Which kayak as a guide platform?

Which kayak do you think would be best suited as a platform for taking sports out on guided trips?  Ocean, bays, some river ala Buoy Ten, springers, sturgeon.. 

What would you want to fish out of ? 

I'm thinking Hobie revolution... ease of use, hands free fishing, fairly stable, easy to troll with... others? 

Keep it simple.  Absolutely nothing wrong with paddle craft.  Think middle of the road.  It needs to be all things for all people.  Trident 13, Cobra FnD, etc.

From a business perspective, it takes quite a number of trips to recoup the cost of a kayak.  It is easier to do with a kayak that doesn't cost as much, but is still quality.

My 2 cents ...

-Allen

I totally see where you are coming from, hence the thought behind my current stable of 3 fish n dives

But...if a guy were to plop a wet behind the ears sport into the saddle to say troll for slivers in the salt.  Wouldn't it be much less of a learning curve and a hassle for the guide (which is critical) to have them pedalling rather than trying to learn paddle/boat control and gear control at the same time.  Just say " OK drop your gear 14 pulls put the rod in the rod holder and keep pace with me".   Everyone is familiar with riding a bike and the rudder makes boat control simple. 

 A close PB guide friend of mine always says if you plan to ask a premium price provide a premium experience.

I think I'd go with the 2010 Hobie Oasis. Guide in back and client up front. Quite a stable tandem with a good hull shape. It's essentially a stretched out Revo.

The times I have guided there were a few things that worried me and first was client's skill level. You never know what you'll get until day of and that in itself is a lot of worry. If you go out and they can't hang that means you'll have to tow them back. Others things that are a hassle are passing gear back and forth, netting fish, re-tieing, and re-baiting. They can be tough at best and downright dangerous at worst. W/ the tandem you could do most of those things with little hassle and make the experience for you and the client better in the end.

Other good things about the tandem Oasis is even if they get pooped they will still be able to contribute to powering the yak. Even a little pedaling makes a difference. On that note, clients could even take a break. You could do the powering for a while and give the client a more comfy ride if they desired.

Most problems w/ tandems IMO is the stability. But w/ two people pedaling as opposed to paddling, there's less side to side movement and in general is a more stable ride.

I'm getting one of these in my fleet so I can take friends out and the few times I guide.



Z

Another nice thing about a tandem, is you could provide a premium service to people with physical disabilities.  It could set you apart from other guides.

Zee... genius man!  Might just be the perfect platform to introduce a newbie to the salt. In more protected waters like coastal bays for salmon etc. I think it might not be as critical but on the ocean or other dicey fisheries eg. bouy ten etc. it is probably the easiest and safest way to go.  Great idea!


Craig... You make a very good point..  I'm sure many less than able folks have the same desire we have to "get out there" and "get after some Lings" but not the capacity under their own power.

I totally see where you are coming from, hence the thought behind my current stable of 3 fish n dives

But...if a guy were to plop a wet behind the ears sport into the saddle to say troll for slivers in the salt.  Wouldn't it be much less of a learning curve and a hassle for the guide (which is critical) to have them pedalling rather than trying to learn paddle/boat control and gear control at the same time.  Just say " OK drop your gear 14 pulls put the rod in the rod holder and keep pace with me".   Everyone is familiar with riding a bike and the rudder makes boat control simple. 

 A close PB guide friend of mine always says if you plan to ask a premium price provide a premium experience.

Why is a pedal kayak any more premium of an experience than a paddle kayak?

If you got a stable to FnD's, why don't you just start with those and see what happens?

-Allen

As someone who learned on and has a serious soft spot in my heart for the big FnD's.  I can tell you that the experience was indeed a "premium" one when I upgraded to the Adventure last year and I'm not just talking about the sticker price

For a guided kayak crabbing/clamming trip I could think of no better platform then the FnD. 

Craig... You make a very good point..  I'm sure many less than able folks have the same desire we have to "get out there" and "get after some Lings" but not the capacity under their own power.

There are a lot of hard charging young men and women coming back from overseas with life altering injuries.  Not to mention that there are other people that are involved in accidents locally.  If I were looking for a guide, I would want one that could meet all of my  friends and my needs so no one gets left behind. 

If it were me, I would consider having  both pedal and paddle boats. Never know where the injury may be. 

Just my 2 cents.

You better examine it from the liability angle as well. I think if you were on a tandem you are more like a charter, where you assume more liability for customer safety. If someone is piloting their own craft, then after they sign a waiver, it's like buying a lift ticket where you are on the water at your own risk. 

As someone who learned on and has a serious soft spot in my heart for the big FnD's.  I can tell you that the experience was indeed a "premium" one when I upgraded to the Adventure last year and I'm not just talking about the sticker price

But before you knew any better, I'm sure you thought those FnD's were premium.

Nothing against Hobies, but premium for a client may not have the same definition as for an experienced kayak angler.  Just something to keep in mind.  Having guided a number of trips from complete newbies to exprienced kayak anglers, I've never had feedback that the trip would have been better if they were on a pedal yak, except from people that already had Hobies (and they were mostly just kidding around).

-Allen

You better examine it from the liability angle as well. I think if you were on a tandem you are more like a charter, where you assume more liability for customer safety. If someone is piloting their own craft, then after they sign a waiver, it's like buying a lift ticket where you are on the water at your own risk.

Very few guides charter on tandems.  One of the big allures of kayak fishing is captaining your own ship.

-Allen

You better examine it from the liability angle as well. I think if you were on a tandem you are more like a charter, where you assume more liability for customer safety. If someone is piloting their own craft, then after they sign a waiver, it's like buying a lift ticket where you are on the water at your own risk.

Very few guides charter on tandems.  One of the big allures of kayak fishing is captaining your own ship.

-Allen

I can easily see the tandem concept stumbling on  the "charter boat " issue/red tape.  I think the loop hole Nanook sniffed out last year was that with each angler in their own boat. He was actually leading a "tour" where people fished rather than operating a "fishing charter".  I still think the tandem idea has merit if it could pass the "legal red tape test"

You better examine it from the liability angle as well. I think if you were on a tandem you are more like a charter, where you assume more liability for customer safety. If someone is piloting their own craft, then after they sign a waiver, it's like buying a lift ticket where you are on the water at your own risk.

As long as you're guiding a paid customer you take the responsibility, regardless of being in your yak or not.

Very few guides charter on tandems.  One of the big allures of kayak fishing is captaining your own ship.

Just because not many people do it doesn't mean it's not a good idea. Look at kayak fishing 5 years ago. Each person has their own reasons for liking kayak fishing.

I figure PPedaler has an Adventure in his lineup already so he can take the newbie clients out on the Oasis. If the client isn't a newb he can put the client in the Adventure and he could use the Oasis and keep the front open for a cooler and fish storage. Hell, he could put cooking gear up there and whip up a beach side gourmet meal. Ron's got some amazing cooking skills. Talk about PREMIUM!!

Z

So you already have several FnDs correct?  Also have a Adventure...

Seems to me the Oasis is a great idea.  Like Zee says, put the newb in there if you need to, and you still have what, 4 other boats available too? 

Since you already have multiple options available, give your customer a choice of what they want to use.  Customers like options and it makes your service more convenient.