Fathom

Gorgeous, well-made boat! I owned one a couple of years ago and sadly had to give up paddling totally so I sold it. My only gripe was the seat; I found it terribly uncomfortable. At the end of the time I owned it I could only stay in the seat for about an hour at a time before having to get out and take a break from the boat/paddling. (I had always owned Wilderness Systems kayaks prior, and I guess was just too "spoiled" by their great seats.)

I purchased an Eddyline Fathom 7 years ago when I first started kayaking (primarily for exercise). The boat is sleek, stable, and easy to maneuver. I spend most of my time on flat water, but have taken it out on very rough days on a large busy lake (rough chop and boat wakes) and feel very secure. Plus it is very tough and well-made.. No regrets!

Wonderful! I love it! Elegant, easy to manoeuvre.

I have a Current Designs Extreme kevlar that I like very well and have also owned a Dagger Cortez kevlar model. I could get a little more top speed out of both of those but I honestly am digging the overall performance and comfort of the Fathom. The Cortez was very rudder dependent and very tipsy ( no keel line but equates into more speed ) and the Exteme is a great kayak but a very small cockpit and you are reminded of that when getting in and out or trying a wet entry. I find that the Fathom is a good mix of the both. Surprisingly stable on initial stability and I'm liking the hard chined hull for lean turns and sweeps. The third bulkhead day hatch is simply awesome to have and the cockpit size is almost identical to the Cortez very easy to in and out or plunk down and then draw your feet in. I paddle quite frequently in a nearby river and when they're releasing water to generate electricity the current can be quite strong. Very happy with how this kayak goes upstream. I can probably go just a touch faster in my Exteme ( more rounded hull design and 2 1/2 more feet longer and half inch less beam ) but the comfort and features of the Fathom are better especially the cockpit and day hatch. Mine has a backband which I personally prefer. Bottom line is great job Eddyline! Oh the not having to worry as much about damage to the bottom like a fiberglass or kevlar model is a bonus also. Tip for whomever. When unloading/loading or taking a break on a concrete ramp just lay your kayak down on your vest and skirt until picking up and placing it in the water. Or carry a beach towel in the hatch. Bottom line is I think this is a great kayak. A kevlar or fiberglass model does feel a little stiffer to me but it's close. And way less expensive than a kevlar kayak if you're purchasing new. It's a keeper!

I have owned my Fathom for nearly a year now. I paddle several times each week from ice-out to freeze-up, usually March thru December, with some pool time in the winter. I am 67 years old, have been paddling for over 50 years but since I live in the flatlands most of my paddling is in pretty calm water so I consider my skill level as only intermediate.
I am 6'4" and 200 pounds and the Fathom is a good fit for me. I paddle with the adjustable seat all the way back to best fit under the thigh braces but there is several inches of adjustment to the foot braces forward and back for anyone who wanted the seat further ahead or for anyone shorter. Best of all there is plenty of toe room as long as I choose my footwear wisely - thick soled shoes, boots, or sandals will hit the underside of the deck. I wear mesh water shoes in warm weather and neoprene booties in cold weather.
I usually enter the kayak by sitting on the rear deck and sliding into the cockpit but the cockpit on the Fathom is large enough so that, with the seat all the way back, I can get my feet and legs in or out from a seated position in the cockpit, which is handy sometimes in rescue or re-entry situations.
The kayak weighs 50 pounds, just as advertised. The hatch covers open and close easily and keep the water out during rolling and rescue practice. All the rigging and fittings are good quality and well designed with a couple of exceptions which I will address later.
Performance - this kayak is my go-to kayak (I have a total of nine kayaks). The Fathom has great stability, both initial and secondary. I have had it out in conditions from dead calm to 25 mph winds and it never made me feel like it was even close to going over. It does an edged turn easily and is easy to keep on edge. The skeg keeps it tracking straight no matter the wind or wave conditions. I have found that I use the skeg in all but dead calm conditions to keep a straight course with out any other corrections but it doesn't seem that the skeg adds any noticeable drag to the kayak.
'Fast' is a relative term and although the Eddyline website and many reviewers claim it is a fast kayak I don't find it any faster than any of my other touring kayaks. It seems my basic sustained speed is around 4 mph in almost any kayak of decent design - maybe it's a paddling technique issue and not a kayak issue.
I only have a few issues that are negatives to me.
1. The seat bottom is very comfortable but the backband has a hard ridge all the way around it instead of padding on the edges that made if very uncomfortable for me, especially when doing roll practice. After numerous attempts to adjust it I finally removed and replaced it with a block of foam that just supports my spine. That also eliminated the nuisance of the seat back folding forward when doing re-enty from the rear deck.
2. The plastic tube that the skeg cable runs in came loose from the control box in the cockpit. I haven't been able to get it re-installed successfully - it doesn't seem to effect the function of the skeg other than that it allowed some flex to the cable.
3. Besides the added flex to the skeg cable that was caused by the loose fitting it seemed that the cable was not supported at enough places along its routing to the skeg box. This allowed even more flex to the cable. The flex limited the straight line push from the control knob to the skeg box that is needed for positive skeg control. This was improved by using some high quality duct tape to secure the cable tube to the inside of the hull. A couple extra factory attachments would be a big improvement .
Overall this is a great kayak and if it were ever stolen or seriously damaged I would by another in a heartbeat.

