Heritage RedFish 12 Kayak Review...

PolePole asked that I review the RedFish 12 as they are not very common here in the North West. So this review is from a novice point of view as neither my wife nor I have ever owned a kayak. Since we will be using the kayaks on small lakes and rivers, we decided on the more maneuverable 12’ yaks. The SOT style was perfect for frequent stops at sand bars and other points of interest.

Although there is a Heritage dealer in our area, I could not get a straight answer from them concerning the RedFish and what it would take to order a couple. Searching the Internet, I ran across Heart of Texas Kayaks and contacted them. They were outstanding and answered all my questions and gave us what I think was a good deal on the pair of Khaki kayaks and paddles. Three weeks after ordering the kayaks, they were delivered to our loading dock inside 30# felt bags.

When the kayaks arrived, we were very happy with the color choice and they just looked plain fun! My wife could not wait to sit in hers and check out the seat. The seat is a cushioned mesh seat with a rigid insert in the back, very comfortable.  The seat also folds down during transport. The adjustable pedals seem sturdy enough and it was nice to be able to adjust them incrementally for our individual comfort. Also tethered were 4 rubber scupper-hole plugs for the cockpit area. The rear cargo area does not have scupper plugs.

The first things to catch my attention were the hatches. Both hatches use a pre-molded hatch ring that is secured to the deck with stainless hardware. Both hatch covers are a nice rubber material that is tethered to the kayak plus they remove/ install easily. The aft hatch is 4.5” inside diameter with a built-in removable cup insert. The forward hatch has a very large opening (16” X 11.25”) and sliding a couple of 6 ft. poles in was easy. The front hatch cover has a plastic stiffener molded into the rubber that adds a bit of rigidity. Looking inside the aft hatch towards the stern (RF12 aft hatch aft.JPG) you can see the scupper ports attached the cargo deck and hull. Looking inside the bow hatch towards the stern (RF12_frt hatch aft.JPG), they have added a foam center support for the deck while leaving the sides open for long stuff like fishing poles! 

The hardware used on the kayak seems adequate to the task. While most cleats and rings are all plastic, they are secured with either rivets with large contact area on the underside, or molded-in threaded brass inserts. I did not find any thread locking mechanism on the stainless screws attached to the brass inserts. Consequently the bow handle screws were only finger tight which needs to be remedied. The side, bow and stern handles are very well made with comfortable rubber grips and stuffed webbing. Supporting the entire kayak weight (68 lbs according to our trusty bathroom scale) on one side handle was no problem while lifting the kayak on top of our Trooper roof rack. I was able to load both kayaks by lifting in the middle a pressing them up 6 ft. to the roof rack. The relatively flat bottomed kayaks allows us to use three padded cross bars in conjunction with three tie straps to secure both kayaks to the roof. At 12 foot 4 inches long both kayaks just fit in our shed standing on end, secure and out of the weather!

While taking pictures today, I was a bit dismayed to find a small hole in one of the rear cargo scupper ports. I’m going to send off an e-mail to see if I can get some scrap plastic to use as filler and repair this before it causes a problem. I also noticed a few air bubble pits near the cup holder and seat that should not cause a problem as they appear to be only on the outside surface. Barring these imperfections, the hull seems sound and smooth.

We have not had a chance to get the kayaks wet yet, so when the PFDs arrive we are going to head out for our maiden voyages on a local pond!

I’ll let you know how it goes!  -Bill-

Nice review.  Doesn't look novice at all!!!

Holes in the scupper are notoriously hard to repair permanently.  I'd see about getting a complete replacement as these holes are not something you want to live with.

-Allen

BTW, looks like clean lines on that boat.  Bet you can't wait to do some pimping!!!

-Allen

Nice report LL! Love all the pics. I agree w/ Pole², get that thing replaced. Most likely they'll be plenty happy to replace it w/ a hole like that in the bottom and the bubbly pits in the surface. I'd guess that spot would be a little weak. But nice yak and look forward to see your pimpin'.

