Help: Prijon Seayak vs. Wilderness Systems Sealution II
Doc
mostly kayak on the the Chesapeake Bay and it rivers. Mostly day trips,
some over nights, and once a year a multi day trip. I've narrowed it down
to the Wilderness Systems Sealution II (or the Sealution II XS) or the
Prijon Seayak. They both seem like good boats. Does anyone have any advise
on these boats. Any preferences. Any dislikes? Thanks.
Capt' Salty
plastic used in the Prijon boats is better <blowmolded vs.rotomolded> and
will have less of a tendency to gouge or deform. Both boats are quite
manouverable and will be influenced by wind/current. IMHO rudder dependant
in certain conditions.
--
Steve Scherrer
www.AlderCreek.com
Reply to Flatpick<at>teleport<dot>com
__________________________________
Doc wrote in message <7aqmhp$a1u$1...@winter.news.rcn.net>...
John Fereira
>I'm about to buy a new kayak and would love to hear others opinions. I
>mostly kayak on the the Chesapeake Bay and it rivers. Mostly day trips,
>some over nights, and once a year a multi day trip. I've narrowed it down
>to the Wilderness Systems Sealution II (or the Sealution II XS) or the
>Prijon Seayak. They both seem like good boats. Does anyone have any advise
>on these boats. Any preferences. Any dislikes? Thanks.
I have paddled both and would pick the Seayak over the Sealution II for
a number of reasons.
I felt that the Sealution II was sluggish. The Seayak isn't the fastest
plastic boat out there but at least it doesn't feel like you're paddling
in pudding.
The plastic in the Seayak is much better. The HTP plastic on the seayak
is stiffer and I think would hold up much better. The Sealution II that
I demo'd had a rather severe case of oil canning in what was essentially
a new boat. A friend of mine has four Seayaks in his rental fleet and
the hulls appear as true as the day he bought them.
The Seayak has a better rudder system. Prijon uses a "gas-pedal" style
footpeg for rudder control. This results in a much more solid foot pedal
then the W.S. set up where the entire foot pedal moves back and forth.
I think that the Sealution probably has a little better initial stability
then the Seayak (but not enough to worry about once you've paddled it
more then a couple of hours) but I felt the multi-hard chine hull on the
Seayak gave better final stability.
To be fair, some people have complained about the comfort of the seats
in the seayak.
Now forget everything I said and go out and demo both boats and decide
for yourself which one you like best.
John Fereira
ja...@cornell.edu
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Ken
schedules that eliminated oilcanning. I have a 1997 II XL and it does
not oilcan in seas, even with my 235 lb bulk in it.
Although cross-linked PE is tougher, it is also more prone to UV
degradation and crystallization (brittleness). There is no consensus
on which material is superior. Environmental concerns favor the
straight chain PE because it can be recycled.
Ken
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Doc
I agree I need to get out and try the two boats. I just wanted to be as
knowledgeable as possible before I got there. Thanks for the info. It
really is helping.
I have one question. The Sealution has a more rounded bottom and the Seayak
a flat bottom. Does this affect tracking, stability, anything else???
And one more thing. All the catalogs and web photos I see show the seayak
with rubber hatch covers and the one the dealer is showing me has clear hard
plastic hatch covers? Which is the newer model?
Thanks in advance,
dj
John Fereira wrote in message <7arvd6$s...@newsstand.cit.cornell.edu>...
Bill Pendlebury
tested a Necky Looksha IV. At that point, my wife liked the Sealution more
than I did, so she took it and I bought the Necky. I have since paddled the
Seayak several times and I must say that I like it almost as much as my
Necky. Given the choice between the Sealution and the Seayak, I'd
definitely go with the Seayak.
Bill
John Fereira
>Thanks John & all,
>
>I agree I need to get out and try the two boats. I just wanted to be as
>knowledgeable as possible before I got there. Thanks for the info. It
>really is helping.
>
>I have one question. The Sealution has a more rounded bottom and the Seayak
>a flat bottom. Does this affect tracking, stability, anything else???
