay of Lake Champlain, and smaller local lakes.
BTW-- Dicks Sporting goods now has these under a different name (Victory, I think), without the Phase 3 seats. Still a good bargain for someone who wants to get into kayaking for about $200 less than the newer Pungo 120
Victory
Hey the Victory boat appears to be a good value at Dick’s Sporting Goods. However when I compared the quality of the plastic & workmanship between Vic & WS the WS Pungo 120 & 140 is looks much better.
The Victory had rather crude looking seams that worried me somewhat about it’s longitivity.
However an inexpensive starter boat is better than none. Paddle on!!
The 120
is great, as everyone here has said. The only thing I wish was different on the 120 is the cock pit opening. The length of the opening on the 100 is right on, not sure why they had to add 10" to the length on the 120.