I am going to try to go visit family members in Nevada over the Thanksgiving holiday and while I am there I may buy and bring back a few more kayaks to increase the size of the group of fellow idiots here paddling ocean kayaks 1000 miles form an ocean.
Here are links to some of the kayaks I may go look at. If anyone here has personal experience with any of these models please chime in and give me feedback.
I have bought and re-sold 2 Lookshas, but not the 15 footer. it’s shorter then the Looksha 4 and the looksha 5.
I can tell you that the 16’ Aquaterra is the Chinook and it’s made for a “bigger” paddler. It also has a different hull design than some of the ones that I know you have so you might want to look into that aspect of it.
And I looked into a poly Storm once and was told that it’s a bit barge like.
I don’t know about that. I’ve been watching some of the same kayaks for the last few + months and things aren’t moving very fast when it comes to those types of kayaks out west. At least not in the SoCal area. A little faster in the 100 mile radius around Phoenix but they are still moving slow. It’s enough to have me considering holding the ones I have to sell untill spring so that I won’t have to keep bumping the listings.
Kayaks correctly priced move fast because they are deals. The Chinook and Storm are not deals and as LowTech mentioned, they are more spacious than a kayak should be. My first kayak was a 17 ft Looksha rotomold, great kayak however…beware, that era Necky kayak had no deck lines/perimeter lines. Solid and good kayaks, but lacking in modern safety features. Plus, I am not a fan of rudders on sea kayaks. Keep looking, and keep the safety of deck lines and at minimum two bulkheads in mind.
The pair of Aquaterras are both in the archived 1993-4 Perception catalog (they dropped the Aquaterra designation around 1998 and the characteristic pin stripe so these are about 30 years old). I had an ancient Chinook for a while – it did not have a stern bulkhead but the specs in the catalog (link below) indicate that the model had one by that model year. Big guy boat, crappo seat. Tracks fine if you have the baggage for it.
The larger boat might be a Sea Lion, no experience with that one, another higher volume boat. But the upswept bow suggests it is a Scimitar (also 17’ +). I had one of those for a couple of years – very nice features but did not track well at all, probably because of a bit of rocker, but also could have been my rookie skill level in those early years. Lower volume semi Greenland style hull, fit me (average sized female well) but I and everybody I loaned it to (paddlers ranging from 115 to 190 pounds) found the bow wanted to wander. I don’t recall the seat being adjustable.
Hard to beat any Looksha model for good behavior on the water and solid construction. I have bought 2 for family members over the years, a Looksha IV and a I7, and both proved to be solid and reliably easy for beginners and maneuverable enough to satisfy more experienced paddlers.
Wow… good to know there are long boat paddlers out west! I am in the midst of a move to New Mexico, and bemoaning the impending loss of tidewater access.
As far as the aquaterra boats, my only experience was with a shorter model (I forget the name). I found it heavy for its size, but supremely maneuverable. That said, it was the only boat I ever paddled that definitely needed a rudder.
The “15’ Looksha” is a Looksha Sport, and is actually 14’ or 14.5" (don’t remember actual length). Very popular as original boats for rock gardening here on the west coast, as 10-20 years ago when rock gardening was growing, there weren’t the short, playful boat options we had now. The Sport and Mariner Coaster were about it. If you’ve paddled a plastic Looksha IV, the Sport’s cockpit will feel the same, as the sport is basically designed as a 3’ shorter Looksha IV. I’ve had a couple over the years.
The Kyook is a larger person boat with decent rocker. Plenty of room for larger paddlers. We still use one where I work for larger paddlers.
Neither of the ones being sold seems to have deck lines, as noted, but they are easy to add with just the cost of the line (no brackets or pad eyes need to be added).