I have paddled lots of different canoes, kayaks over the years and usually paddle weekly. I rented an Eddyline Fathom a couple times over the last couple of years to try out sea kayaks to see if the hype is warranted. I usually paddle a 14'0, 29" sit on top kayak of decent performance.

I was worried about feeling uncomfortable on a long paddle. The Fathom was definitely a tight squeeze for me at 6' and 200 lbs but I managed to fit inside like slipping on a shoe and I had enough room and comfort to be just fine. If you're much larger then this isn't the boat for you.(try the larger cockpit of the Denali by Eddyline)

The performance was outstanding even through wind and white cap chop. It's very fast paddling with nice glide. It was predictably stable at rest and very stable paddling at speed and carved turns very well with a very nice deep secondary stability. It tracked great even without the skeg and definitely felt 1-2mph faster without the skeg deployed. The weight was ok and I managed to carry it myself over short distances to /from the water. The fit/finish is top notch. The seat is comfy and adjustable. The price is on the higher end but it's less expensive than fiberglass/carbon and more durable than heavier poly boats.

If I was in the market for a sea kayak this would be a big contender. Great job Eddyline!"

Love the boat! It tracks beautifully and the hard chine cuts through the water and waves. The skeg is helpful in heavy weather but otherwise it paddles straight without deploying it. The seat and back are very comfortable. The 3 hatches are roomy and seal well but keep them lubricated with 303 Aerospace Protectant. Without it they are difficult to close completely. The downside is the deck height and shape. The boat sits high compared to sea kayaks. The height makes it hard to reenter from the water. Plus the combination of the rounded shape of the rear deck, the height and the lack of perimeter lines on both sides make it hard to use a paddle float. Do your push ups every day and you will be OK.

I just love this boat! Fast and easy to paddle with plenty of room for a week of kayak camping. Comfortable to lean and carve turns but tracks very straight with the built in skeg down. Very large day hatch within easy reach while paddling. We built a sail for this and it really flies downwind.

Not affected much by wind. I have paddled the phantom in ocean surf and on many flat water trips. After paddling some shorter wider boats, this one is highly recommended for paddlers with some experience. It's so fun to glide along other paddlers working to keep up with the easy strokes it takes to move this boat along.

Whenever I paddle with a very experienced friend he makes two comments about my Eddyline Fathom. First it is the prettiest kayak he has ever seen and second a Fathom saved his butt when he and his son (a professional kayaker) got caught in the wrong place and time in a bad tidal rip the San Juan Islands. I have been paddling a Fathom for four or five years now so it is about time to submit a review.

The Fathom is one of the best general purpose touring kayaks available. It may not be best at any one thing but provides a great compromise at doing everything very well. At 16'6" it is a big enough boat to handle most conditions yet is a bit lighter and easier to maneuver both on and off the water than you might expect. It has a modest rocker that provides a compromise between tracking and turning with an effective skeg should it be needed. Hard chined, it has good primary and very solid secondary stability and edges well.

