New member, trying to decide

What a great site! I spent the weekend reading all of the posts on the various Kayak forums.

I first saw a Mirage drive this summer when we were cruising in our C Dory 25 in Northern British Columbia. Fortunately a couple of weeks later I met the master himself--Hobie Alter, whos 60 foot catamarran was at the same dock. We have mutual friends so I spent an evening with Hobie and his wife; he convinced me that the Mirage drive would be the thing since we can not paddle any more due to back problems.

Saturday, we "sea trialed" a used 3 month old Revolution--great boat, but my wife also wants to participate. So in the next few days we are going to attempt to sea trial the Oasis and Outfitter, plus the inflatables. (I have owned Avon Inflatables since 1962 and understand the limitations of them). The inflatable has the added feature of ease of storage and cartage on our small boats (we also have a C Dory Tom Cat in Florida).

Our use will be mostly exploring both salt and fresh water, usually from our boat. But I may well use a Kayak on a daily basis for exercise. I realize that the Advernture is best for that. I have sailed all of my life, so adding the sail would be a real plus (also understand the limits).

Questions: How does the peddling ease/speed of the i 9, i 12 and i 14 compare with one person aboard? The peddling ease/speed of the i 14 vs the Oasis or Outfitter with two people aboard? (speed in mph for a easy cadence as comparison would be a good start ). How durable is the bottom of the inflatables? We may occasionally take the Kayak's over oyster shell--normall y we would pick them up, but on landing, the boat may drag slighly. Is this bottom fabric more durable than the 1100 Detrex used on Zodiac inflatables?

From what I read, the back support is less on the inflatables--any comments on the comparison with each of the inflatables, vs the Adventure?

Any comments on getting a Revolution or Outfitter onto the cabin of a boat (about 6 feet off the water)--I do have a hoist which can help some.
What you feel would be the best blend for our purposes (I can't buy them all!, although I would love to).

Thank you for any answers in advance!

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Bob Austin
Pensacola, FL

Hi Bob and welcome to the forum. Some excellent questions. It sounds like you've done your reading so I'll try not to repeat too much of what you already know.

All the inflatables are great sailers (not fast, but very stable) with decent pointing abilities, considering. The 9 is a little hot dog, the 12 can carry any body or thing in the back and makes a great launch and rescue platform, and the 14 is quite decent solo as well as tandem. Obviously their greatest assets are their portability and compact storage.

The inflatables have a double bottom -- that is, there is a "bilge" between the bladders and the hull. It's built with 1000 Denier PVC with drop stitch construction -- don't know how that compares with the Avon though. Still, from what I've heard, oyster shells can be as sharp as knives and knives can certainly cut most fabrics. On the other hand, the inflatables have very shallow drafts. With over 45 years experience, you would be much more the expert on that subject! The Drives can take that sort of abuse using the standard fins -- they might scratch and abrade but occasional oyster shells shouldn't normally tear the fins.

Oasis vs Outfitter speed: one hour cruise distance (flat water, no current Turbofins) Oasis solo about 4.8 miles, tandem about the same; Outfitter solo about 4.65, tandem about 4.4. I believe the Outfitter slows down as a tandem because the shorter hull dips further in the water with the front passenger, taking it off its "lines" -- the fast rise in the bow pushes a lot more water more like a barge. Lightly ballasted as a solo, however, the bow tends to ride over the top easier. I might add in these examples, the front passenger was a little heavier than the rear -- these results are just for comparison; your results may vary.

Wider and less hydrodynamic, inflatables are a little wider and slower -- probably by 1/4 MPH (?) than comparable length hardshells.

For launch and recovery, I would think about an eyebolt and snaphook mounted at cockpit level or possibly a pair of permanently mounted bridles, again reachable from within the cockpit -- either system attaching to your hoist.