Z

Great report!

I agree with PP and Zee, about replacing, and that the lines look good for inshore boating.

I did contact Heart of Texas Kayaks about the hole in the scupper and the small pits on some external surfaces. They were right on it and contacted the factory. Turns out the pits (it is hard to tell by the picture, but they are very tiny and are only on some external surfaces and do not penetrate the hull) are normal and will not cause any problems. Heritage also offered to repair the small scupper hole (which is above the water line), but I wanted to do it myself even though the kayak has a lifetime warranty. So long story short, they are sending me the plastic rod and instructions to do the repair. This is something I wanted to learn anyways, so it does not bother me in the least (I’ll post pictures of it later)… I did get a chance to check out the other kayak today and did notice some small pits, but no holes! Heart of Texas kayaks has been great during the whole process and even offered remedies that were above and beyond what I felt was necessary. Anyways, I’m still very happy with the purchase!

-Bill-

Well, we couldn’t wait any longer and decided to get the kayaks wet for the first time today. My wife and I went to town and tried on several PFDs. I was more concerned with getting her a PFD that fit well and was comfortable. Several just plain smashed her on top and were too loose at the waist. She tried on a Stohlquist GetAway, which was cut for a woman and fit her very comfortably, was a high back and the pockets worked well. Next I tried on a TrekKer and while it fit well, I could not get into the pockets very easily and they only had blue in stock. The last PFD I tried was the Stohlquist Fisherman that initially I thought had too much junk on the front I wouldn’t use. Well I was wrong, the pockets have a hard shell insert that prevents crushing the pocket contents and as it turned out, it fits and protects my camera very well and they are very easy to get into. Both PFDs were comfortable all day long…

We got back home and loaded the kayaks on to the Trooper and headed off to a local pond. The one kayak with the small hole in the rear scupper tube, I just put a piece of tape over it. While this was probably unnecessary (as the hole is on the very top of the tube above the water line); I wanted to see if any water got into the hulls of either boat. Since this was the first time we had ever used kayaks, we opted to leave the fishing gear at home and just concentrate on paddling and checking our gear out.

Upon arriving at the pond, we quickly found out that a cart might be a good thing to have, as it was a good 75 yards to the water over a bridge and through some rock. A cart would have made it a bit easier as we had to take two trips to get both boats to the water anyways. The first thing that impressed us was the initial stability of the kayaks and the ease of entry into the water. We were off in just a few minutes and didn’t even get our feet wet. We both started off with Bending Branches 230cm paddles and this length fits my wife perfectly as she tends to be a low angle paddler. I on the other hand, tend to prefer high angle paddling and think I need a shorter paddle. I seem to bury the shaft of the paddle about 2 inches under water on each stroke.

While my wife enjoyed a very dry ride the whole day, I seemed to prefer pumping water into the yak on each stroke as water poured off the paddle blade and around the drip ring onto my legs (I think I need a shorter paddle and/or a slower more casual stroke). The RedFish scupper plugs work very well and no water entered the boat from underneath. I even pulled one of the scupper plugs to see how far up the water was (see picture below). I still had about ˝ inch of clearance before water came in (for reference I weigh about 216 lbs). One other lesson learned, do not take an open top cup or mug on your kayak and place it in the cup-holder… Mine just filled with the pond water dripping off my paddle!

Without any other kayak experience, it is hard to tell how easy the kayaks were to paddle. Neither of us thought it was too difficult at all and tracking seemed to be great. With my high angle paddling, I had to take 3-4 strokes on one side of the boat before I noticed it starting to turn appreciably. For grins, I changed to a low angle and the boat turned on the first stroke. Keeping them going straight was not difficult even with the 5-7 mph winds we had today.

