Lee--

Sorry for starting such a big response to WR18 vs. Coho. I just paddled a CLC boat. The Pygmy is much more refined. I'll definitely go with a Coho.

Thanks,
Jay N.

This forum is about kayaks, I'm talking about kayaks, please join in with
: your experience about kayaks. As Nick would say,,"there are a lot of
: ways to waste time,,this is a good one",,let's waste time talking
: about kayaks. CLC has had enough experience to know better than to send
: out an "enthusiast" kayak with a forming bulkhead left in. It
: certainly should have integrated the experience of the Sass16 or NBxl to
: actually develop a protocol for testing new kayaks. Get your WR18, line up
: gear for 5 days camping, put it in the kayak and use it. Tell me that you
: won't need 3' of the forward compartment. And while you're at it how do
: you like putting a rolled up camp pad or tent poles through the flush
: hatch kit that makes the front hatch less accessible than a 7" VCP
: hatch. Now that's disgruntling.
: Where would movie critics or consumers reports be without busybodies on the
: edge of an "industry"? I'm an equal opportunity crab,when a
: "former leader of the industry" like Perception remakes old
: models and screws up should we stand up and cheer "good show, your
: new plastic rudders chip when they're deployed into a soft rudder block!
: and those chromed steel ratchet adjustments can almost last an entire
: season before rusting out!" Or when the older thick plastic seat
: backs on the Shadow actually prevented someone from getting back into the
: cockpit during a rescue and Perception DENIES the reality where the folks
: on these forums agree that it's a bum seat back should we be grateful
: they're a leader in the industry? Hey, Cadillac dressed up a Cavalier once
: and called it a Cadillac.
: Or when Wilderness Systems spends an entire year buying full page ads for the
: NEW TEMPEST,,without pictures,,,then the NEW TEMPEST has some fundamental
: booboos you think someone shouldn't say something because WS spent
: $200,000 on marketing? Isaiah,,some folks actually use these boats,,If
: something as fundamental as a rear hatch failing catastrophically in a
: standard rescue that shouldn't be an experience the customer prototypes
: for the manufacturer or designer. When WS makes a new design aft hatch
: that has that potential people tell each other about it VERY QUICKLY.
: These aren't one-off designs requiring a shake down cruise by the customer
: like a new yacht. I think it's great that CLC reinforced their hatches
: three yrs ago. But that's with a 4yr old design. Wilderness Systems
: recognized the problem and addressed it in a few months. I can call
: Wilderness Systems and have them send me a new hatch,,do you expect the
: customer of CLC to reach into that compartment and cut the bulkhead out to
: use that space?
: Come on, this isn't rocket science. Your leader grew at a particular time
: where internet feedback didn't exist and the competition really didn't
: exist, look at how many composite manufacturers of sea kayaks there were
: 15yrs ago and how many kayak kit makers there were 10yrs ago.

: Do you want to tell the folks why the NBxl weathercocks horribly in winds
: above 10mph?
: I know enough to know how much I don't know,,and I don't know a lot, being in
: the company of folks that don't know much but say let's make it, is great.
: That's why CLC is great,,it's that "let's make it" energy.
: Except it really matters to some folks that what they've been sold really
: will do what it they've been told.

: You don't get it,,the leaders of "this industry" are on this board.
: Hey, the Pram is neat, the Mill Creek 13,16 are good. The Chesapeakes are ok.
: But with a hell of a history of sending out totally untested kayaks in the
: "enthusiast" models where folks get pretty picky about HOW it
: handles the forming bulkheads are left in and rationalized away that the
: space isn't used???