Can anyone shed some light on the Kai Wa'a Arcturus?
Are they popular? How do they rate for a large paddler ie. 6'6" 235lbs? Flat water? I tend to have a real problem with the nose of the canoe I paddle dipping under and pushing water when on a runner. Actually I seem to get it with most canoes I've tried...(could be my size?)
While I'm here can any of the Kai Wa'a canoes be purchased in Australia?
Thanks
Submitted by SteveC on Tue, 10/12/2004 - 6:01pm
HI Steve.......
Kai Bartletts Pegasus is made here in Australia. Australian Website is:
http://www.geocities.com/kaiwaaus
Although the Pegasus is a bit smaller than the Arcturus , the Pegasus does run a lot
better in the flat and handles great in the ocean. I am 6'4" and the nose never buried
in the big stuff in Hawaii when I was there.
Matt
#1 Wed, 10/13/2004 - 9:58am
i'm not so sure that the arcturus is such a great canoe, and i think you may be a bit on the heavy side for the pegasus.. if you really want a kai wa'a canoe get a spica, it could handle your size and the nose is so big it rarely goes under
#2 Wed, 10/13/2004 - 10:24am
luke has no clue. lol. get a polaris or the arcturus. the only options for someone your size. if it was me, i'd go with the polaris. both are great at catching bumps. go to kaiwaa.com contacts page and call them in hawaii, see about the wait on either one. Kai be really busy. if the wait is too long, try y2kanu.com, i see used arcturus quite often. people will ship it for you if you make it worth their while.
#3 Wed, 10/13/2004 - 11:22am
thanks zach... when's the last time you were even in a canoe? and whats this talking about y2kanu.com, is that even a real website.. i dont think so.. haha, nah
go with a spica, it's a great canoe.. or the polaris, no arguments against the polaris
#4 Wed, 10/13/2004 - 1:45pm
I'm open to suggestions! What other makes/models suit tall heavy guys?
#5 Wed, 10/13/2004 - 2:36pm
Hey you may wanna check out a kaku elua or even a stingray. They do pretty well for bigger guys in the flat and small bump.
#6 Wed, 10/13/2004 - 3:04pm
hey steve, do you want to surf or go fast in the flat? if you want to surf/catch bumps do not buy a Elua (but the Elua goes great in the flat waters of CA.). all kai's boats surf great, and so does the stingray, and they fit big guys. Nice thing about the polaris is he makes it custom to your inseam. so you being 6'6" is no big deal at all. you'll have plenty of legroom.
#7 Wed, 10/13/2004 - 4:43pm
Surf...flatwater sucks
But being short of coin at the moment I won't be buying one boat to suit each condition - so I'll be racing any new canoe as well...
As a general rule in my case enjoyment (surfing) comes first, racing second.
I had a very brief go of a Hurricane a while ago but wasn't impressed enough to pay the $4500 AUS to pick one up...
Thanks for your help
#8 Wed, 10/13/2004 - 5:14pm