Tempest Teach Test
Published September 13, 2011 | 
Last Saturday I decided to leave my kayak at home and use one of our student boats, the Tempest 165, to coach the intro to sea kayaking class. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that when you take a kayak out to test paddle, you can sometimes be blinded to certain qualities of the boat simply by over focusing on reviewing the it in the first place. I’m not sure how that happens other than you are somehow out of your normal element when you test paddle and it can change your perceptions. I think that doing something you do all the time in your personal kayak and simply switching boats, then getting on to business can somehow allow certain things to stand out much quicker simply because you’re not really looking for them. So for what it’s worth… Continue reading
10 Sea Kayaks You Should Paddle Before You Buy
Published April 26, 2011 | 
Oh well, there’s Flo on my left and there’s Mary on my right / And Janie is the girl with that I’ll be with tonight
And when she asks me, which one I love the best? / I tear open my shirt I got Rosie on my chest
‘Cause I’m the wanderer / Yeah, the wanderer / I roam around, around, around – Dion
Sea kayaks are expensive. To be honest, reading alone won’t tell you what you need to know before you drop $3,000 or more on a top-of-the-line kayak. You have to paddle them to know how they feel to you. What’s more, how you feel in a particular kayak may be nothing like what someone else feels in that same boat. That means, no one can really tell you what the right kayak is for you. From there you can infer that what I’m about to tell you.. is worthless.. but read on if you like! Continue reading
Tempestuous – The Tempest 165
Published July 22, 2010 | 
Clothed in new costumes
That weather your new found storms
Staring through reason
Content with your new found decor
– collective soul
I’ve always been conflicted when it comes to companies like Wilderness Systems. I don’t think of them as “sea kayak” companies. They seem to put more weight into their recreational and fishing boats and come to sea kayaking as an afterthought. It’s hard to imagine the company that makes the infamous Pungo could produce a decent sea kayak. Still there have been a lot of good things said about the Tempest since it came out. Given that, and that I had Cindy Scherrer (partner of co-designer Steve Scherrer) paddling right beside me while I was out test paddling boats in Grand Marais, it seems like as good a time as any to take one for a spin. 
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