FishNdive's Stealth Evo 495

[Seasherpa]

Looking good Eoin and I like the future plans you have for her. Maybe have a look at some of the railblaza mounts instead of the rams to give you more options.

I took it for a little spin at SWR. It's certainly nimble but then there's not much of it to push along. I'm glad you're keeping the Outback. I can see the Stealth being good for minimalist distance trips, particularly trolling. But then there's a lot of fishing down here where the added space and versatility of the Outback would be sorely missed.

Yeah it's horses for courses and there are plenty of spots I fish where the hands free element is important and the outback will be the go.

With the railblaza vs ram mounts I'm still deciding on that one. If I go ram mounts I can interchange the rod holders from the outback but if I go railblaza or Berkeley I'm buying a new set.
The flush mounts on a stealth are much smaller than hobie rod holders and smaller than most other brands of flush mount.

Stealth flushmounts

Standard 32mm PVC doesn't fit in. I'm pretty sure that the bolt holes on a square base ram mount will line up exactly with the flush mounts though, which would leave my rods running out parallel to the water in a 'v' from behind me. They would be out of my paddle stroke it and very easy to see bites/reach the rods.
The other option being up front on the deck in front of my toes which would be out of my paddle stroke but a stretch to grab the rod in a hurry.
Decisions decisions...
More standing looking at it required!

[Ghurkin]

very nice ride Eion,Im looking forward to seeing it on the water.
Im organising the yellow yak to be painted, I might have to use an outrigger on one side as Ive been told its very tippy, plan is to have it painted all white and then its race day mate

It weighs 10 kilos

[Seasherpa]

It weighs 10 kilos.............. empty! Have you taken it for a spin yet, it looks like it takes tippy to a whole new level!

Have you got a painter lined up? I'll have to start chasing quotes soon. From what I can find out, I think I'll be doing a 2 pack polyurethane and then some keel ezy on the bow and skeg.

[Ghurkin]

It weighs 10 kilos.............. empty! Have you taken it for a spin yet, it looks like it takes tippy to a whole new level!

Have you got a painter lined up? I'll have to start chasing quotes soon. From what I can find out, I think I'll be doing a 2 pack polyurethane and then some keel ezy on the bow and skeg.

Havent taken it out yet as it has two small cracks near the bow, I have two painters lined up just not sure which one to go for yet, Its a 1999 Avenger MV K1 and Im told that in its day it won most races it was in in wild water rivers, Andrew from Melbourne kayaks suggested to not look sideways while paddling lol, Im thinking an outrigger on one side will cure that.

[Ghurkin]

there is a link on my Yakdoc website http://www.yakdoc.com/links.html to "Canoe Innovations" Steve is the guys name and he makes, repairs fiberglass kayaks, mainly racing stuff .

[Seasherpa]

It weighs 10 kilos.............. empty! Have you taken it for a spin yet, it looks like it takes tippy to a whole new level!

Have you got a painter lined up? I'll have to start chasing quotes soon. From what I can find out, I think I'll be doing a 2 pack polyurethane and then some keel ezy on the bow and skeg.

Havent taken it out yet as it has two small cracks near the bow, I have two painters lined up just not sure which one to go for yet, Its a 1999 Avenger MV K1 and Im told that in its day it won most races it was in in wild water rivers, Andrew from Melbourne kayaks suggested to not look sideways while paddling lol, Im thinking an outrigger on one side will cure that.

If Andrew reckons its tippy you are in for some fun, his ski is half the width of the stealth! You going to do the glasswork yourself?

[Ghurkin]

If Andrew reckons its tippy you are in for some fun, his ski is half the width of the stealth! You going to do the glasswork yourself?

urrrggghh!! I don't do glass lol , I have a customer lined up that wants work done to his plastic kayak, he does fibreglass boat repairs and painting so perhaps some bartering will take place methinks.

This is what it looked like new

[Seasherpa]

If Andrew reckons its tippy you are in for some fun, his ski is half the width of the stealth! You going to do the glasswork yourself?

urrrggghh!! I don't do glass lol , I have a customer lined up that wants work done to his plastic kayak, he does fibreglass boat repairs and painting so perhaps some bartering will take place methinks.

This is what it looked like new

avenger%20crop.jpg

That would be a win if that deal panned out. Andrew put me onto Steve too, he can do the repairs on the bow but can't do the paint and ideally I'd like to get both done together. I think I'll swing into that crowd in Hastings next time I'm down that way for a fish and see what they can offer.

[happyas]

Eoin, why don't you paint it yourself. I did some touch up stuff to my Evo and you cant really see where I patched and painted it. I had a bit of a problem getting the colour matched but it was pretty close. As for a complete respray, I think I will wait until I have a few more scratches and scrapes before I do that, but it is do-able.

[Seasherpa]

Few more updates to the thread with a few things added for bait fishing:
The rear hatch has been replaced with a Hobie twist and seal, mounted sideways as I am right handed so it is easier to open. The old white rod holders changed over to black ones to match the deck hardware and Ram mount rod holders installed for holding bait rods:

Out came the holesaw, and a flush mount front rod holder was added with a PVC pipe to hold anchor reel. It keeps it nice and close to the cleat I added to the side handle earlier:

Eoin, why don't you paint it yourself. I did some touch up stuff to my Evo and you cant really see where I patched and painted it. I had a bit of a problem getting the colour matched but it was pretty close. As for a complete respray, I think I will wait until I have a few more scratches and scrapes before I do that, but it is do-able.

The respray has gone on the back burner, as the colour has grown on me and after a good clean up it actually looks better than I thought it would. I also have some colour matched paints from when the previous owner had the nose fixed in case I need to do touch ups.

Next up I am waiting on some keel-ezy to arrive to do a rudder mod which will keep the trolling lines from catching there. I also have all of the sounder bits and pieces, but I have to do a few tests with a torch to check the glue positions under the seat to see if the tranny can be installed there. If not, an access hatch has to be installed in order to get behind the fish box to mount it shooting through only one layer of fiberglass.
I also found that the standard adhesive on the clark rubber seal used to upgrade the seal on the fish hatch was too week and a piece came off at Lang Lang on the weekend. I am going to re-do it with some epoxy to solve the issue.