New Jersey Kayaking

Specs:

• Length: 9-1/2 feet overall
• Beam: 30"
• Height: 13" (hull only)
• Weight: 44 pounds
• Capacity: 275 pounds
• MSRP: $379, $300 street

Hits:

• compact, lightweight, fast & nimble
• easy to transport
• comes with a decent paddle

Misses:

• tracks poorly ( edit: make that very poorly )
• no dry storage
• poorly designed foot pegs
• missing accessories - side handles, front rod holder

Got this boat when I discovered that the second Tamarack was damaged. They were the same price. This boat is the same length on the water as the 10-foot Tamarack, but shorter overall because the bow and stern are clipped.

It's a fun boat. If you put some effort into it, it is pretty fast and accelerates noticeably better than my Lifetimes. It is slightly tippy compared to those, but nothing you don't quickly adjust to. You seem to sit lower in this boat than in the Lifetimes.

My biggest peeve is that this boat is very unstable in steering. The moment you stop controlling it, it hooks around hard to one side or the other; I think it can turn 90 degrees in its own length. If someone else is nearby, this can easily cause a collision. Although it is theoretically a fishing kayak, I don't see how you could fish from it. The moment you set the paddle down the boat starts corkscrewing. So the lack of a proper rod holder is not that big a deal.

The saddle is ok at best, but then these boats all need help in that department. The footpegs are too wide and rub your ankles. There is a sort of glove compartment in front of the saddle, but it is not water-tight. There is a marking on the back of the seat bolster for a hatch, but no hatch, and you couldn't access it without getting out of the boat anyway. Instead, it comes with a sort of custom-made milk crate contraption for the back deck. That part has not yet seen the water, and I don't think it ever will.

There are finger slots in the sides that you can carry the boat by, but no proper side handles. This makes it somewhat difficult to tie down for transport. There are molded-in spots for proper side handles, but these are well off center and wouldn't balance. The scupper holes are very small, and my favorite set of wheels will probably not work, but then this boat is light enough that one person can easily lug it around without them.

This is a good second boat, especially if you have a weak paddler along for the day - it will let them keep up with a bigger slower boat. The lighter weight also makes it easier for one person to car-top or portage. Other than that, Lifetime is a better boat and a better value, with all the missing accessories included for the same price. This boat is going to get proper side handles and a storage hatch installed as soon as possible.

Update:

I had this boat out again today. It is fast, or easy to paddle, depending on how you look at it. But it is squirrelly as hell. I had to come to a full stop to take a picture. You can't coast, not even for a second, it hooks around so badly. Looking at the hull, it is not hard to see why - the stern is almost identical to the bow. Where a Lifetime boat has a nice big skeg to keep you going straight, the Pelican has nothing.