"one of the guys i paddle w/ sometimes was jammed up to his armpits in his yak in surf"

I think this is probably just an example of the wrong equipment for surf kayaking. For normal touring the Mariner setup works beautifully and is easy to adjust on the fly for varying conditions - seat back for a following sea, foward for a head sea and various places in between for other conditions. It stays put with just body weight, of which I have an ample supply! I'm planning to try and replicate it for my Storm LT ( and of course I have the Mariner right alongside for reference). Hopefully Matt and Cam will accept this as the sincerest form of flattery.