The hull shape will primarily affect stability. The best description that
I have seen as to why can be found in Nick Schade's "Building the Strip
Built Kayak". The two models that you're looking at have very different
hulls. The Sealution II has a rounded hull with soft chines and the Seayak
has multi-hard chines. You're not going to notice a significant difference
in initial stability, especially after you've been in each boat for an hour
or so. The difference in secondary stability will be much more noticable.
Specifically, the transition between your initial stability point (where
you're sitting straight up and down in relation to the water line) to the
secondary stability point (a point where the hull is leaned to the side)
will feel smoother in the soft chined hull then in the hard chine. Once
you reach the secondary stability point, however, the hard chined boat
will probably feel more stable at that point. At least that's the way
it feels to me. I prefer a boat that has a good solid secondary stability
because it allows me to lean it agressively and work on good solid bracing
skills.
>
>And one more thing. All the catalogs and web photos I see show the seayak
>with rubber hatch covers and the one the dealer is showing me has clear hard
>plastic hatch covers? Which is the newer model?
>
>Thanks in advance,
>dj
>
>John Fereira wrote in message <7arvd6$s...@newsstand.cit.cornell.edu>...
>>In article <7aqmhp$a1u$1...@winter.news.rcn.net>, "Doc" <do...@erols.com>
>wrote:
>>>I'm about to buy a new kayak and would love to hear others opinions. I
>>>mostly kayak on the the Chesapeake Bay and it rivers. Mostly day trips,
>
>
>
River Riders
If you want another dealer's oppinion,
>The Sealution has a more rounded bottom and the Seayak
>a flat bottom. Does this affect tracking, stability, anything else???
The design of the Seayak is actually for cutting through waves. The flat
bottom makes it stable.
>And one more thing. All the catalogs and web photos I see show the seayak
>with rubber hatch covers and the one the dealer is showing me has clear
hard
>plastic hatch covers? Which is the newer model?
The new sea yaks that I received in November have the plastic covers and
neoprene "skirts" under them.
Hope this helps.
Matt
River Riders
Harpers Ferry, WV
800 326 7238
email tr...@riverriders.com
http://www.riverriders.com
authorized dealer of Prijon, Pyrahna, Savage, New Wave, and Ocean Kayak
Philip Semanchuk
>I'm about to buy a new kayak and would love to hear others opinions.
I have a Sealution II and I like it. My brother and sister-in-law (hi
guys!) have Seayaks and are quite fond of them. I paddled a Seayak
once and didn't like it, but a lot of the problem I had was with the
rudder control cables rubbing against my knees; I'm pretty sure newer
Seayaks use a different system. I second many of the other comments
made on this thread, such as:
- I think the Sealution has an extremely comfortable seat
- In the wear and tear dept., I prefer the plastic that the Seayaks
use. When I strap my 17' boat to my 16' car (no racks), the hull gets
bent in a way that makes me nervous. I think the stiffer Seayak
plastic would tolerate this better
- In the Seayak I paddled, I found the footpedals very difficult to
adjust but it could be they were gummed up with sand.
- The Seayak gas-pedal rudder system does provide a nice stable point
to push against. I still found the movement a little annoying, but I
didn't have a lot of time (one afternoon) to learn how to work with
them. OTOH the Sealution pedals, when attached to a rudder, are very
mushy. For this and other reasons, I removed the rudder from my
Sealution. I really like the way the footpedals in my Sealution feel
now.
I am an inexperienced paddler so take it with a grain of salt when I
say that the Sealution feel fast enough to me. One thing I can say,
inexperienced or not, is that I like the look of the Sealution better.
Happy shopping, I think you'll enjoy either boat.
Philip
Docdj
differences in the hull design.
I'm still wondering about these hatch covers though. Prijon told me that
they have always used a hard plastic cover with neoprene under it. However,
the catalog shows a black cover slightly raised. The model the dealer is
showing me has a translucent plastic cover that is flush with the deck.
Which is the newer model? Probably the ones with the flush mount. That
seems to make sense anyway.
dj
Docdj
Yeah, I tried both boats and found both to be very comfortable, but for
me the Seayak was slightly more comfy.
