@mowog73 Yes! That’s exactly what I’m looking for. I’m sure the Sirocco would still be lots of fun for me, and if I can’t get this boat, I’ll still love it! It just would be nice to have a great fit if I can, and honestly, full day-long trips are infrequent for me at this time of my life…so if it’s a bit small but feels good, I’m down for that.
I’m trying to nail down a time to go sit in it today if I can 
We’ll see!
In general, your weight puts you in the standard or medium volume boats. Anything that talks about high volume or large paddlers probably wouldn’t be good for you.
And 6’ works fine for most boats, even many low volume.
You could possibly do some low volume or smaller paddlers boats, except 34" inseam and size 12 boots would not fit in most small volume (and perhaps even some medium volume).
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Thanks for your help everyone! Even though I was messenging the seller about going down to sit in the boat first thing this morning, it sold before I could get there. Too bad for me, but all of your info has been really helpful in trying to figure out what fit I need going forward.
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If finding a boat to fit those feet makes the boat feel too big on you, make hip and thigh pads out of closed cell foam. Use regular oil based contact cement to glue them in.
I don’t think your weight will make the Sirocco bob like a cork, but you will have less wetted surface in the water, that will make the boat a little faster and more efficient.
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Thanks @CraigF , that will be my plan going forward. I definitely also need to address my backband. I sat in a friend’s Romany yesterday, and despite being way narrower than the one that came with mine, the higher position of the backband was WAY more comfortable.
If you are going to learn to surf a sea kayak, you should learn to roll said kayak.
Make sure the backband isn’t set high enough to hinder that. A slight discomfort might be a life savior when the conditions change, and the conditions always change, rarely for the better.
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Thank you @CraigF, that is certainly the plan. The backband on mine isn’t even on my back, but sits on the top of my pelvis giving pretty well no support whatsoever. I end up slouching and having to reconfigure frequently.
If you’re going to roll, and really just in general, the back band shouldn’t be much higher than your hips; across the lumbar, lower back. Definitely below the bottom of your pfd.
If you’re slouching, that could either be needing to move your foot pegs closer, which will also help you engage the thigh braces more, or it could be needing to work on your core strength.
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Resurrecting this post because though I missed the Scorpio, I did find a great deal on a Tempest 165! I’ve moved the seat back just over 1" after reading lots of posts about it by @Rex and others and took it out on Wednesday.
The control I have compared to the Sirocco is night and day. It feels super smooth and like I’m part of the boat, so I finally understand what that’s meant to feel like! However, my left leg fell asleep within 15 min, and after 45min my hip flexors were in a lot of pain from I think overuse… so I obviously need to make a few adjustments. Or maybe I just need more strength in my hip flexors??
Also, with my regular clothes on while testing on the lawn, it seemed to fit well, but once I got my drysuit on, it was a very tight fit to get my thighs in place. I’m not sure if it was the placement of the thigh pads or if my thighs just don’t fit well under the coaming.
My questions now: how bent should your knees be when up against the thigh pads? I’ve read the “How to adjust a sea kayak” article (How to Adjust a Sea Kayak) and understand about the frog legs position, but how bent? My legs seem pretty flat out in front of me with not a lot of bend, and I’m wondering if that’s what’s making my hip flexors work so hard.
Thanks all!
Having my legs flat out in front out is a killer. I have mine set up so my legs are bent comfortably, the inside of my thighs above the knee against the thigh pad (but not so they are held there when I don’t need them to be) and the balls of my feet on the foot braces so I can push when paddling.
With you legs flat you are using your upper body with little or no help from you legs. I am sure someone will give a better response but this is what I do.
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Thanks for pointing that out! I hadn’t though of that. Essentially, my legs were quite locked into the thigh pads when bent; my legs aren’t totally flat, but aren’t bent as much as they are in the Sirocco. But then again, they were overly splayed in that cockpit! Trying to figure out the sweet spot is tricky!!
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You want to be able to move your legs enough to essentially pedal, alternating feet into the foot rests and knees up on each side as you stroke. So that you can push each side of your hips back as you paddle. If you can’t do that, you are in what would currently be considered too tight except maybe if in a SOF.
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I’m a “bent-knee-constant-contact-with-thigh-pads” guy. That straight leg no-knee-bend stuff doesn’t work for me at all. Not only is straight-leg uncomfortable, it takes away from your one-ness with the boat. You ain’t gonna brace or roll with no thigh contact.
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Right, that’s what I tend to do, but I’m new to sea kayaking so wondered if I was just too locked in! Haha!
