An evening paddle by Devonport, NZ.
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My first sea kayak, a 25 years old Perception Acadia 12.5. Small but mighty. Surprisingly fast for its length. I could follow 16-17 ft long sea kayaks easily. Very solid build, with an aluminium rudder that was not really needed.
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Perception did make a great array of excellent kayaks back in the early 2000s. Can only really fault them for the massive turnover in models, but I guess they just stuck with what sold the most. They did make a couple of not-so-great boats when they briefly detoured their touring kayaks into the Aquaterra brand (I briefly had a Scimitar that was the worst weathercocking kayak I ever had, even with the rudder deployed). But overall they were the best US source for a range of quality boats for all uses of those early eras.
My most-favored boat in the past 3 years is one of their composite Avatar 16s, which they only produced in 2003 and 2004 (a “barn find” I bought for $300 and re-habbed). Excellent performance, fast and nimble, has lines of and feels very similar to some NDK Romanys that I have paddled. And I picked up a used vintage Perception Monterey 14 for my sister in law some years ago, solidly built, a great tracking lake and river boat with a skeg.
In fact, thinking back, the first kayak I ever paddled in my life was a Perception, back in 1977. I was managing a wilderness sports outfitter and we had just started stocking their kayaks – I used one of our demos for a whitewater and rolling class.
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I started with an Acadia . My son has it now and it is at least that old.
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I nearly purchased a Scimitar but the seller was too far. Guess I was lucky 
I loved all the Perception I had: Acadia, Spectrum, Sea Lion and the Synchro, which I believe was an Aquaterra.
The Acadia is still made in NZ and is called Mission Kayaking Contour 375.
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There’s an excellent building class the first week of October at QajaqUSA’s Delmarva Greenland camp this year, overseen by master SOF builder, Anders Thygessen. Pricey, but the customized builds that come out of his guided workshops are exquisite and the venue for building them is wonderful and you can launch the new kayak from the camp’s private beach.
Thanks for the heads up. Rusty put a ballistic nylon skin on my super Folbot I traded to him. He also paid for the Cape Falcon online course. So I think we will build them at home.
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if one has the time, desire, and skill, Lake Superior is a beautiful lake to paddle around.
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Way cheaper that way. The skin and epoxy packages are usually under $250. Biggest issue nowadays is finding good enough quality clean grained cedar and oak to make the frame parts.
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Beautiful. That’s the same boat I built back in 2002. The one seen on top of my truck in the “Boats on cars” thread. Gave it to a friend in Alaska the day before I left just over a month ago (along with my first boat, an even older Current Designs Caribou – pre-skeg – just as I like them).
My next boats will be SOF, but I’ll always cherish both the building of and paddling that boat for all these years.
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New Stick Day
It was “baptized” in the Neuse River (NC)… and the angels sang! 
(the angels were actually geese… but, it sounded pretty just the same)
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That stretch of river reminds me of some stretches of the Broad River here in SC.
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Sort of a Gloria In Excelsior , the Winged Yak, eh?
Angels I have heard on high,
skunky vapors swept back joining my stern train.
And Neuse with no hangups on which I fly,
echoed back with goosed hiccups from multi-winged play.
I like that rock garden of twisty options the river presents you. Guess that made for some educating opportunities in flick-the-stick-to-steer-route’s-pick?
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I hiked the trail through Pictured Rocks a couple of years ago. And have seriously considered going along there in my Kayak… staying in some of the same campgrounds. But frankly… the cold water temps… and rough shoreline have made me rather nervous of trying that. Many sites recommend a dry suit for paddling on that lake… but I get hot so easily. Curious how you gear up for a paddle on Superior?
Sadly, the discharge from Falls Lake these days is rather skimpy. I prefer the days they’re letting out around 3000 cu ft sec. Those are the days I go play at the mouth of the dam; a mighty workout for sure.
Any experience with the Congaree? I’d love to paddle the portion of the river bordering the Congaree National Park.
Yes, I have put in at the end of Rosewood in Columbia and taken out at Highway 601 bridge. It’s a 50 mile paddle down river. I have also put in at Cedar Creek landing and paddled the creek to the Congaree River and taken out at the 601 bridge. We had to do some portaging on Cedar Creek. You might want to check with Palmetto Outfitters about the possibility of a shuttle. We had a group and set up our own shuttle from the Cedar Creek Landing to the 601 bridge. We camped overnight on the river both trips. I should add there isn’t any public access that I know of for the entire 50 miles other than the ones I mentioned. I also believe you can put in just upriver of Rosewood landing at the Gervais St Park at the bridge there.
Here is a link to the Cedar Creek Congaree River trip
Cedar Creek and Congaree River SC trip - Paddlers’ Place - Paddling.com
And a few from the Columbia to 601 bridge. We camped on a sandbar just inside the park that has a hiking trial to it so hikers can camp there too. There are a number of good sandbars to camp on along the river.
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This depends a lot on: when, where, and your skill level
For example, the first time I went around was in June - it was a cold June. I wore a dry suit just about everyday, until about 1/2 way, then was warm the rest of the trip.
Also, I left the area many years ago, the last time I went around was in '93. I’m sure many things have changed since then.