Wilderness System Tsunami 140
jughead
I took a intro kayak class so I could try out a bunch of different
kayaks. I was dead set to get a sit on top kayak but really liked the
Tsunami 140 and 145. I'm a big guy at 240 6-3.
The Tsunami 145 did have a tad bit of extra room compared to the 140
but I liked the 140 better. When I went to the store to look at the 140
Tsunami the sales girl said I was too big for the 140 and should get
the 145.
The Max Weight for the 140 is 300 lbs and the Max weight for the 145 is
325.
The Tsunami 145 is 6 inches longer and one inch more in depth and a
half an inch wider.
Should I steer clear of the 140?
echinacea
I almost got the Tsunami myself and ended up with a Dagger instead. Can
you fit comfortably in it? how physically fit are you? What you should
be able to do is in water over your head, turn upside down, wait 5
seconds, remove your spray skirt and do a wet exit, then lift the bow
out of the water to drain it, turn it right side up and climb on board
the stern of the boat and slide into the seat again. If you can do all
of this in under 2...maybe 3 minutes WITH NO ASSISTANCE then the boat
is ok for you. If not then you need to A) maybe slim down before
kayaking. B) get the boat but not use it until your skill in this
improves (just practice only) or C) look into a shallow draft sit on
top which may be a lot easier to climb back onto (wilderness systems
Tarpon is a great boat).
I say all of this because I am 255 and took my first class this weekend
and its tough, I had a hell of a time the first go round pulling myself
out of the water up onto my boat. I need to practice a lot more and get
smaller so I can get a more shallow boat.
Good luck!
WG
have a Tsunami 145. At a paddle fest I tried the Tsunami 140 (as well as
*many* other boats) and liked it. Later, I went ahead and bought the
145, and have been quite pleased with it.
jughead
of the local dealers had a 15 foot dagger made of duralite for 1200
used. I liked the idea of having durable plastic boat. Ended up getting
the Tsunami 145. I will start practicing my water entrance and exits.
Probably take a Kayak Safety class too.
echinacea
jughead wrote:
> Thanks everyone for your advice. THe dagger looked very promiseing. One
> of the local dealers had a 15 foot dagger made of duralite for 1200
> used. I liked the idea of having durable plastic boat. Ended up getting
> the Tsunami 145. I will start practicing my water entrance and exits.
> Probably take a Kayak Safety class too.
I tried the Tsunami before I ended up with the Dagger. After all is
said and done, the dagger is lighter but it has a higher draft in the
water giving wind more surface area to grab onto....which means it
weathercocks a lot. The tsunami tracked really well. Gratz on your new
boat....does it have a rudder?
and yeah...dont go out alone, practice all the safety measures
including an assisted reentry. have fun
jughead
kind of junky. Plan on doing a aftermarket rudder in the future. For
now I will practice my turning strokes. Yah the buddy system is
important!
echinacea
jughead wrote:
> I got it without the rudder because I heard the rudder it came with was
> kind of junky. Plan on doing a aftermarket rudder in the future. For
> now I will practice my turning strokes. Yah the buddy system is
> important!
more importantly to me is the fact that rudders create squishy foot
pedals which may break easily. I think having solid foot rests to brace
against when doing rolls or just grinding out some speed far outweighs
the advantage of some steering. Fortunatly for you, the Tsunami tracks
rather well so you wont need so many corrective strokes. I found myself
doing repeated sweeps to the side just to stay on target.
mike
nasty habitof coming of during self and swimmer rescues. ask me how I know!
"echinacea" <echina...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1155061454.4...@p79g2000cwp.googlegroups.com...
jughead
that increase drag?
I understand the squishy foot. I don't see how you could really lock
yourself in the kayak to really get the horse power when your feet can
move with the rudder.
mike
"jughead" <mike....@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1155103201.3...@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...
side. Used a "Footmans Loop" at each end of the strap. The strap was 1" wide
and about 4 feet long for each crossing of cover. You could save strap
length by cutting each strap at footmans loop and dead ending there. I chose
to just pass strap through footmans loop to buckle in the middle.
For what it worth I enjoy my Tsunami a great deal. It's a big boat,
kinda slow, but very dry. I do not have a great deal of paddleing
experiance, about 1 year in two different hulls. I am a large man, 6'3" and
about 245 pounds and the Tsunami fits me fine. However I paddle more for
fitness than for travel. It beats the heck out of going to a gym club,
getting on a tread mill or any other piece of equipment, staring at the same
wall just to work up a sweat. Hard to think of a more pleasant work out than
yakking. I paddle in Puget Sound in WA year around in the tsunami, and have
been is some fairly bumpy water and the boat handles it well. Paddling into
a wind is a real chore, but coming back with the wind is a hoot. Good luck
on your new boat!
John Fereira
75g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:
>
> I almost got the Tsunami myself and ended up with a Dagger instead. Can
> you fit comfortably in it? how physically fit are you? What you should
> be able to do is in water over your head, turn upside down, wait 5
> seconds, remove your spray skirt and do a wet exit, then lift the bow
> out of the water to drain it, turn it right side up and climb on board
> the stern of the boat and slide into the seat again. If you can do all
> of this in under 2...maybe 3 minutes WITH NO ASSISTANCE then the boat
> is ok for you.
While this method of reentry (often called a cowboy reentry) works with a
fairly stable boat in calm conditions I have found it quite unreliable once
the water gets rough. I often go out with a few friends for and after work
paddling/practice session and we went out a couple of years ago onto our
local lake when the wind was up and there were lots of breaking waves. We
all tried doing cowboy reentries. I tried four times, each time capsizing
before I could get my butt in the cockpit. I pulled out a paddlefloat and
was back in my boat in 30 seconds. It would have been even more difficult
in my Skerray as it has an ocean cockpit and is physically impossible to
enter the cockpit by sitting down first then bringing my feet in.
While solo and assisted rescue skills are very important, being able to
perform them is not really a reasonable criteria for boat selection (unless,
of course, the cockpit is so tight that it restricts your ability to safely
exit the boat when capsized).
jughead
blows though. The blades are way too small. Kmart paddle is what I
have. I got the kayak home and started spraying it down. Sprayed out
the cockpit and rotated the kayak around to try and get the water out.
THat was when I noticed I had water in the forward and rear storage
area. (When I pulled the kayak out of the river after the maiden 5 our
kayak ride I checked both storage areas and they were dry as a bone.)
Turns out the top of the bulkheads had no sealant AT ALL! When I
rotated the kayak upside down water would run into the storage areas.
If I rolled it in the river or lake or ocean water would go right in
there I'm sure of it. SHould I take it back? It's just silicone calking
right? I could probably do it myself.
Mike
Michael Daly
> SHould I take it back?
Yes.
> It's just silicone caulking right?
Not likely. It should be a good marine sealant.
Mike