So when you’re taking a stroke, do you push against the thigh braces instead of the foot pedal? I think that’s what I do, but I’m not sure.
Thanks @Celia I think I currently am pushing on the thigh braces when I take a stroke. I’ll have to pay more attention when I next go out!
It takes some compromise. Do you bring some equipment on a day trip? Do you go overnight? Then you want some extra capacity.
One of the ways people drown is they borrow someone’s sea kayak that is too small for them . If you have to squeeze into the cockpit, how are you going to make a wet exit if you capsize? Then you are hanging upside down and can’t get out. Don’t risk paddling a kayak with a cockpit that is too small.
I have never grown tired of discovering new hull designs and behaviors. I’m glad you’re enjoying it.
You mention wondering if you were too locked in, seemingly in jest. I will suggest that you can definitely be too locked in. I couldn’t say if that’s the case here. Your muscles may adjust to the new more snug fit of the Tempest 165, and I hope this is the case. And you can also put that “feeling” of control to a test, and see which boat lets you run distances and paddle for different time frames, maneuver around obstacles, perform different turns, and edging, and bracing, and rolls more effectively and comfortably. And you can experiment with variations on how you’re performing those activities to get the most out of each individual kayak.
It’s been a lot of years since I wanted constant contact with the thigh braces in a sea kayak. I started working on some distance training over the past week, which lends itself to a comfortable and strong forward stroke, which is not something where you want your legs locked in such a position. But even thinking about yesterday afternoon, just out for a surf session, I use my legs for bursts of acceleration and for maneuvering, and just keeping my thighs in place against a thigh brace would detract from that. I used braces and did some rolls yesterday, but on the whole, thigh braces being there when needed but somewhat out of the way otherwise feels like a more proactive configuration for me. But everyone develops their own preferences about these things.
I don’t understand the pushing on thigh braces as part of a forward stroke. I think some folks visualize the paddle as a propeller that’s moving water to jet you forward, and anything that holds the motor perfectly steady against the boat is helpful. But none of that seems to bear out. Thinking of your paddle as an anchored object, not moving water, but anchored in the water, then projecting yourself forward by holding onto that anchored object, seems to get more to the reality of it. It can be useful to put down the paddle, sit next to a stationary object you can hold onto, and see what efforts really move the kayak forward. Pushing on the thigh braces won’t. Likewise, creating pressure between your feet against the footpegs and your back against the backrest won’t. If you turn your body away from the thing that you’re grabbing, bent knee against the footrest near the thing you’re grabbing, and then almost like you’re trying to stand up, you straighten your leg and twist your hips and body, you will thrust the kayak forward. And of course you can simply use your arms to move forward. But I suggest doing this to discover what moves your kayak forward besides just flexing your arms. Much like the engine of your car, with parts moving and spinning independently of the car as a whole, parts of your body moving independently of the kayak can work to power the kayak forward. If your body is too bound up, your ability to move the kayak will be bound up to some degree.
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Thanks @ppine! I definitely wouldn’t want to be in one that would entrap me, but I practice flips and wet exits in every boat early on, so this one is no different. I can slide in and out of this one pretty easily, and based on lots of reviews I’ve read, it isn’t unusual for someone my height and weight to fit well in these boats, so I don’t think I’ll be entrapped. But this is a very good point!
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This is great info and lots of points to consider @CapeFear ! Thank you! I was sort of joking about being too locked in, but also serious. The coaming sits about 1" below my hip bone immediately beside my hip, so I’m not getting much of a bend in my knee while under the coaming. To get a bit of a bend to both make it more comfortable and prevent my left leg falling asleep, I have to be really pressing into the top of the coaming & thigh pad. However, I can straighten my leg as well, and I can twist or rotate very easily.
I’m obviously a new sea kayaker, so still acquiring the skills needed to edge, brace, and roll. However in my first time out with the Tempest 165, it seemed like I had a lot more control over the boat than the Sirocco: I felt more secure with attempting to sit on edge and to reach way out to sweep. But I don’t have the skills to actually do those things yet, so I’m hoping to find the boat that will best help me to learn. Though I’m wearing a drysuit, I am waiting for the water to warm up here in Ontario before voluntarily spending a lot of time in the water by pushing the limits 
As for using my feet vs thigh braces, I will try out your suggestions on land and in the water. I think you’re right, I’m probably just stabilizing myself against the thigh braces when doing the forward stroke.
If you want to shift each hip back alternately, the push that does that is against the foot pegs.
However it requires having the room to lift each leg a bit so that you CAN do the push on the foot peg. Otherwise all you are doing is tensing your quads which is great isometrics but it is not going to shift a hip bone back.
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