There are hardly any kid-sized SOTs made, and I was hoping the old Ocean Kayaks Kea (which I tried years ago) might still be made. Nope.
I am well under the 120-lb weight limit for the High 5, so that is not likely a problem. However, the molded “footrests” are few, and my experience with those in other SOTs is that they are not spaced closely enough to allow a good leg fit.
There is no Perception dealer within 200 miles, so a test fit even on the shop floor would be a major trip, if they even have one in stock.
I just want a sturdy plastic SOT that is NOT 30+” wide for tooling around in small reservoirs and the tight, shallow side canyons in some of them. Great birding in places like that, and I miss the simplicity of just sliding a short boat entirely inside the truck’s bed.
Do you still have your waveski? In this heat wave, but with only little barbie and ken size waves, I have taken to paddling my 9’ longboard waveski 3 miles down the beach and back. Not bad way to cool off for several hours.
Another SOT you may consider is the OK Venus 10’. I have sat and paddled that. Ain’t too bad. Weigh is only 35 lbs.
I still have it because of the one-of-a-kind detailed, beautiful custom art the maker painted on it. But it is a PITA to transport and a PITA to carry, too, even though it’s light. I stopped paddling it years ago.
The nearest city with lots of big box stores (about 75 miles away) had a Dick’s Sporting Goods with one High 5 in stock, so we drove there today to do a bunch of shopping. I ended up buying the High 5 and got it at the sale price of $243 including sales tax. Retail is $299.
The thing has the foot stops positioned much farther apart (left to right) than I like—no surprise with ANY rec kayak. I’d like to make two solid shaped inserts to use instead. Originally, I thought I could put a piece of 2x4 or similar across between left and right foot stops, but there is a raised ridge running down the middle, probably to strengthen the floor.
I will take some photos and post them, in case any of the more ingenious posters here have ideas on how to make the foot position suit me better. I can use it as is.
There is a nice carry slot molded into the center bottom to make carrying easy, and it’s light. We shall see if it allows too much water to enter. The scupper holes in SOTs always amaze me, in that the boats still float just fine and the cockpit doesn’t even get wet from that.
Perception calls it a hybrid of SOT and SUP, so if worst came to worst I could buy a SUP paddle and use it that way. Or sell it, since kids’ kayaks are probably easy to resell, especially since it came bundled with a kids’ paddle. I plan to use my WW kayak paddle with it.
Will post a follow-up after the first paddle on it. Funny, coming full circle back to the kind of kayak that made me fall in love with paddling, even though it won’t be my primary boat. I’ve always liked having two very different kayaks. From your posts over the years, it sounds like you do, too.
I wish I was disciplined enough to keep it to “two”. I have 3 WW kayaks, 3 SOTs, 2 SINKs, 5 waveskis, 1 Hobie pedal fishing kayak, 1 pack canoe and one behemoth FG canoe. Just made a bid on a plastic surfing SOT.
I am pretty ecclectic about paddling. I think there is place or venue for any boat that floats (provided awareness, skills and safety gear).
Took a photo of the new water toy, in case somebody has ideas on how to install (without drilling) blocks for my feet that are closer together laterally than the standard molded indents. The raised
center ridge means I can’t just attach a piece of wood to a pair of left-right indents. Right now, it looks like the only way is to shape two pieces of wood or hard resin that would fit in each side, kept from moving forward by the “front walls.”
Also, the optional accessory screw-in mount that can be used to attach small items (keybox, drybag, water bottle, camera…) costs $27! It’s just a small plastic fitting. Good grief.
Instead, I’ll buy a roll of waterproof Velcro tape. That can be placed wherever I want on top. The paddle park indents need Velcro tape to actually keep the paddle from rolling or bouncing out. The keybox and water bottle will have lanyards that can be tethered via a Velcro base and removable top piece. The center ridge would be a good place for those Velcro bases.
What supplier do you recommend for ordering HD waterproof Velcro tape? West Marine?
Cut, shape and glue minicell block that fit into the existing foot rest ridges to create and locate the footrests as you want. You can use paper or cardboard to trace the pattern from the front of the footwell to where you want your footrest. This pattern can then be transferred onto your minicell block for cutting.
I like the footstops to be harder than minicell. I kinda wonder if I can stuff a bunch of PlayDoh to shape and size, harden it, and coat it with something for the test fit.
Today was the first paddle on the High Five. Turns out that the 191cm WW paddle is too short for high-angle full blade plant forward of my feet, which surprised me. Next time I will use the 200cm Shuna, which I like more anyway because its blade is slightly smaller than the Sherpa’s.
The footstops would ideally be about 4” inward on each side—right next to the raised center ridge. That feels much more natural and stronger than the splayed-out indents.
But at least I dialed in the best way to secure it in the truck bed and the best way to carry it and the paddle. The boat is actually 6’4” long, not 6”. So it doesn’t fit straight in the bed and must be diagonaled. It’s an easy carry, thanks to that center hand slot and the raised sides. Not 21 lbs, though. More like 25.
It is the slowest-turning kayak I’ve ever paddled, LOL, despite the shortness. Turning while back-paddling is much faster, though. Slow overall, no surprise. Still, it was fun to tool around where the other plastic and foamie water toys were, all of us escaping the much hotter environs of land recreation. There were kids using their SUPs as diving platforms, women doing yoga on SUPs, others slipping on and off just for a cooling dip. The High Five was easy to get on and off, too. All I had to do was scoot rearward and that “rear swim deck” dipped down below the surface. The rear handholds made it easy to pull myself up again.
Felt like being a kid on summer break again, a nice feeling. I see that you also tried your Five O today!
I’ve “stiffened” up minicell by glueing on a surface sheet of plastic (used cut up pieces of old tupper containers). You can also stiffen by embedding (.25 or .5) wooden dowels into the minicell block. This approach won’t add much weight to your kayak.
It’s cool to have a different and less fussy ride to get out on the water with.
I hear ya about too-big cockpits! I once paddled a loaner WW boat at Popham Beach. The owner was tall enough he put his feet against the front of the kayak, so there was NO other footbrace or adjustable BH. I managed to roll it in an isolated (calm) pool of water cut off from the waves. But in the actual waves I didn’t just fall out from under when capsized (which had happened to me years earlier in a sea kayak with too-big cockpit), it felt like the water sucked me out. No such trouble when I had paddled a borrowed sea kayak there; that’s where I did my first successful rolls from unplanned capsizes. And it was fun. NOT so for being sucked out of the too-big WW boat.
The thing I don’t miss one iota is sprayskirts. Clammy, hot…just ICK. I love being able to instantly dangle legs over the side if desired, or slipping off to get in the water. No fuss. Both the surf ski and the hybrid kiddy SOT allow that. The first for fitness and covering distance faster (and fun when wind is good), the second for hanging out on yet another Dog Daze blazer.
All I need is to improve the foot position. The stock position was tolerable (no pain from the splayed position) but that’s all. The slowness is no big deal, because I can paddle the ski instead if that’s more important that day.
So now I can go ahead and craigslist the kiddy paddle that came with the High Five. Maybe some parent of a kid struggling with a cheap adult-sized 230cm junk paddle will be smart enough to realize a small person needs a shorter paddle with a skinnier blade. Even in a wide rec barge.
