Quote:
Originally Posted by MauiBen
Thanks for the link, Fenlander! Glad to find a Spearfish owner.
Diabloloco, the Spearfish has a V hull, while the Kaboat is flat bottomed.
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Hi MauiBen,
As others have pointed out, I've recently purchased a Spearfish, though the 550 - the bigger brother to the 450 (largely at the request of the other half, who wanted a bit more space!).
To date, the first few trips have been on the flat calm of the canal 20 mins from us (choppier waters beckon later in the season!), so I cannot yet make any hard claims on its performance in such chop, but initial experience is extremely good.
Overall, I'm very impressed with the boat - everything about it has been well thought through and works just as it should. Stability is excellent (even with teenage son using one of the tubes as a sun-bed as we pottered!), and the canopy became my daughter's spacious "girl cave".
From parking about 100m from the canal to being on the water and underway was less than 40 mins, even at the first attempt - and getting quicker! Getting off the water even quicker - less than 30 mins til everything stowed away in the back of the car.
At the moment, we are using with the ePropulsion 1kw electric outboard, which is more than adequate for inland water pottering - doing a pleasant couple of knots at less than 25% power was showing 8 hrs+ of range. When I picked up the boat from Ian Thomson at Nestaway, had a good long chat about Spearfish and engine choices, and the 6hp on the 450 seems a "sweet spot", though a light 9.8hp 2 stroke probably best on 550.
Like I say, I hesitate to upload a more thorough review until I've had more experience with the Spearfish in a range of conditions, but I have to say I'm already a convert - while the narrower hull may not suit everyone, I personally feel it a much more sensible, seaworthy configuration for a small, portable SIB, and the overall quality of constructions would inspire confidence. Handling (even in the confines of a narrow canal) was good, and manoeuvring off the water was also dead easy, particularly with the C-TUG cart & sand-wheels - even my wife was quite happy single handedly pulling it up and over little humpback-bridges on her own! Lugging the 550 in & out the back of the car was more comfortable as a 2 person carry, though the lighter weight of the 450 should make it doable for 1 person. Strongly recommend getting a 2-stage battery pump (we opted for the Bravo and have used it both from the car 12V point and a portable SUAOKI 600A Car Jump Starter Battery 18000mAh from Amazon) for ease of inflation.
Will post a couple of pics in due course and a longer review once I've spent more time with the SF, but overall I would certainly be happy to recommend. Would also encourage you to speak to Ian Thomson at Nestaway - the unique design and getting it into manufacture is down to him, and he is very knowledgeable and generous with his experience!
Let us know what you decide...