>When I strap my 17' boat to my 16' car (no racks), the hull gets
>bent in a way that makes me nervous.
I will be in the same boat (pune intended). I have a very small Geo
Metro that I'm going to stick 2 16 foot boats on. Makes me very nervous,
but you have to do what you have to do. I love to kayak and that's the car
I have.
>The Seayak gas-pedal rudder system does provide a nice stable point
>to push against.
Yes I really liked this. But I can understand that some people wouldn't.
I also liked the Sealution's peddles.
>Happy shopping, I think you'll enjoy either boat.
Thanks, I'm looking forward to having my own boat and not having to rent
anymore. Thanks again.
dj
John Fereira
>"Doc" <do...@erols.com> wrote:
>
>>I'm about to buy a new kayak and would love to hear others opinions.
>
>I have a Sealution II and I like it. My brother and sister-in-law (hi
>guys!) have Seayaks and are quite fond of them. I paddled a Seayak
>once and didn't like it, but a lot of the problem I had was with the
>rudder control cables rubbing against my knees; I'm pretty sure newer
>Seayaks use a different system.
I noticed this too in a couple of different Seayaks that I paddled. A
little duck tape around the loose ends fixed it.
> I second many of the other comments
>made on this thread, such as:
>- I think the Sealution has an extremely comfortable seat
As long as you have a good backband. I have found the backbands in
general the W.S. boats to be a little loose.
>- In the Seayak I paddled, I found the footpedals very difficult to
>adjust but it could be they were gummed up with sand.
Probably. A friend of mine uses Seayaks in his rental fleet and
has to readjust the foot pegs all the time. I thought they
were pretty easy.
>I am an inexperienced paddler so take it with a grain of salt when I
>say that the Sealution feel fast enough to me. One thing I can say,
>inexperienced or not, is that I like the look of the Sealution better.
And the poly Sealution II isn't nearly as pretty as the sleeker
fiberglass version.
John Fereira
Oops. I meant to answer this in my last posting. The hatch covers in the
1997 and 1998 models of the Seayak are plastic over a neopreme cover that
fits over the hatch opening. Last year they went to a black plastic cover
that is lower profile (even though it looks like it is raised on the
picture on the web site) that follows the curve of the deck better. The
older covers were inset more but I think the new ones look better.
Most bulkheads on polyethelene sea kayaks will leak to some extent. If
it doesn't leat through the hatch cover eventually foam bulkheads will
start to break down. Some kayak vendors use welded plastic bulkheads
(like the VCP Skerray RM) and this helps a lot. Preventing water in
your bulkheads isn't just to keep whatever you have in there dry. Take
a look at the most recent issue of Sea Kayaker magazine and read the
article about the guy that capsized near Victoria, BC. One of the reasons
that he was having so much difficulty doing a re-entry (and staying there)
was that one of his bulkheads was leaking and it was filling with water.
That made the boat ride a lot lower and decreased stability. Whatever
you choose, when you go out for a paddle always make sure that your
hatch covers are secure. BTW, the VCP Skerray RM also uses the VCP
rubber hatch covers that are used by many other fiberglass kayak vendors.
As long as they're snapped down tight the leak *very* little.
Ken
sling-pair sold by Burnham Boat Slings (mainly for rowing shells).
You wind up supporting the boat with slings 8' apart and the 2x8 gets
held to your roof rack, As long as you tied the ends down, you could
cartop triples that way on a Morris Minor.
Wytewtr
because it's more stable,you sit higher and it's faster in shallow water.The
Seayak you are down lower and it has very little secodary stability.
Both are easy to roll(the Seayak a bit easier) and recovery (getting in upside
down and rolling up or paddle float) is about the same for both.The rudder
system on the Seayak is really nice.
garland
John Fereira
>The Seayak is a bit more radical and handles better.The Sealution was my chioce
>because it's more stable,you sit higher and it's faster in shallow water.
I don't see how a boat could be faster in shallow water but not in deep
water unless one of them was touching bottom.
>The Seayak you are down lower and it has very little secodary stability.
I thought the secondary stability in a seayak was quite good. It's the
transistion between initial stability and secondary stability that is a
little shakey.