New Toy VS Old Toy…the Watches Used…and no more Speedo…

My old River Runner R5 circa 1991 was taking in water. Not surprising since it has spent its entire life - winters included - outside. So yesterday I went to MEC (Canadian version of REI) and bought this. Very cool that it fits in the back of the Jeep. I had read that this Kayak was a bit tippy but the hull is very flat. Still, I was going to be cautious for my first paddle.
I assembled it in the backyard first, to make sure it was complete. It did not take long, only a few minutes including a cat feeding session. Nice looking Kayak. I got all of my safety gear and an old paddle and drove the 700 m to the nearby pond. I brought the SKX013 to be safe. The six pieces and start of the assembly, under the watchful eye of a 4 year old and his mom. Now it is assembled. Only a few minutes. I only took a few on board pics. It was a bit unsteady at first. Mostly because my knees are bent in this short cockpit. My R5 was tight and my legs lay flat, and this made it very stable and easy to control. My legs were always numb, however, so the larger cockpit of the new Kayak is more comfortable. I have ordered a deck cover to keep dry. I took the Kayak apart in very little time, being careful to not step in goose shit - you have not been in shit until you’ve stepped in goose shit. All pieces loaded back in for the short trip home. And left to dry before stacking all six pieces back in the rolling carrying case. Finally, this is the Speedo, sorry to disappoint you. Next time I will wear the Seamaster.

I came for Speedo pics. You better be sorry.
I'll add that that thing is pretty cool though!

That is awesome!! Jealous!

With runners underneath it, a mast, and a sail, you should be able to use your new boat, 12 months of the year.😀

Great pix (PakYak :0)
I knew someone who was senior at Speedo and then moved to a company which made offshore safety and mountain gear.
They liked to say….. ‘’ In my old company when kit failed they got embarrassed..now they would die…
That’s marketeers for you ;0)

Sweet kayak. Have never seen one like that.

I’d be curious to see how this holds up over the years. Issue I see with these and folding is wiping em down/drying after use to repack and how well the seams hold together over time.

Have an OB pressure test the seals once a year LoL

Good one 😉 Though I’d expect something kinda along this line is actually good advice. Keep those gaskets clean!

And great write up @Duracuir1. Thanks for sharing. +1 to the skx013. Generally my go to watch when working on and enjoying my PWC

My goal is to outlast those seams Larry.

Avoiding watch scratches helped keep my fingers and hands in one piece over the years. Maybe avoiding seem challenging situations won’t be a bad thing for you either ;0)
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Keep it in the freezer at home so no water will be able to seep through the gaskets when at paddling temperature

I figured you would have crafted your own leather Speedo, Steve. Oh, is that for a different forum? 👎

Omg my left leg falling asleep while kayaking is horrible. I had planned to pickup a sit on kayak so I could more easily take my 3 year old for short paddles and worry a little less about having an issue flipping over the kayak if we managed to tip.

Those are a lot of fun. I don’t have one but my buddy does and we just started hitting calm water is he picked up a pair and neither of us had any clue what we are doing. He is doing test runs to get confident enough to take out his son who is two. The thought of that makes me nervous tbh but after a few spins this year it’s probably fine on the calm water. Im really liking the shoulder workout and the peaceful floating I also wore my skx it held up fine.

I enjoy the peaceful floating. My family rents a house on a lake every summer, have since I was a little kid. We'd spend two weeks jealous of everyone with their speed boats, we mostly had the little inflatable ones you get at the toy store. As we got older I picked up a few kayaks. Now I end up putting two 14 footers and 2 kids size ones on my cars to bring over to the lake every summer. We'll do little paddles for maybe an hour or so, nothing much more. The best part is floating a few feet off the dock while chatting with a beer in hand 😀

I spent a week applying some epoxy to some of the old R5 Kayak’s gouges and took it out for a test. I also tested the new Thule Wingbar rack (for our 2022 Jeep Wrangler). The Kayak has been with me since 1991 or so and was taking in water when I last tried it (2016). The Tag Heuer almost as long, (93ish) so why not use it? After a wash the top looks good. The Jeep is so high that I actually stepped off the ladder and onto the tire to get the straps around the kayak holder. The water was pretty clear and large fish were bumping into the kayak. The old R5 is way more stable than the new Pakayak and allowed me to take photos and coast. My fish photos were not great, but you get the idea. The water level was low and I beached myself a few times. This required me to fully submerge the old Tag Heuer as I pushed back into deeper water. No problem with water resistance for that task. A reminder that I was in town… Columbo (see graffiti ) was a great show … even Kojak approves. Getting into the old kayak for the first time since 2016 was great. It took on a bit of water so I still have some work to do. Much faster, lighter and steadier than the Pakayak, but installing the rack, loading it up on the high Jeep and lugging it around was way more work than using the new one.

Firestone M/T2 product placement. 😁