I carry all the parts/tools necessary for any drive failures. They are easy to fix.

Thank you all for the feedback. Good to know you can get yourself out of a pickle if things go south offshore. (if you have spare parts / drive. Might be very worth the hassle to carry & extra costs):cool:

There is no one perfect kayak as we all have different needs and how we paddle, fish & use our kayaks.
We are lucky we have a lot of choices. Let's fish! :cheers1:

X2 you will like it

Any comments on a sail for the PA14?

Just read the entire thread and agree with pretty much every pro/ con mentioned. I started with an old OK Scupper Pro I bought off CL for $300 just to see if I'd like kayaking. Light, sleek, fast; a blast to paddle around in but zero stability for fishing. I'm maybe not the most athletic guy here and pushing 200 lbs. I rolled that thing every time I went out even in mill-pond conditions and that was on lakes, I never dared to try the ocean in it. I saw PA's on the beach, got curious and went shopping. Are you f'ing kidding me???? $$$$$$$ !!!!!! So I ended up buying a Current Designs Tailfin with stabilizing pontoons on outriggers. I felt secure enough and started fishing La Jolla but still envied those peddle boats passing by. Jumped on a killer CL deal for a PA14, I believe it is Wades old boat ? I think that's what I was told anyway. So now I have the same love/ hate relationship that some have shared here. All the things that make it great (size, weight, stability, mirage drive) are the same things that make it suck. (try loading one on top of my Astro van :() In my view it's just a mistake to even call the PA a kayak. It's a peddle boat.

I bought a trailer :cool:

Since I've benefited from this thread, I may as well contribute to it. I'm new to serious kayak fishing, and I was ready to pull the trigger on a PA 12, but I've changed my mind for the following reasons:

1) I live several hours from the coast (4 hrs from LJ), and with a toddler at home, I don't get to fish the salt as often as I'd like (I'm jealous of those that live near SD or OC). Also, I love fishing Baja, which is even further and takes more effort to get to (five hrs to calexico). So when I do get to go, I need to count on my kayak to work, and it seems like the moving parts on a Hobie reduce reliability and increase the risk of trip-ruining malfunctions. I understand I can take tools and bring Hobie spare parts yadda yadda, but that's starting to feel like more headache than its worth to me. Hearing about Tony's and other's Hobie woes in BdG also made me think twice. I feel like my chances to fish are too few and too precious to risk mechanical failure.

2) I'm hoping to buddy up and carpool for Baja trips, and cartopping two kayaks if one or both are PA's seems more problematic for transport. Lighter weight paddle kayaks appear easier to double up for cartopping.

Some other more minor things factored in (PA not permitted for mothershipping (?), Hobie surf launch challenges, Hobie cartopping a little harder even without the add'l kayak, etc.) but the top two were the main ones.

So, after researching this topic ad nauseum, I finally put an order in with Andy for a WS Thresher 140 for my first serious fishing kayak. Perhaps I'll get a PA down the road, but those were my thoughts that convinced me against the PA for now.

WS Thresher 140 sounds like a good move, dude! With all the money saved you can apply it towards quality parts.

Yeah, saving >$1700 doesn't suck either.

After all, there's a whole lot more gear to buy to get fully rigged.

Nice! My next one might be a thresher! I really like the rod storage! Perfect for those CL launches and landings. The self contained FF/ducer/battery box is sweet too!

Until this past weekend, I was a Hobie fanatic. I read this thread and was like that stuff can't happen to me.

Then sitting just beyond the breakers in LJ, I was waiting for the right time, the time came and I started stepping hard to gain speed, then POW, one pedal goes dead and leaves me hanging in the kill zone. Luckily, I picked the right time to go in and rode little ones in.

I don't like to paddle in (too slow IMO), but now I will consider changing out the chains and the idler cable more often. I guess the most tension will occur when you get on it and that means, landing, launching or racing towards a boil.

Am considering a paddle kayak now though...or at least an outback where you can paddle and peddle.

Or even pedal.