Squamish

Last year I purchased a used and very light 2005 Current Designs (CD) Squamish. Most Squamish kayaks are rotomolded, but this kayak is a very rare and much lighter composite. The seller thought it was carbon fiber, while CD says it is aramid/fiberglass. If aramid, the hull interior doesn’t look like any Kevlar hull I’ve seen. Whatever. The specifications are

• length 15’ 8” width 23” depth 12.5”
• weight 38.5 pounds!
• coaming 29” by 16”
• bow and stern hatches, no day hatch
• fish form, soft chine, shallow V
• mango deck, white hull
• paddler size small to medium

A review typically depends on the reviewer’s size, experience, etc. I am 140 pounds (naked, which you don’t want to see), 5’ 5” in height, and over 80 years old. I would probably be considered an intermediate paddler, having kayaked for 16 years and been a BWCA canoe lad in my teens and early twenties. I paddle about 40 day trips per year, mostly on my home lake (110 miles around the periphery) and in the waters off Vancouver Island on usually two trips per season.

Of my 3 composite kayaks, the Squamish is the shortest, fattest, and slowest; but not by much. However, it is by far the lightest, extremely important for this small old guy. Other reviewers here have indicated that the Squamish weather cocks readily. Maybe my hull is different, but the weather cocking seems non existent. However, I avoid high winds these days and have only been out in winds up to about 8 knots. It tracks well and is maneuverable.

The rear hatch, despite the skeg box, easily holds my C-Tug cart. I can readily get the kayak onto and off of my Thule Hullavator. I have made these minor modifications to the Squamish:

• a keel strip via Keel Eazy
• a paddle holder via two open cleats (in the Broze Brothers style)
• a stainless steel pad eye on the bow deck
• under fore deck storage for the manual bilge pump
• a cord hanging down from the skeg blade to have a companion free the blade if stuck when far from shore

A practice rescue session resulted in significant water in both hatches. It was enough water that it could not just be coming in the hatches. Clearly water was leaking from the cockpit into the hatches. Sealing the hatch perimeters with Lexel seemed to fix the problem.

I have two other very nice fiberglass kayaks, a CD Slipstream and a Valley 17.3 Etain. Both are faster than the Squamish and both weathercock somewhat. However, because of its light weight and refusal to weathercock, the Squamish will be the keeper among those three (as old age begins to shut down my kayaking career).

This new to me kayak, 2006 Squamish, has more experience than I do. The excursion that I have been planning and training for is from Stokes Bay south to Sarnia. Training has been mostly a flat 1km circuit at the edge of a 5 ft deep river pond. The kayak was slightly undersized for my 210 lbs, but slowly the goal of 175 is approaching.

I have an older model of this boat that I bought used; it is my first kayak and I think it was a good choice. My paddling so far has been day trips including ocean, lakes and large rivers. The boat tracks decently but is quite responsive when edged. I feel quite stable in it, which has helped my confidence when working on skills. I appreciate the lower rear deck when practicing re-entries; having a skeg rather than a rudder is also helpful there since there's nothing sticking up to be in the way. On that note, I did take out the original seat back after realizing that it had an annoying tendency to flip down and end up underneath me when re-entering or getting in quickly for a launch; I replaced it with a back band that eliminated that issue. Not sure if the newer models have that same seat back or not. Now for the cons: I find myself wishing it had a day hatch so I wouldn't have to put things in the cockpit to have them readily accessible on the water. It's also probably a little wider than ideal for me (5' 3", 115 lbs, long legs/short torso) which may be part of the reason it is taking me a while to get my roll. According to Current Designs it is supposed to fit "small to medium" paddlers but I may be on the smaller end of that.

Great kayak for small built person.. handles nice in fast flowing rivers and does good in lakes. The skeg helps with tracking on open water. There are two hatches which hold enough gear for a week or more. The hatch covers are a little tricky in getting them completely on. Make sure you spend time pushing them on.

