Cayman

This weekend I rented a Cayman for an hour and paddled it on Lake Mineral Wells for an hour--SSE wind of 20 mpg, gusting to 30. The boat ramp is at the south end of the lake. I chose the Cayman as it was the fastest kayak they had, and I liked the look of its bow--quite fine for a plastic kayak.

I am 5'8" and 225, and it fit me well. My legs are short enough the footpegs fit well, and it had the optional seat which was very comfortable. Ten minutes into the trip, the whitecaps started, and it was great fun surfing the waves. Twenty minutes into the trip I ducked into a quiet bay out of the wind. I then headed south into the wind back to the ramp. For 20 minutes I worked very hard for almost no gain, perhaps one mile an hour. If I had not had to be back in one hour, I would have just stayed out and played. Halfway back, the waves reduced to non-whitecap status, and I was able to increase to 3 or 4 mph.

The complaints I have are minor, with the largest being how wet the ride was, but one should expect that in a SOT. If I could find a kayak 2 feet longer and 2 inched narrower, one would have much more speed and not much less stability. I am seriously considering an RTM Disco, affordable and fast. But for a 12'6" kayak, the Cayman was fine and I would buy one as a backup if the price is right. If one has trouble tracking in this kayak, consider your paddling style rather than blaming the kayak.

I live, work, and play in around the coastal waters of sc. I've been kayaking now for almost 10 yrs and love to surf! My first boat was a perception "kahuna", man what a boat. Very unstable so you had to learn to really control the craft and how to move with her. I put many. many miles on that boat. About 2 or 3 years ago it was stolen from my backyard. I used my wifes boat for a while a Perception swing and it was alright but just not my kahuna.

I looked around for another boat looked to Perception and didn't like what I saw, looked at Islander boats, but just didn't like the shape, lack of room, and the flatness of the boat. I also looked at cobra, but didn't like all the hatches, my kahuna had alot of hatches and did they leak!

I was just looking and found my cayman, this was the first boat that I found that I felt comfortable with look wise, shape, depth, and storage. The guy at the shop couldn't give me alot of info so I bought it. I like the boat I paddle the open ocean on a regular basis as well as surf when it's good and have even done some flat water paddling and didn't have any problems. Over all I like the boat I bought. I know this may sound alittle silly but the color is really cool as well.

If your 6 ' or over forget it, lousy leg room, second Dagger boat. Tracks poorly just like my old Edisto. sold both. Go for the Islander Moku or Wildersness System Ride both great boats

Just bought a Cayman based on the reviews on this site. I found the reviews accurate! Stable kayak, lots of storage and fast for a sit on top. This kayak turns easily as well! I am happy!

Great all around kayak. Great stability and tracking. The storage areas are great. Throw a cooler on the back and dry gear in the front.

A reasonable plastic sit-on-top. Easy to turn but its rounded bow makes it a bit mushy doing so. Quite stable and easy to handle. The very low tankwell cutout at the back introduces a lot of water on the deck. Closing this end up a bit would be a big improvement. It paddles easily if a bit slow, even for a sit-on-top.