Did you say Adventure? That shifts the conversation to another realm. Personally speaking, the Adventure is my first love -- nothing matches its speed, range, finesse or smoothness, especially in weather. Comparable one hour speed is about 5.4 miles. But each boat has its advantages according to one's priorities and circumstances -- other boats do other things better and may be easier to store.

We have an Adventure and Oasis to satisfy the range of our kayaking enjoyment. IMO, the Oasis makes a fine solo boat (and sailer) also, properly ballasted. There is nothing it won't do -- it handles beautifully, runs almost as fast as the Revolution and could easily ferry a refrigerator! It's biggest disadvantage is its heft on land.

I'm sure the others here have some different opinions to share.

Since the Adventure came up ... Yesterday after 3 months of using the Adventure my girlfriend and I switched kayaks and I tried her Revo. We were on a small (1+ mile across) lake, winds were 15 gusting 25 kts.

The Revo turns so much *faster*. The radius is a bit smaller (standard rudder vs. the sailing on my Adventure), but the rate of turn - like the aquatic version of the F-16 in comparison. The Revo seems to accelerate faster, but on the glide decelerates noticeably faster.

The wind was putting up some good chop on our little lake. Where the Adventure cleaves the waves, the Revo seems to ride up and down more. And the whole getting wet thing. The Adventure has a reputation as a wetter ride. I normally take a small amount of water in the seat pan. However, in waves and wind I was soaked from the neck down in the Revo. It was worst with the waves coming from the side. Not bad at all with waves trailing. Substantially wetter than the Adventure in all cases.

One the speed thing, the Revo was not quite as fast, but pretty close. (Turbo fins on both boats.) On the upwind leg to the dock we were both passing traditional paddle kayaks like they were standing still (which they almost were). We didn't really take a large hit in those wind conditions - 12 minutes back to the dock (in the Revo) vs. the normal 10 (in the Adventure).

One other thing I noticed was the feel of the boat. Although essentially identical in weight, the Revo felt ... hollow? Weird, but true.

Overall, I am so glad I picked the Adventure for myself, even if it turns like a battleship.

Thank you Roadrunner and Captain Morgan.

I 'll have to take a hand held GPS with me when we do the "sea trails" on Wednesday. I'll give our impressions (often my wife Marie has better judgement than I do. Any boat purchase is a joint decision).

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Bob Austin
Pensacola, FL

I currently own 2 Adventure Islands and enjoy them but they did not replace my sailboat as I hoped they would. I sold a Seaward 26RK and thought the Adventure Island would satisfy my desire to sail. I now also own a Com-Pac Suncat and used the adventure as a tender on a recent trip to Lake Huron this summer:

(alt+p)

As you are a long-time sailor, I would encourage you to try an Adventure Island before purchase.

Rahn,
Thanks for the suggestion--but when we looked at even the Quest or Outfitter it became obvious that it was going to be too heavy for us to carry or handle easily. We currently have C Dorys (25 and Tom Cat 255)--that is what happens to old sailors after trawlers, We looked at the i14 tandem--but again too heavy.

So what may seem like an "unusual" solution, we are going with a Revolution and a i 9. We have been this route before---in motor cycles. She likes to drive also! At one point we went from a larger bike down to two smaller ones.

So for my exercise and for either of our "tours" around our bayou--plus local fishing--we will use the Revolution. But when we go on long trips, carry them aboard our larger boats and both want boats--she gets the easier to peddle Revolution, and I take the i 9 inflatable. I don't have any speed numbers, since today was moderately rough and windy--the demo boat had standard flippers, we ranged from 2.5 to 3.8 knots (GPS speed) in the Quest--but not really a good fair test.

When we get the 1 9, I will post comparisons in speed, ease and cadence. We did get one sail unit--and may go with a second after playing with it some. The light weight of the 1 9 factored in our decision, since we both have bad backs. We seem to be able to handle the weight of the Revolution easily, but just the little more of the Quest was too much for us.

Thanks--and perhaps this thread will continue with other's thoughts on choices.

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Bob Austin
Pensacola, FL