The bow appears to be a bit narrower than some equivalent sea kayaks and 4 foot waves will often result in water breaking over the front hatch. This is not an issue but compared to the Valley boats that are favored my many of our group it does seem to cut a bit deeper into oncoming waves. That being said I have yet to find any water I feel threatened by when paddling this boat. It has a lot of storage and has served me well on 7 day trips even when I had had to carry all my water. I am not a racer but some of my racer friends have borrowed the Fathom and speak very well of its speed.

I am a real fan of the Eddyline Carbonlite 2000 thermoform plastic technology. At less than 50 lbs. the boat compares well with fiberglass. It has the clean lines of a composite boat but banging it on rocks, running over oyster beds, and landing on cement ramps does no more damage than to a rotomold. Yes you can crack TF boats. A couple years ago I lost a Fathom off the roof of my car at 70 mph in 10 degree weather when one of the towers of my Yakima rack failed. If you hit TF plastic hard enough under extreme cold it will break and I punched a big section out of the bow. That being said, I replaced it with another Fathom.

Is the boat perfect? Of course not, there is no such thing. The original Fathom has a very high front deck. At 6'3" and 190 lbs, I like that a lot. The high deck lets me get my size 11s with 35" inseams inside without bending my knees backwards. But even I bump the deck occasionally when I paddle if I clip a water bottle there. I sit fairly deep in the boat which for my size works fine, but I need some padding to optimize boat control. There is a low volume (LV) model that might be a bit better for folks that are less longitudinally endowed.

I personally have had problems with the new adjustable seat that Eddyline put into production in that it seemed impossible for my legs to not fall asleep in 15 minutes. I have never met anyone else with this problem. My boat has a custom seat from Redfish Kayak that is perfect for me (and probably cuts 5 pounds off the weight).

I have over the years owned a bunch of kayaks and am in the process these days of scuttling part of the armada. If I ever get back to a single sea kayak, it would be the Fathom.

Once we figured out that we wanted an ABS boat (fairly light, scratch-resistant, not so expensive, holds up to UV) this was the first one that we paddled, so it's our benchmark. We bought ours in Seattle, but it's lived near Loreto, Baja California Sur, for eight months now and has seen some medium-sized chop and some daunting wind. I guess mostly I'll just second the remarks that other people have made, but I do have a couple of observations of my own.

I was always comfortable in the demo Fathom at Alki Kayak Tours, so when we ordered ours I asked for the back band like the one they have. Ours arrived with the fore-and-aft adjustable secretary-chair-style seat that has become popular. Though Eddyline still claims to offer both I was unable to exchange mine, and though it's okay it's never felt quite as good. Their clever seat-mounted paddle float might take care of this but I haven't sprung for that yet. Make sure you know what you're getting.

Comfort was indeed the big issue for us -- we're no longer young and we're both fairly tall, and the Fathom's seating position permits us to accommodate some physical problems. The high foredeck allows knees to be bent and kept relatively close together. There's plenty of room for feet and even some footgear. It may just be my imagination, but this "campfire" posture feels different to me when edging -- make sure you like it. I am a lower-angle paddler than I used to be and I find that I have to keep the foredeck clear to avoid conflicts. Eddyline is thought to have some whitewater in their DNA.

The rear hatch leaked a bit when we first got the boat, but apparently the skeg bolt hadn't been tightened properly and that took care of it. All our hatches have been dry since. The covers require strength and precision to close but the seal is very positive. As with many other things, getting them hot and wet helps a lot. The day hatch is difficult to open and especially to close under way, and it is not easy to tell whether it is completely sealed. Its volume seems just right to me though. The other hatches are best suited for long, narrow items; we make up for this by having another boat with big hatches!

The Fathom has a more mechanical sort of ambiance to it than our other boat. The skeg is operated by a stiff cable that pushes and pulls through a full-length housing, giving it a very positive action. The fore and aft toggles are located some distance from the ends of the boat, and bungee-tightened to keep them from flopping around; very clever, but not so useful if you need to swim your boat. Our other boat has a similar footpeg system, but does not need big round screw-heads on the outside of the hull near the waterline.

One thing about ABS as a deck material, it seems not to want to have big flat or simply-curved expanses. Our other kayak has what looks like drainage channels molded into its decks, probably to stiffen them. The Fathom instead has a kind of embossed pattern, echoing the brightwork you might find on a cabin cruiser; that is, it's an "outie" rather than an "innie."

