I am looking for another bigger boat.
I find that the Scary doesn’t have great initial stability and needs a tiny bit of skeg even on a calm day. Also, if the wind is not on the bow, then the heading is always 20 degrees off the course…its very prone to weather cocking. Not sure if all bigger boats will be like this though…
Anyone have opinions on either craft. (I have read the reviews)…the dealer, for some reason, isnt amenable to let anyone paddle the Romany.
I paddled an older, used Skerray at a demo day a few years back. It scared the pants off of me. It was on the Parker River in Newbury MA and the tide was coming in, so it hand standing waves. I was pretty sure it was going to throw me but I somehow managed to get it turned around and get back to safety. I also paddled a Romany in those same conditions. That was a really nice boat. A friend had one and I really wanted to like it.
Then I made the “mistake” of sitting in a Cetus. I took it out twice. The second time the conditions were worse, the standing waves were about 2 feet crest to trough. This was way above my skill level, but I didn’t die.
So yeah, bought the Cetus. The Romany was really nice, but it just didn’t speak to me like the Cetus did. This isn’t to say the Skerray is bad, I went to that demo day lusting after that boat but it wasn’t for me. But I’m sure it will be for someone else. My wife paddled a Stellar boat, liked it, I paddled the same boat, hated it.
The moral of the story is that you need to paddle the boat, find another dealer, make a long drive, get a hotel room. This is a decision that will be with your for awhile, the boat has to work with you, not with people who write reviews.
People love the Scary or hate the Scary.
I can actually steer the thing by tilting my head. The only question is which way it will turn.