Slayer propel series questions

I am still in the process of choosing my first kayak and am most seriously looking at the Slayer 13 or 14.5 in the propel series.  My desire is to eventually be able to go off the Oregon coast once I'm experienced enough.  I was wondering if anyone out there has either of these Native Watercraft yaks and if so, what they think of them?  Pro's and cons?

Thanks.

Fred

me and a buddy bought one each in Fla a few months back, I left it there for the summer but this thing is a fishing machine especially since you can pedal both forwards and backwards which is huge. I haven't taken it in rough water yet but it is large and stable and is a true sit on top with scupper holes etc. I would rent one if possible, not sure how it does in the PNW waves but we love ours in Fla..cheers jt

I've had a slayer prop 13 for a few months now and really dig it!

Pros:

Reverse
pedal power
huge cockpit
cant beat it for trolling
amazingly comfortable seat
built in gear tracks
seat is adjustable distance to pedals - I'm 6'3" and still don't have it set back full distance


Cons:

sluggish turning
seat sits up really high for surf landings and rough water
not much for built in storage on the yak

to get over the Cons, I've added the seat organizer to the stock seat which gives a ton of storage ability to the seat.  the 4th of July and ORC have been the only times I've had it out on the ocean, hit Depoe Bay twice and PC once.  to get past the high seat I just buckled in the seat from my Malibu and the thing handled great.  it handled great getting out through the surf in PC.  I launched at low tide on Sunday (-1.7 or something close), and had a fairly large break zone to punch through for PC.  it punched the waves like a beast, took a few breakers to figure out to stop pedaling once the prop leaves the water on the back of the wave - otherwise it cavitates bad for a few moments once back in the water.  on the surf landing...the tide had come in quite a bit, and I cant really say I had to deal with any surf.  I chased a wave in under prop power, and bailed in about 1.5 feet of water. 

I debated a lot on how to handle the surf landing with the prop drive.  if pulled out, the entire pedal system is hinged and can rotate 180 degrees putting the pedals resting on the font hatch and the prop at eye level.  not only does this pose a potential head cracker, but consider the hinge mounts toast when it rolls and hangs up in the sand.  the other down side to surf landing is the rudder does not pivot out of the water, so as a wave approaches from behind it will have a tendency to pull the rudder to one side or another forcing you to keep a hand on the steering.  I really need to strip it down and go play in the surf more.  But on rough days, I foresee coming in backwards a lot under pedal power....did I mention it goes in reverse?

as for the sluggish turning....it sucks.  but did I mention it has reverse yet?   but really, out on the Columbia in a decent current and mildly annoying winds it can be near impossible to turn around as easily as you would like to.  I contribute this problem to two factors, 1st, the rudder does not extend below the keel of the yak - which simply does not put enough water across it.  second, which becomes a real challenge in the current, is the prop system mid boat is rigid, and does extend below the keel of the boat, when the prop shaft grabs fast moving water, be ready for counter steering!  ran into this at Mayor park pre fishing the Bonneville bass bonanza.  a section of the river there narrows just down stream from the park and while pedaling back up river I let myself drift too far out of the eddy current and the main stream water grabbed the prop shaft and spun me nearly 90 degrees before I could react.  incredibly stable boat though, so I just had to counter steer and pedal like crazy to get the water moving across the rudder to get pulled back around again.

hope that helps.

if you ever find yourself in my neck of the woods, I'd let you take it for a spin - just let me know

The guys at Gig Harbor Fly Shop up in Washington rent them out and also uses them in the Sound there and the local lakes. Hope this helps out?

No need to rent, the guys at ghfs let me demo before I bought. Will post more tomorrow... love my slayer, but with little protection for rods, I'm a bit nervous about surf launch and land without some serious thought as to where to safely stow breakable items.

Crabby, thanks for the info. I have a Slayer Propel 13 arriving in Alaska on the 23rd and was wondering about the surf launches and landings.

Thank you very very much to all who answered.  It seems the only drawbacks I've heard about the Slayer series is the sluggish turning and that some think the seat is too high to be stable in higher waves.   Both are a concern as one of the main reasons I am looking at the Slayer series is that the standard Hobie seats are very uncomfortable to me and the leg extension for pedaling is a bit short for my 6'4" frame.  Oh well, I guess there's no perfect yak out there and all have pros and cons. 

I have the Native Mariner and a Hobie Outback, both great boats and they each have there strengths and weaknesses.  I'm in South Salem near the river if you ever want to try one out.   Just send me a PM.