PA 14 Nose Diving

New to the forum here folks and loving our PA's. My wife and I just purchased two PA's. Her's is the PA 12 and mine the PA 14. We just enjoyed our first fishing trip on them. I was really surprised how quick the Mirage drives were. We love the kayaks. My other kayak is a Wilderness Tarpon 160. And I have a question concerning how the PA 14 acts in choppy conditions verses the way the 160 acted.

While out the water got a bit choppy (white caps). My wife's 12 would rise the bow when meeting a head on wave lifting the boat up. My 14 would nose dive into (under) the wave. Now she is a 100 pounds lighter than me and I am 260. I had a cooler in my back storage area that weighed around 20 pounds. It almost looks like my bow is slightly pointing down at the very end when you view the boat from the side and it certainly acts that way in the chop. Is this a problem with my PA, or is this normal for the PA 14? With the 600 limit of the kayak I certainly am not overloaded. But I had a good bit of water washing over my front hatch. No water entered the hatch, it just washed over it and down the pedal hole. I did not get wet from it. I was just used to my 160 riding over waves. Should I be concerned?

Thanks for all the information here folks, we are enjoying reading it all.

CDH......I wonder if you have loaded up the front hatch?
I know I carry about 25#'s of stuff up front in my 2013 PA-14 and that does make the bow sit slightly lower in the water.

The good news is you are staying dry and the water runs out of the interior.....I would guess your weight does have a effect....I am 170 Lbs and do get water splashing over the bow in brisk conditions.

The PA is more of a "stable pleasure barge" compared to the tarpon 160....two different hull designs.

I love my PA-14 because its stable and can be loaded up with "stuff".

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Dr.SteelheadCatcher
Warrenton, OR

How a boat handles chop is largely a matter of design. Longer boats, heavier boats and boats with less "rocker" tend to go through, rather than over swells. Boats with a high volume forward and with weight centered tend to bob more. With your weight, weight distribution and boat length difference with your wife's PA 12, the difference is reasonable to expect, especially in a steep or closely spaced chop.

With that said, any boat can "stuff the bow" if the circumstances are right. Here are some examples:

Adventure (Revo 16)


Revo 13


Revo 11

Thanks for the comments. Sounds like I don't have a problem. The hatch was pretty much empty.

The boat does sit "solid". There was a good bit of chop and the other kayaks out with us were all heading for shore but the fish were still biting and I stayed a while longer and pickup up a few more. A solid fishing platform!

Thanks again!