Hi there, my husband and I have been looking for a kayak and I must say it is a lot of information to absorb. We are beginners and fairly fit, retired, and spend 3-4 months on the Sea of Cortez and the summers on Vancouver Island. We are looking at the Delta 12’ 10” but can’t find any reviews on it, do you have any information or suggestions? We don’t plan on tent camping with it, just day trips, poking around, snorkeling, and exercise.
Dagger Delta
The Dagger website usually has specifications for their discontinued boats, so you may want to try that. Also check this pnet link - the reviews may help you out. I’ve paddled one because a friend of mine owns one, but I don’t know if it would be good for snorkeling. You may want to look for a sit-on-top.
www.dagger.com
http://www.paddling.net/Reviews/showReviews.html?prod=321
Wrong yak
I believe the review asked for is for this boat:
http://deltakayaks.com/125.shtml
Dan
http://www.westcoastpaddler.com
oops! Sorry!
– Last Updated: Nov-16-06 8:38 PM EST –
My bad!
I’ve paddled the 18.5 and the 14.5
I work at Western Canoeing & Kayaking in Abbotsford and we are a Delta Kayak dealer.
The 12.10 is not quite yet in production (it’s very close though). Apparently the molds are arriving next week and the first production models should be ready in a few weeks. Give us a call at WC&K and once the 12.10 arrives we can arrange a demo for you if you can make it over here.
http://www.westerncanoekayak.com
I’ve paddled both the 18.5 and the 14.5 – each are very nice boats. I’ve taken the 18.5 on a few multi-day trips and as ericnyre states, the Delta boats have a LOT of room to stow gear (I’d hazard a guess that the 18.5 has more storage space than nearly any other kayak out there). I haven’t found the 18.5 to be too effected by the wind even when empty if you use the rudder. Delta boats are designed with a fair bit of rocker and as such respond incredibly well to leaned turns – they will definitely make a novice look good! Initial and secondary stability is awesome. The top speed is not as high as other boats but they’re not dogs either – I found holding 5.5 km/hr for extended periods was not a problem at all.
The durability of the thermomolded plastic is incredible – I have dragged the boats, fully loaded, across rocks on beaches and have had no problem. You’ll be amazed at how tough this material is (I wouldn’t recommend dragging any boat over barnacle encrusted rocks though). Shy of scraping the boat with any tool sharp object, the acrylic finish on the boats seems to ward off minor scrapes and scratches with ease.
I’m not enamoured by the deck fittings but they do function well. The deck bungees can easily be reconfigured to whatever setup you like best.
The fit of the kayaks is very good. Delta utilizes a sliding seat which makes tailoring the fit to your body quite easy. If the thigh pads seem to be in the wrong place, slide the seat back or forth until the pads are comfortable. Apparently, Brooks will be making a spray skirt available for the Delta’s with a larger tunnel to compensate for the sliding seat.
So far, we’ve been very impressed with the Delta kayaks – the quality of build is extremely good. The finish is every bit as nice as composite (and may even be a bit tougher and less prone to scratching), the price is reasonable (filling that gap between composite and rotomolded), and the boats paddle well. We’re expecting them to be quite popular.
Hope this helps,
Dan
http://www.westcoastpaddler.com