After 17 and half weeks in transit I am now finally part of the glass family with a new Stealth Profisha 475. There's a couple cosmetic defects but overall very happy with the outcome. Seems the profisha has put on some weight though with the addition of the transducer recess as it weighs in at around 28kg.

I won't be able to get in it for a week so it's gone to see Eoin to get the final touches put on it and then ready to go which I can't wait.

Would like to say thanks to Eoin and Cheater for all the advice youve given on everything glass and paddles and look forward to getting out at some point.

Craig

Nice ski mate, start the countdown to SWR 2023

Seasherpa wrote: ↑22 Mar 2022, 21:46 Nice ski mate, start the countdown to SWR 2023

I better start putting in the groundwork to SWMBO

Looks like a kayak only skinnier But congrats.

Can you mount it onto the roof by yourself? I have changed cars and it is not as easy any more. I am working on it.

happyas wrote: ↑26 Mar 2022, 15:22 Can you mount it onto the roof by yourself? I have changed cars and it is not as easy any more. I am working on it.

I have a rhino rack universal side loader from lifting my previous kayak so I've been using this to help with supporting the front whilst I maneuver it onto the roof. It is heavy but manageable lifting on shoulder and onto roof.Not sure whether I would be able to do it this way after a big paddle though. I'll probably go back to the old method of lifting 1 end at a time for the interim as I'm also recovering from a shoulder injury. I've also changed from cradles to a lockrack system and this does help as you don't need to lift over cradles.

I have the yakima racknroll. It is still a learning curve. I lift one end at a time. Stern first so I don't drag the rudder in the dirt.

I was lifting my last kayak of 38kg for the last 2.5yrs using this method and it took a while to figure out what was the best way to lift it and without scratching the side of the car. The biggest issue I had with it was with the wheel in the keel so I always had to lift the stern onto the car first. I also found it a pain to lift over then into the cradles. Eventually I found the best way to protect the side of car but wasn't the most efficient way. The stealth being 10kg lighter almost feels like a dream to lift it this way but i still have some fine tuning to do given that it's bit more fragile than a plastic bath tub

Finally got the chance to take out the stealth this morning for the first time and what a difference it is from my previous plastic kayak. I haven't been out for a paddle for 3 months due to hectic home life and ongoing shoulder injury so fitness is none existent but it was more about getting out and testing it. I paddled out of mordi over to ricketts so ended up doing 8km in total so not a bad effort considering the lack of fitness.

I really enjoyed the paddle, could achieve 5.5-6km/h with little effort which was encouraging considering my current condition and got a top speed of 9km/h.

Stability felt great, I was expecting it to be really twitchy coming from plastic but never experienced it. It definitely rolls quick but never felt I was going to fall out. Deep re-entries were straight forward, water felt cold early this morning though . The Braca Hurricane paddle felt amazing.

Overall, I'm very happy with the stealth, it's definitely worked some muscle groups that haven't done much for a while (lower back and core) so suffering a bit now but that will only improve over time. Shoulder felt great paddling even though its still sore to lift above the head. Plan now is to get the fitness up over winter and be ready for the offshore trips next year.

Safe to say, the plastic bath tub days are over

Would have been a cracking day for a paddle Craig.
Glad the new beast is riding nicely and you are overcoming your injuries.