I use this in the Yellowstone River which has a lot of tricky water. Very stable and good beginner boat or for younger, smaller built people or petite women.

Great boat. Good initial and secondary stability. Very nimble, easy to manuever. Tracks well w/o using the skeg. The trade off is that it has lower profile so there is not much room for gear.

In SE Texas where sit-on-tops are the norm for paddlers, performance touring boats are hard to find. While the Squamish wasn't my first choice, it was only kayak from Houston to Louisiana that fit my pocketbook and paddling preferences -- so I purchased after a test fit in the showroom and no demo paddle!

After paddling the Squamish the past two years from calm lakes to slight bay swells, I have been very pleased with my choice. It's light enough to load easily, long enough to track efficiently -- especially into the wind with the skeg down, and narrow enough for good speed and handling. No problem with weather cocking - my old Perception Spectrum was notorious for that. It's cargo capacity is smaller than the Spectrum (so I still use the Spectrum for overnight river trips).

I removed the thigh brace for a more comfortable fit -- I am 5'9"; 165 lbs. Most of my paddling is day trips on local creeks and rivers so the Squamish is an excellent choice; turning is easy, especially with slight edging. But I have no problem taking it into bigger water and bays. It handles swells up to 2 ft with ease and enjoyment -- especially running with the wind and "surfing" waves.

A review of the plastic Squamish.
First, a few points. I see ratings of 10 on this board quite a bit, but wonder how a boat - any boat - can rate a 10? How can a long kayak with great tracking but slow turning rate a 10? Conversely, of course, how can a short, heavily-rockered craft with limited tracking ability receive a perfect score after trying to cross frontally-diagonal a wind-chopped large body of water? NO kayak can be PERFECT in all conditions. Therefore trade-offs must be taken into consideration. I paddle Lake St. Clair - the sixth Great Lake - almost exclusively and am able at all times - with just a few strokes of the paddle - to go from traditional open water sea-kayaking to punting around deadheads and cattail islands chasing swans through miles of marshland.

Can a boat like the absolutely beautiful Seaward Endeavor respond well to this dichotomy? Or, how about a Perception Avatar? Neither will rate a 10 during these combination paddles. Now, if I owned both of the just-mentioned boats, they would each rate very high using them for each specialty-paddle. Still, each boat could only rate a 10 on some of the trips, maybe most... but certainly not every paddle. A kayak can rate a 10 in certain categories, but fall short in others. And, a 10 for a short heavy-set person, might be a 2 for a tall slender paddler each in the same boat.

After MUCH searching I made a compromise and chose the Current Designs Squamish. It wasn't originally the boat I wanted, but it has - for me - the best trade-off of features to suit my main paddling aspect. It doesn't carry much, but I don't need it to. It doesn't have a day hatch, so capacity rates a 6. It's plastic - not the fiberglass I'd prefer, so maybe a 7 for efficiency (compared to a composite boat). BUT, because it's plastic, it cost a full ONE-THIRD LESS than the composite boat I've had my eyes on - a 10 all the way! Being plastic, it will take lots of abuse, but screws and weak points in the plastic may have me chasing problems in the future - 7. It tracks okay, the skeg bringing tracking up to an 8. It turns readily - 8. It's a good-looking craft (based on my preferences, though), but I really wanted a boat with great finish and color. But I also realize the safety-enhancing faculties of an all-brightly-colored kayak. My Squamish is mango. Not as bright as yellow, but better looking I thought - a final aesthetic rating of 8. Design of any kayak rates a 10 using the parameters it was laid out to on the drawing board, so is superseded by build. My Squamish seems to be all in order, skeg works, hatches stay down, foot pegs work, seat is padded, etc. - a 9. Although most of us can lift 54 lbs. over our heads, a long package like a kayak makes it more difficult. I can just car-top the Squamish onto my Grand Cherokee by myself - 8. Add all these up and I give MY Squamish a final rating of about 7.5 - 8.

