I went out with the Tsunami 140 w/ rudder for a few hours today. While it's a very nice boat, my legs were very cramped.
I have pretty long legs, not to mention size 12 feet. As far as I could tell, the foot pegs were as far down as they could be, but they didn't feel down quite far enough for me, and my heels were touching one another when my feet were on the pegs. It almost felt like the rudder cables were preventing the pegs from sliding down further, but I could be wrong.
So, next I plan on sitting in the 145 as well as the Perception Carolina 14, as well as a few others, including the Necky 14 footers.
I would be willing to bet you would not feel cramped in the Tsunami 145. There are people much larger than either of us using this boat. I am 5'7"/215#/size 11 feet and own the 145. My wife owns the 140 and that boat is actually a better fit for my body but I like having the extra weight capacity for me and for our camping excursions. I installed the Harmony hip pad kit in both boats to snug up the cockpits for better contact and control. I also replaced the high seat backs with the Wildy backband (used in the Tempest series) to avoid seat fold down during self-rescues and to make spray skirt attachment easier. The 145 not look much bigger than the 140, but looks are deceiving. Lots of foot and leg room. After paddling my Nordkapp RM these past few months, the 145's cockpit seems huge. Personally, I would not want it any larger. One of the reasons I bought this boat instead of others like the Carolina.
These boats may not be full-on sea kayaks, but I am surprised at their versatility. We use them for camping, river excursions, local lakes, and general paddling on the Lake Erie coastline.
Can’t find a d45 So far I’ve checked 5 kayak dealers in my area and no one has the 145 for me to even sit in. The last place I called said, “that’s because it’s not a great paddling boat because they blew out the hull too much.” For whatever that’s worth.
How frustrating. However, I will continue to search.
What B S I hare it when a salesperson bad mouths a great boat just because he wants to sell you what they have in stock this week. Do not buy from that store!
The pungo 140 & Tsunami 145are great paddling boats!
Re: What B S He may be just trying to sell what he has in stock, but it’s also possible that the salesguy honestly believes what he’s saying, i.e. is a ‘boat snob’.
Either way though, doesn’t sound like someone I’d want to buy from.
Boat snobs never get that your needs might be different from theirs. =[
Perception Carolina 14’ Just bought one of these and I love it. Very spacious, even for a larger guy. The cockpit opening is about the same size as my rec kayak.
Thought I'd give a quick update on my search for a 14ft light touring boat from earlier this year.
Well, I found one down at Charles River Canoe and Kayak in Boston. What a great place, right on the river.
They have an end-of-season sale on many of their rental boats, so I went down, pulled on a wetsuit and test paddled a Tsunami 145 with rudder.
First, the cockpit is perfect for me...much roomier than any of the other closed boats I've tried. I guess the higher deck is the key, but it also feels a tad wider than other boats. I sat in the Dagger Alchemy 14L and I could barely get myself in the boat, and once I got in, I was crammed in there.
Second, I've never used a rudder before, and I was amazed at how easy it was to use and effective it is in helping to turn the boat.
Finally, it tracks beautifully and feels very maneuverable. I paddled around the river for about 20 minutes and was sold.
The beautiful thing is that the boat is a 2011, so it only has one season of rental use. Some hull scratches aside, it's in great shape. The seat and the rudder don't even look like they've been used.
I guess the only head scratcher is the lack of a bulkhead between the day and rear hatch, but I'm hoping that's not too big a deal.
The price of the boat was $840, and they threw in a set of foam blocks for my car for free.
So I'm pretty stoked. Unfortunately, it's now winter here in New Hampshire and I have to wait till spring to really put the boat through its paces.
Thanks again for all the information and suggestions!