Pedalfish 10
Posted: 17 Dec 2018, 10:21
Hi all,
last week I picked up the new Kayak and thought I would share some initial thoughts, granted I'm new to kayaks so don't really know what to look for or what I'm talking about...
The Pedalfish 10 is a Chinese clone of the Native Slayer 10, it is now I believe in it's 3rd different design model with pedal system has changing from chain driven to belt (legal issues) and a further recent change to the drive body as there was previously a flaw in sizing stopping unit from being able to rotate when hinged in.
What attracted me to the kayak:
Cost - while I would have loved to have jumped into a Hobie, the cost point was just too much especially as I'm not sure how much I will use it. I think cost was $1200.00.
Weight - As I will be transporting on the top of my car I wanted something that was manageable, being under 30kg there is no issue with getting it up and down, while I would have been able to do the same with a Hobie, the extra in weight may have made going out seem like more of an effort than it should have, also have no room for a trailer.
Warranty/store reviews - 5 years on hull/2 years on drive unit. While there is not a heap of reviews out there on the kayak itself the Melbourne store has a very good reputation, this was further evident when I picked it up. Andrew the manager took me through everything on the kayak before helping me load up.
So with it home now I got an opportunity to take it out on the water. Noting the advice received from other board members I made sure the first paddle was in safe water with no fishing gear, I live in an area called Sanctuary Lakes which is built around a man made and quite large retarding basin. Unfortunately the 'lake' is full of weed (an apparently some decent bream) this restricted me to only limited use of the pedal drive. Obviously it will be a different story away from the protected lake but I found the Pedalfish to be really stable, I was able to stand, felt comfortable getting into the front storage and rear hatch and even jumped around a bit to really get a feel for the wobble.
The pedal drive was quite good although pretty stiff - I'm guessing this will just need use and some lube to improve, the reverse pedal stopped the kayak almost on the sport which I think will come in handy if fishing structure. The steering was only average, I did purchase a rudder upgrade but haven't yet fitted it and this should dramatically improve it. Speaking of the rudder this is one big negative for me - the rudder actually hangs lower than the base of the kayak - as you can imagine this is an issue when the kayak is out of the water, both for transport and storage, the rudder upgrade I purchased is a metal rudder and hangs even lower - this will increase the change of damage to the hull I fear.
So that's it for now, the next chance I'll get to go out will be post Christmas down in St Leonards, again based on advice from these pages I'll again go out without any gear and I'll then have an opportunity to capsize and practice re-entry.
I've now purchased a Garmin Striker 4 so will give installing that a go in the new year also.
cheers
Clint.
last week I picked up the new Kayak and thought I would share some initial thoughts, granted I'm new to kayaks so don't really know what to look for or what I'm talking about...
The Pedalfish 10 is a Chinese clone of the Native Slayer 10, it is now I believe in it's 3rd different design model with pedal system has changing from chain driven to belt (legal issues) and a further recent change to the drive body as there was previously a flaw in sizing stopping unit from being able to rotate when hinged in.
What attracted me to the kayak:
Cost - while I would have loved to have jumped into a Hobie, the cost point was just too much especially as I'm not sure how much I will use it. I think cost was $1200.00.
Weight - As I will be transporting on the top of my car I wanted something that was manageable, being under 30kg there is no issue with getting it up and down, while I would have been able to do the same with a Hobie, the extra in weight may have made going out seem like more of an effort than it should have, also have no room for a trailer.
Warranty/store reviews - 5 years on hull/2 years on drive unit. While there is not a heap of reviews out there on the kayak itself the Melbourne store has a very good reputation, this was further evident when I picked it up. Andrew the manager took me through everything on the kayak before helping me load up.
So with it home now I got an opportunity to take it out on the water. Noting the advice received from other board members I made sure the first paddle was in safe water with no fishing gear, I live in an area called Sanctuary Lakes which is built around a man made and quite large retarding basin. Unfortunately the 'lake' is full of weed (an apparently some decent bream) this restricted me to only limited use of the pedal drive. Obviously it will be a different story away from the protected lake but I found the Pedalfish to be really stable, I was able to stand, felt comfortable getting into the front storage and rear hatch and even jumped around a bit to really get a feel for the wobble.
The pedal drive was quite good although pretty stiff - I'm guessing this will just need use and some lube to improve, the reverse pedal stopped the kayak almost on the sport which I think will come in handy if fishing structure. The steering was only average, I did purchase a rudder upgrade but haven't yet fitted it and this should dramatically improve it. Speaking of the rudder this is one big negative for me - the rudder actually hangs lower than the base of the kayak - as you can imagine this is an issue when the kayak is out of the water, both for transport and storage, the rudder upgrade I purchased is a metal rudder and hangs even lower - this will increase the change of damage to the hull I fear.
So that's it for now, the next chance I'll get to go out will be post Christmas down in St Leonards, again based on advice from these pages I'll again go out without any gear and I'll then have an opportunity to capsize and practice re-entry.
I've now purchased a Garmin Striker 4 so will give installing that a go in the new year also.
cheers
Clint.