I can finally call myself a north west kayak angler!

Thanks to everyone who helped me pick out the best kayak for my needs.  You were all very helpful!  Thanks to outdoorplay.com for hooking me up with all my kayaking accessories, you made my first kayak outing very nice (so glad I bought a kayak cart, heavy boat!).

I picked up my tangerine Big Game Angler yesterday and took her out for a spin.  As far as I'm concerned (with my extremely limited kayaking experience) she paddled wonderfully.  I had no problem getting the boat moving, and by the end of my hour or so on the water was even feeling pretty comfortable paddling, and pretty wet as well!  I don't know if there is a trick to paddling without bringing most of the lake into the boat, but I'll figure it out eventually.  I even brought my pole and thought i'd try fishing from it.  It was a little awkward at first, I'll have to figure out the semantics over time.  I was able to scoot around sideways and fish stuff(pun intended) out of the rear of the kayak without once feeling unstable.

I do have one concern that I found when pulling out of the water.  She felt a little heavy, and when I opened up the front hatch she had a LOT of water in her.  I'm not sure how all that water got in there, I really hope there isn't a leak/hole some where in the hull (scupper holes maybe?)  I didn't notice any change in speed or float worthiness though, which I can attribute to a good design I guess.  There was one time in the shallows that I tried leaning over on the rail as much as I could to see if I could tip her, so it is possible water got in the through the pole holder; but I didn't think she listed over that far.  I definitely might try and find a way to seal up those pole holders though, I'm surprised they aren't sealed from the factory.

Sorry for the rambling.  Besides the water in the hull, I couldn't be happier.  I am very excited to start my new sport.  Not only is it relaxing, but I get to fish and get exercise at the same time.  Not to mention I can finally get out to the where the fish really are.  It was great, while I was trolling along I kept seeing fish surface.  It was like they didn't even know I was there; I think I will really enjoy being out on the lake with out a motor for once.

Thanks again everyone...I'm sure I'll hound you all with more questions as I figure things out (ie how to guage speed, how to fight a fish thats behind you)

I'll be sure to post pics (we forgot the camera yesterday) as soon as I get some!

JER

JMan,
Congrats on getting the plastic in the water. I still remember that first paddle as well (it was only a few months ago). I also have Big Game (stealthy green). I believe Green Butt Skunked (Scott) has the tangerine version as well.

I also find a decent amount of water inside the hull after each paddle. I really haven't investigated it much but I've had whitecaps coming over the bow on a few occasions, the hatches may not seal completely and the hull to scupper transition is surprisingly thin. It could be any or all of these, including the flush mounts.

Keep up the paddling. Some will tell you (Spot!) that all you need is a paddle and rod holder but you will probably start thinking of making mods soon. All I've done so far is to add a milk crate to organize and a pair of Scotty mounts that I can typically reach in front of me. Actually, this weekend I'll be starting to put an anchor trolley and anchor in place.

Welcome to the madness, also described as the cure.

Jay

Hey JMan,

Good luck with the new boat.  I'm new at this too and it's fun figuring things out.  Nice to be on the water and just relaxing.  Have fun - amb

Congratulations on the new ride! Does your boat have the center hatch installed?

My big game came without it, and was completely dry the first few trips.  I installed one on mine so I could add more schwag, and now it takes on a quart or so of water over the course of a day.  Seems like the hatch doesn't seal tightly enough, and whatever water enters from wakes, paddle drip, etc... goes straight into the hull.

I've started carrying a sponge inside my boat to help keep gear from getting too wet, but I'm also investigating a replacement gasket to see if that helps.  I believe our center hatches are actually standard model Atwoods.

Congrats on the new Yak. Alot of water in her on the frist trip is a little concerning to me. How much water is a lot? did you leave a hatch open? how rough was the water?, like that should matter if the hatch's are sealed. I leave my middle hatch ajar half the time and hardly get any water in it, and it's a hobie with factory holes all over it.

Enjoy the new experiences.

Congratulations on the new ride! Does your boat have the center hatch installed?

My big game came without it, and was completely dry the first few trips.  I installed one on mine so I could add more schwag, and now it takes on a quart or so of water over the course of a day.  Seems like the hatch doesn't seal tightly enough, and whatever water enters from wakes, paddle drip, etc... goes straight into the hull.

I've started carrying a sponge inside my boat to help keep gear from getting too wet, but I'm also investigating a replacement gasket to see if that helps.  I believe our center hatches are actually standard model Atwoods.

I've got the center hatch as well. But it is so tough to get the cover on, I have never used it.

Jay

I almost bought the stealth green (olive I believe they called it), but I a was worried about visibility.  Most of the lakes I will be using this on are quiet lakes, but a couple of them have a lot of motorboat traffic.  Since this is my first kayak, I didn't want to add any more risk then needed and wanted to maintain the most visibility.  I love the tangerine color (a little loud, but nice), but a little part of me really thought the green would have been slick!!

I took her out again yesterday and spent about 4.5-5 hours fishing a local lake.  After only about an hour and a half my girlfriend showed up and I let her paddle around for a little bit.  When she was done we pulled it up on shore and had to empty a bit of water out of it.  I went back out for another 3-4 hours in the water, and when I pulled it out for the night, she had a tremendous amount of water.  There is definitely something wrong.  I have no center hatch, bow hatch was securely tightened, and the largest swell on the lake that day was around 4mm in height (haha, swells!).  In those conditions I would be upset if any water were to get inside my kayak...let alone the whole bottom being covered.

