haven't been able to find a…
haven't been able to find a ton of info on the Big Fish 108s so having just had my first morning on the water I thought I would give a review a shot.
Initial thoughts & setup:
This is a burly beast. It is both wide and tall but relatively short.
I am a husky guy about 5'6 the dimensions of the boat make it challenging to manhandle around by myself.
It is also very heavy. This makes it tough for my wife and I to move.
You will need a cart, because of how heavy it is this thing is not easy to move, even with a cart.
The boat seems well built though it has screws instead of rivets. The hook for the paddle keeper was held on by a sheet metal screw through thin plastic. I say was as it popped off within 45 seconds of being on the water.
There are also no instructions that come with the boat on setup. But it isn't rocket surgery.
PM me or post in this sub if you need setup help.
On the water performance:
This is my first pedal kayak so I don't have a whole lot to compare it to.
I was pleasantly surprised by the handling. It doesn't handle like the whale it looks like. It tracks well in both a head and tail wind, but you have to steer it. It won't travel in a straight line by itself.
There were a lot of wake boarding/wake surfing boats out today. The Big Fish handle the large wakes like a champ.
It is also no speed demon. It moves through the water just fine once you get momentum on your side, but the weight of the boat hinders acceleration.
I jumped out of the boat a few times and tried to get back into it. This was not easy due to the free board of the boat, but I could manage it. Someone in better shape would have an easier time of it.
This thing is very stable, I could stand up in it first time pretty easily.
There is more resistance in the drive itself than I was expecting. I was told that this will go away as the drive breaks in, but IDK.
The 8-ball drive works fine. At full right lock I scraped my knee on it a little, but not too big of a deal.
Concerns I have:
The drive is held in by thumb screws, these thumb screws drag across the mounting bar as the drive rotates when you drop and raise the drive. I would be concerned about this wearing out.
Things I flat out don't like:
The locking system for the drive. There is a lever you need to pull up to unlock the drive. The operation of this lever can be blocked by the arm of the pedal.
Depending on the orientation of the pedal arms you can get into a situation where you can't unlock the drive to lift it if the propeller is jammed.
With the propeller jammed you can't move the pedals.
Though I doubt this is unique to this pedal drive.
In summary this boat is a hoss. Because of the weight it suits itself more to the larger segment of the population. If you don't need the carrying capacity a smaller/lighter boat may suit you better.