After about 2.5 hours on the water, it was time to pull the boats out and check for leaks. Both interior hulls were bone dry, I wish I could say the same for my pants legs! All in all, we had a blast on the water today and my wife commented that this was one of my better ideas! (OK, so a few of them didn’t work out so well…) Seems we finally landed on an outdoor sport we will both enjoy.

-Bill-

Landlocked, I must say I enjoy your reports.  Looks like you and your wife are well on your way to loads of fun.

A couple of pointers.  Choke up on the drop ring.  In your pics you have it way out at the paddle blade.  It should be higher up on the shaft and should be above the water on your stroke.  It will work better that way.

Good insight on the angler of attack when turning.  As you quickly discovered, changing angles, and even reaching out with your paddle, when you turn will get your desired results quicker.  I've even been known to shift my paddle way out and grab the end of the blade (yes, way out) to get a long reach when I need a power turn ... like when surfing a wave and I need to turn NOW!

-Allen

Thanks for the tips Allen, good advice!

The inexpensive BB paddels have the drip rings molded in with the blade plastic, so we're unable to move them up the shaft. I wonder if I could just place a second set of rubber drip rings on the shaft and take care of it that way?

When a paddle is sized properly for high angle paddling, how much of the blade is supposed to be in the water at mid stroke? Mine are completely submerged at least 2" under water.

-Bill-

2" doesn't seem out of place to me for a high angler stroke, but I'll have to take a look the next time I paddle.  I do know my rings are up the shaft a bit and I do place them there so their not submerged.

I'm sure you can put a second set of rings on the shaft.

-Allen

Great reports.  Love the nice pictures.

Not sure about the paddle length though.  I've got a 230, and I seriously think I need to go up to a 240.  I bang the sides of the boat too much.  Granted my X-Factor is likely several inches wider then those.

Perfect your sweep stroke and you won't have an issue turning.  It's easy to do.  You can find info on them online.  I spent 5 minutes browsing a book on inflatable kayaks at the used book store.  You really just need to know that from the time the paddle enters the water until it's at the side of your body is the power part of the stroke, and the time it stays in the water after that is the direction part.  Just sweep out to the side and make a wide half circle with your stroke to turn, and then make a regular stroke on the other side, and do another wide half circle.  I almost never do 2 strokes on one side.  Makes me feel like I'm in a canoe.  The only time I've done so is when I was too close to shore, or more specifically heading back into the launch and I needed to be pointed just right.  With your extra reach that you seem to be getting with your paddle, a broad sweep stroke shouldn't be a problem.

Keep in mind though, this advice is from a fellow new kayaker. 

One major tip though.  Use bow and stern lines for those kayaks.  I have yet to see a factory roof rack with a weight capacity above 75lbs, which those two kayaks will exceed.  It looks like your tie downs will hold to the rack wonderfully, but what happens if the rack seperates from your roof?  They'll go flying off and hit someone's car, or someone, or maybe no one and just slide along the road.  Bow and stern tie downs will prevent that and make sure they are totally secure to your vehicle.

I throw mine in the back of my truck, and I STILL use 3 tie downs (well, two and a bungie that is super tight on the bed extender).  And that's only because I'm only going about a minute away.  If I was going any farther then a few miles, I'd be using 3 tie downs and atleast one bungie.  On the initial 10 hour trip down from Washington, I used 3 straps, and 5 bungies.  I think if I were to make that trip again, I would use an additional strap.

Thanks for the paddling tips Phynix!

The Trooper did not come with a roof rack, so I made my own brackets and cross bars. Each of the three cross bars can support 75lbs with no problem, but I don't think I will ever place 225lbs on the roof. I did use the factory nut plates which are welded into the support ridge of the roof. I made each bracket length to give me an overall flat surface with a slight down angle towards the front of the car. The kayaks are very stable and don't move, flutter or lift even at 65mph. Should any one strap fail, the other two should keep them on the roof. Thanks for the concern and I agree about the bow line when using a weak factory roof racks.

-Bill-