I must be odd or something…
I purchased an America 13.5 this summer and I really, really like the boat. My husband has one also, and he has no complaints. I can't forsee outgrowing it----------for what we do. Lakes, calm bays, canals-------I love it! However, if I was looking for an ocean going boat, or one that I wanted to roll, I could not have went with an America. But, I'll say it again----totally satisfied with it!
I origionally was eyeing the Eclipse
When I tried the Eclipse, it felt like a barrel. I sat in the Shadow and it felt like a glove! It was perfect and has served me well for three years. I’m 5’7" and 165lbs. and have had it out on 10 hour trips and in small craft advisory conditions on the Chesapeake bay. The boat has been very comfortable for me (I did lower the seat back, pad out the seat with 1/2" minicell, added hip and thigh braces) with no numbness, sleeping legs, etc. If you use good paddling technique and stay relaxed, discomfort should not be a problem.
lakes and lakes
You are correct. Lake Mi and the other four are Great Lakes not lakes. They are to be respected and appreciated. Most of the time, growing up in SW MI if someone refered to the Lake they were referring to Lake Mi. Other lakes had names. Had the fortune of living near Lake Huron for a few years, that was the Lake, and the other inland lakes had names.
To each their own…
You may indeed be odd, but since I don’t know you, I can’t comment on that ;-). It sounds like you have the perfect boat for YOU and that’s what really counts. The America is a good boat for flatwater and day-trips.
Enjoy it.
that’s right
I agree with you–to each his own. Each person has to find the right boat for them. I was just so fortuante to find it with my the first kayak I purchased.
probably best to test paddle first
We all make mistakes, choosing the right kayak is not an easy task. I got lucky when I bought the Pungo 120. Not so lucky with the next purchase.
In an effort to be more self-sufficient with a boat I could lift myself, I read all types of reviews and looked at manufacture specs and thought I was well informed. An outfitter offered a Sonoma 10 to me at a good price but it was a mistake. He even saw my size and did not tell me it wouldn’t work out. I spent my saved money on a new and wrong for me lighter weight boat. It is now listed for sale or trade and I will wait and try for a lighter boat sometime in the next three years when I have money saved again.
First and only time out - it swamped twice. I fought back tears and felt stupid. Later I couldn’t move as my sciatic nerve acted up and my right leg wouldn’t work, and that is not my injured leg. I blamed myself, first of all for being a heavy as I spent years on prednisone. I cried all the way home from my experience with the “perfect new boat”.
Then I remembered how immobilizingly ill I was ten years ago. I’d been unable to breath and walk at the same time for months, years really but one morning in October of 1986 I knew I couldn’t make it. This Unitarian Universalist prayed (before calling 911).
My health is 1000% better but my weight weighs me down. In fact this summer I’ve lost two inches from my waist but at the same time gained about 10 more pounds this summer?
I’m not one to sit about and cry too long, but I am one to keep kicking myself in the ass. The light weight boat is now parked on my patio, waiting for an uncertain future.
I’ve made many mistakes, many errors in judgement that it is a miracle sometimes I can laugh at all. All I have to do, however, is remember being so ill that I wouldn’t have had these new problems to look forward to. Disability and oxygen tanks perhaps, but not kayaking.
I use the Pungo 120 I bought on sale three years ago, it isn’t pretty, it is too heavy for me, it is a bit slow, but it certainly is stable, reliable, and welcoming to me once in the water. I owe deeply heartfelt thanks to the folks in the Columbus Group who help me handle my boat loading and unloading.
Late this summer I’ve learned that there are places where one can go and try different boats before deciding to buy one. I wish I had. I strongly advise this.
Shadow (again)
20 minutes is a short time to evaluate a boat.
At this point, you should if there are places which rent boats you are interested in or who would let you try out a boat for longer than 20 minutes.
Maybe, buy a used version of a boat you like. That way, if you end up not liking it, you could sell it for almost what you paid for it.
The Shadow is not drastically much smaller than an Eclipse (I think). (Get a tape measure and see for yourself.)
Leg numbness might be more related to how the foward seat edge hits the bottom of your legs.
Anyway, I suspect that, given a long enough trip, anybody’s legs would get numb regardless of the boat.
In my boat, I can move my legs off of the pegs and move them around.