PA17t owners - do you prefer to ride solo?

For those of you who have a PA17, do you prefer to ride solo or with another person? I am considering getting 2 PA's, one PA14 and the other PA17 so we can bring the little ones out on the lake. However, I think that the little ones will come less often that me bringing a buddy or going myself.

So I am wondering if the PA17 s just a luxury kayak for one person?

Here's another question - if you had the choice, would you rather ride a PA14 or PA17 by yourself? I am just looking for comments when on the water. Don't take into consideration price or the weight & effort required to launch.

Thanks.

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Vegasvec
2015 Pro Angler 17t
Lowrance Elite 5 Chirp
Zieman Trailer w/ Cradles

I have taken my kayak out with two people and by myself and I would say that you can move almost as quick by yourself. I love my 17t the only thing is steering problems but it definitely isn't a deal breaker.

I recently purchased the 17t.

My wife and I went to a local demo day and I was hoping she would like the PA14 or PA12 to add to the kayak I already owned. We eventually tried out the 17t and she fell in love with it and really liked the idea of us being together in the boat. I hadn't even considered the 17t before going to the demo. While I was there we did peddle with both of us, but I also peddled solo for a bit. I was really impressed with the speed and ease of peddling with two people, but in honesty it was a bit sluggish with one person, not bad but noticeably more resistance when peddling solo. When we came home she wouldn't stop talking about the 17t and how we would have so much room for the two of us plus the dog, so we decided to purchase one!

The first day we took the kayak out we did right around 8miles, about half of which was into 15mph winds! I don't think either of us would have been able to do the same trip in a paddle kayak before running out of gas. There is defiantly tons of room in the kayak. With the two of us and the dog, there was still room for an ice chest, fishing rods and plenty of tackle for any fishing situation I might encounter.

I ended up doing my first solo trip the week after I bought the kayak. To say there TONS of room in there as a solo kayak is an understatement! I had way more room than I needed, but it also gave me plenty of room to stand up and fish when I wanted to. The first day I took it out the wind was blowing about 15mph and the lake was CHOPPY! It wasn't a fun peddle at all, but I managed to get to the opposite bank to get out of the wind. The whole time I managed a steady speed of around 2mph, not great but not bad considering the conditions. I could easily peddle around 3.5mph with the wind to my back on the way back in. With my other paddle kayak I wouldn't have even bothered paddling into the wind if that tells you anything. I ended up doing right around 4 miles in the kayak that day.

I've now taken about 5 solo trips on the kayak and don't regret getting the kayak one bit. I had a few reservations about using it as a solo kayak so had decided to keep my older yak for a bit, but it's now for sale! It handles well, tracks decent and I can maintain a speed of 3-3.5mph with less effort than on my previous paddle kayak. If you've got any other questions don't hesitate to ask. So far I've been VERY pleased with my purchase!!

Consider adding a $120 trolling motor. 24lb Watersnake, with some very ez mods, fits right through the mirage drive well. You can have mirage + trolling motor, in the water at the same time. I've had mine for over 3 years now (on PA14), love it.