Using a formula of comparison and objective trade-offs would, in my opinion, render ANY kayak about the same. The largest ratings fall-off would be low-quality craftsmanship or using a boat contrary to its designed intended performance. Fit of kayak to body size and build is probably the largest ratings enhancement.

I must add - to help qualify any objective consideration - my body size. 5'8" 130 lbs., above-average fit and conditioning. I also have a kayakers dream build - short legs and tall torso, which allows me many more choices in kayaks than a lot of people. Almost any kayak fits me on the water. On shore, I'd need help with a boat bigger and heavier than the Squamish.

Squamish HV Fiberglass. At 46 lbs, it is very easy to car-top. The flush hatch covers are much easier to deal with than the usual round rubber ones. I haven't seen any water at all in the hatches so far. The skeg slider bar works great; the skeg stays in the position you put it. I also tried a CD Slipstream, and the Squamish is a lot less tippy. I am 5' 10" and I weigh 167 lbs, and this kayak is a perfect fit. I sat in an Impex Montauk, and my feet (size 10-1/2) were too big. The Squamish has plenty of foot room. It seems pretty efficient; I was able to paddle over 9 miles upstream recently. It turns easier than a Swift Caspian Sea I tried. With a 23" beam, I now use a shorter 210CM paddle, and it's just right. I was surprised to see that the bulkheads are plastic, not fiberglass, but it's not a problem. There is no security cleat or security bar. You have to run your lock cable around the seat area. The perimeter deck rigging has reflective patterns; a nice touch. Before buying this HV version, I rented a plastic Squamish for a day. I found that the HV one floats me a little higher above the waterline, so that I can rest my paddle on the coaming, with the blade vertical, and the blade still clears the water by an inch or so. I highly recommend the Squamish HV.

For a beginner/smaller kayaker this kayak is great. I've paddled up to 12 kayaks of all different sizes trying to figure out which kayak would fit me and the squamish squashes the competition. I'm 5'1 and weigh 127 and a slightly moderate beginner kayaker. I've set out on day trips as if I was a pro and even kept up with the big boys. Very responsive to turns and rarely needed the skeg down for tracking. This kayak will definately last me a lifetime and in hopes I'll be able to move up to the kevlar model of the sqamish. Thumbs up Current Design on the squamish, you have my 10.

This boat fits a niche that has up to now been open in the Current Designs fleet. There are boats for beginners that fit smaller kayakers and boats for experienced kayakers that fit grown men, but few boats out there for the experienced kayaker who also happens to be small. I am 5'5" and 115lbs and this boat fits me perfectly. I have paddled larger boats that have made me feel as if I was driving a really large vehicle like a minivan or SUV. This boat feels more like a sports car. Plus, this boat is fast! I went from paddling my old Perception Prism sit-on-top and trying to keep up with a Caribou S to paddling the Squamish and now everyone has to keep up with me! This has been real confidence booster for me and now I look forward to paddling much more than I used to. I am also a big fan of the skeg on this boat instead of the rudder that usually accompanies plastic boats of this size. However, unless the waves pick up, I've found that I rarely need it. This boat tracks really well in fair weather, but will weathercock in strong wind even with the skeg down; that’s the trade off for ease of turning.

This boat does not have a lot of storage room for long trips, but has plenty of room for an overnight or weekend trip. For longer trips, you might need to either pack light, or share the load with another kayaker that has more room. But if the bulk of the paddling that you do is day trips or weekends you will have no problem with storage in this boat.

Another issue with this boat is the toggles/handles on the ends. They are attached so that they can hang down under the boat. It actually makes portaging much easier but it may get on your nerves to have them banging into the hull with every wave. It's not hard to fix with a little modification though.

I have also seen another review claiming that the stern hatch seeped water, but I have not had that problem. The hatches are sometimes hard to open and close, but it gets easier with use (and a little armor-all).

All in all, this is a great light touring boat for the experienced smaller kayaker that doesn't want/need the extra storage room of a larger touring boat.