Surprisingly, she still floats really well being that full of water.  It wasn't until the end of my trip that I really noticed the ballast; when I leaned to one side or the other I could feel the water move the CG point.  Looks like I will be calling the Paddle Shop up at the OK factory (where I bought it) and have them take a look at it.  Who knows, maybe this one is toast and I'll have to trade it in for that Olive Green one after all....?

Thanks for the quick responses about this problem...considering some of you are hitting white caps in your 'yaks, I feel mighty safe out on my lakes!

JER

JMan,

Sounds like you're having fun with that new Yak.  Its been years since I could float that long or two days in a row. Man, what it was like to be young!

when I pulled it out for the night, she had a tremendous amount of water.  There is definitely something wrong.  I have no center hatch, bow hatch was securely tightened

The amount of water you're talking about is surprising to me.  I have both hatches on my old Scupper XT's and neither take on that kind of water.  I might get a cup on a bad day and that comes through the holes on the bow/aft for the handles.  I have rubber (not hard plastic) hatches and coat them each season with stuff (like Armor All) to keep them pliable and be have water resistant seals.

Maybe I could suggest a leak test to see where it's coming in. On flat dry ground fill the yak with water.  The pressure should force water out.  If you've got a crayon or something mark the holes.  This will help when you take it back to the shop.

Greg

First, congrats on the new yak... next, that's WAY TOO MUCH water in the hull for a brand new yak. If the pole holders don't have caps on them, I'm sure that's where it's all coming from. But why the hell aren't they capped?? I mean two open holes right on the rails that go to the inside of the yak? That's just asking for it. I'd contact OK and see if they won't give you some caps to seal them. You may have to pull them out to install them but it's a must.

After you cap try it on the water and see if there's still leaks.

On flat dry ground fill the yak with water.  The pressure should force water out. 

When checking for leaks I'd strongly advise against filling up your hull with too much water. Too much is more than 2 gallons IMO. It can distort the hull and if there are any cracks or holes may develop even worse ones. You can fill it with a gallon or two of water then and add some food coloring to it. Then roll it around and see if any colored water seeps out. If that's what's you meant FS no worries.

Let us know if there's any issues and we'll do our best to help.

Z

I forgot to mention...I mis spoke about the pole holders.  Upon further inspection, they are capped.  The caps are opaque, so they looked orange and I figured it was just the hull.  So that is out of the question.  There deff is a HUGE problem somewhere.  There was more then a 5gallon buckets worth of water in it...maybe two or three even.  I wish I was exaggerating...I had many many people complimenting me on my boat, just to have them stand there and watch me flip it over on its side and empty out the other half of the lake.

I'm gonna call OK tomorrow and see what they can do for me.  It was a factory defect boat (the Angler edition graphics were put in the wrong place...and I was told it was the only problem with the boat lol), but it carries the same warranty as any new boat would.  Shouldn't be a big issue, i'm not worried anyway.  No way they could screw me on a boat thats been used only once or twice and immediately had signs of a hole.

I'll keep everyone posted

JER

I get nowhere near that much water.  A full day hauling crab pots, fishing, etc... and I might have a quart in the hull.

I'd do the leak test as mentioned above.  Since you have no center hatch, and it sounds like you haven't added any bolt-on mods, my next guess would be a leaky scupper (the holes where water drains from the cockpit and cargo area).  For people who have leaks in new kayaks, this is a common spot.

Do the fill test as mentioned before... park the kayak on some grass, grab the hose, and fill it up with water.  Watch for the leak and market.  If you can document where the leak is, it will help get speedy action from OK (either a repair or replacement hull).

Spoke with OK today...GREAT customer service.  The gentleman immediately ordered me a new kayak and tried to have it delivered today even.  No dice, I just have to drop off my old kayak tomorrow and pick up a new one.  He kept saying 'brand new,' and I told him I had a blem...is it possible i'll be getting a brand new replacement (off the line?).  That would be pretty sweet.

He also said he'd throw in a couple of rentals for the trouble.  Maybe its because I live so close, or I found the right guy to talk to, but OK had great customer service.  He asked me if I wanted the same color...almost switched to Olive, but I think I'm in love with my bright orange.  If I didn't get through to them today, I was gonna do the leak test.  But it is unnecessary for me to do it now.  The sales person told me he was shocked the kayak made it to my roof with a leak.  He explained that they had a swimming tank in the back that every kayak gets dunked into to test for leaks.  Maybe this leak was slow enough to make it through?

Glad things worked out..they always do in the end

Thanks ladies and gentlemen (if there are any ladies in here)

JER

Can't beat that! 

Glad to here they did the right thing.   I wouldn't doubt the fact that they'll replace your blem with a brank new kayak.   A blem should only have cosmetic flaws and they probably feel bad for letting a leaker out the door and potentially having a disgruntled customer.

Brian

Well...here she is.  What appears to be a brand new 'yak!  Picked her up today, and dropped off the defect.




Excited to get back out on the water, and keep most of it out of the hull!  Picked up some new bass tackle, I think I'm gonna hit the lake and try for some smallies/largies.  Trout season dies off here once all the stockers are pulled out.

Thanks again for the help

JER