Outback vs Pro Angler 12

I thought it was excessive amount of water ,like if I took my feet off the pedals and set my feet down they would be in water .
I stood and fish out of the Pro Angler . That was pretty cool until the wind started blowing , then I was the proverbial sail if you could understand that . I did notice the Outback in the wind was great because your butt was at water level . That's a big plus .

John: I'm a "heroically proportioned" big ugly fellow who drives an Outback 'round local area lakes in/near Omaha, NE, and, yeah, with the downward force of my huge butt in the seat, water does intrude up and puddle into the bottom of the drive well. When the water temperature was 45º it was admittedly a bit uncomfortable, however, now that the water has warmed to 60º and/or I've gotten more used to the water, I really don't even notice it any more. Hope that helps.
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Terry
Omaha, NE

ChkRazr So I guess I have to ask about how much do weight in at ? And do you feel that the water in the drive well would hinder the boats performance ? Is the kayak running a little nose down ?

When I was at the dealer the owner was telling me that if I was a little bigger guy he would recommend me being in the Pro Angler 14 over the Pro Angler 12 . I asked why and he said that if a big guy would have a tendency to have the nose of the kayak really nosed into the water when he would stand up . I guess it's all possible that's why I was asking about the water coming up into the drive area does this make a big difference?

I'm 6'0" and 290 lbs. While I really don't have anything for the sake of comparison, I really don't think that the small puddle of water in the drive well hinders my kayak's performance. I know that I can still out-maneuver and go faster in my Outback than my kayaking buddies who all drive something other than Hobie kayaks. In fact, you should've heard my buddies razz me about the "hole in the bottom of my kayak"... until I quite literally peddled circles around 'em in the lake. I suppose I'd have to concede that my Outback probably runs a bit "nose down" than it would without the small water puddle, but as I said, I don't even notice the water puddle anymore. Likewise, I haven't yet tried to stand in my Outback (not sure I could tolerate the razzing my buddies would give me if I started doing the 7 basic ballet moves in my kayak before falling into 45º water).

I would've loved to have the Pro Angler 14' but transportation and storage considerations required me to settle for the Outback. I transport my Outback on top of my Ford Escape using Thule's "Hullavator" (slightly modified) which I highly recommend, and I store my kayak nose down in my apartment garage right next to that same Ford Escape, so everything's a pretty tight fit. I don't know that the PA14 would permit the same transportation/storage considerations. Frankly, I just missed my local Hobie dealer's "Demo Days" event-- I was out fishing!-- but I would've loved to give it a shot to see if my heroically proportioned body with bad knees could stand in a PA14.
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Terry
Omaha, NE

Thanks for reply , I'm in about the same boat where I love the ability to stand but my problem also is storage and hauling it around , especially if I'm putting it inside my camper .I know when I started down this road I'm looking into a pedal kayak so I travel a further on the water and trying bridge the gap of a good overall utility kayak ,I'm sure that I could stand in the Outback if only to just stretch out and relax a minute and get back into fishing . I spoke to a couple guys today they was asking why don't I just add a trolling motor to the kayak I have . My reply to this is the extra weight and the hassle of the trolling motor and battery really takes away the true nature of kayak sport of human power .