One showed up on Craigslist for $250. I’m 5’8" 170 and don’t really need another kayak, but this seems like a good deal. It would probably be the kayak I use when I’m taking someone else out and I let the use my Conduit.
What are your thoughts? Is there anything I should be on the watch for other than a wife complaining about another kayak purchase?
Wow, blast from the past
The Spectrum is an early 1990s hull design, about 14 feet long, a precursor to today’s Rec Touring concept. If I remember correctly, from selling them back then, the rear had a hatch, but it had to be upgraded into a dry storage compartment with the addition of a bulkhead (which most dealers would do in the store).
Given the age of the boat (20 years), I’d be careful, since even a $250 boat isn’t cheap if the kayak sat outside all year in the sun (the plastic is likely toast). Garage kept, with no fade, and with the bulkhead, MAYBE I’d go $150-175 on a Spectrum. If no bulkhead and/or kept outside, I’d pass and look for something of a more recent vintage.
It weathercocks badly
even with a rudder in a wind.
Had one. Sold it when I found out this trait was all too common. The stern sprang when then the hull was released from the mold per the designer. He did not design it with that loose a stern.