Functionally, though, there's not a thing wrong with this boat. We got ours in white (one of the first things that attracted me about the pictures) but they now offer a sort of metalflake blue, possibly to compete with Delta. We did in fact get a Delta 16 too, for a little variety. But not before we were sure it worked as well as the Fathom.

I am writing this review based on a relative lack of experience. Some of you out there have paddled many boats and have plenty of experience, the Fathom is actually my first sea kayak. I upgraded from a tandem perception. So I cannot offer the in depth comparisons that I read about this boat (which was a large part of why I bought it) Initially we were looking at getting into sea kayaking as both of us are avid backpackers and have backpacked the back woods of Michigan, and thought it would be fun to try all of our trips (Pictured Rocks, Manitou Islands, Isle Royale etc.) by kayak. The determining factors for the boats were based on:
- All around Durability
- Features
- Customer Service
- Stability
- Weight
- Price

The three MAJOR deciding factors were price (we're poor college students), weight (multiple mile portages rule out an 85 pounds roto-barge) and customer service.

We decided that boats in the 45-55 pound range were what we were looking for, which immediately lead us to Hurricane Kayaks and their Tracer, after looking at a few of them and reading the reviews here at Paddling.net we both agreed that although they met most of the parameters, we read the customer service wasn't that great and getting replacement parts was difficult, and also that their lightweight boats were fairly fragile.

We decided that it would be best to take a trip outside our town to look at other dealers that carried brands we did not have here locally, this lead us to both the Perception Eclipse 17 Airalite and the Eddyline Fathom and the Eddyline Fathom LV.

The Perception compared to the Hurricane was much more robust and it appeared VERY durable, but sitting in it felt like I was sitting in decent fishing boat, the thing was HUGE. I also was not very impressed with the neoprene deck covers, too complicated with too much to go wrong. The other downside with the perception was the foam bulkheads, I had the foam in my last Perception and I am not that big of a fan.

This lead us to the Fathoms, gorgeous boats the fit and finish were great, they had the hard chined hull instead of the soft chine that the other two had, and also both had a model that would fit both of us (the Fathom for me, and the Fathom LV for her). The weight was on par with 50 pounds for the Fathom and 47 for the LV and the lengths of 16.5 and 15.5 didn’t make me feel like I was paddling a barge.

We spent a good deal of time talking to a guy named Josh at The Outfitter of Harbor Springs and he gave us the rundown of the company as it compared to others, and how Eddyline had lead the industry in thermoforming . I mentioned that we had compared the three boats and he said that the Eddylines were far more durable and the customer service was 100 times better. He mentioned that if we lost a hatch cover he could have a replacement here in a day.

Although both of the boats were significantly over our budget we both felt we were getting a better product for the money and felt confident with our purchase.

Coming from my backpacking background, obviously I have had some run ins with companies who’s products had failed and their customer service departments had made all the difference. Companies like Mountain Hardwear, I snapped a pole on one of their tents and needed a replacement for another trip less than a week away, so MH overnighted me a whole new set of poles free of charge. Companies like that are the companies that I feel confident doing business with.

Upon getting the boats home, we logged onto Eddyline’s website to register our boats. About an hour later we got an E-mail from Lisa Derrer (The Derrers founded and own Eddyline) welcoming us to the family. Later in the week a mysterious package came in the mail from Eddyline, It was two free hats and a postcard that was hand signed by every individual person that had built each boat.

Its not often that you get contact from the owner of the company, and even more rare to see a company take the steps reach out to the customer when there is nothing wrong. Like I said before, I haven’t even had the chance to paddle the boat yet (water is all frozen in at the moment) and I am already thoroughly impressed with Eddyline as a company.

I’ve had the opportunity to demo the Eddyline Fathom on two extended occasions; in addition I’ve done a lot of comparative research across almost every similar make of boat on the market. The end result is that I ended up buying the Fathom, what you’ll find below is my opinion related to this boat and my needs. The first demo was on the Detroit River in mild conditions and 50 degree water and the second demo was on the White River in Indianapolis. On the White River I was able to compare the Fathom to the Nighthawk in mild moving water with eddies and ripples. I paddle primarily open water in the Great Lakes Region and also find myself on moving water quite often. I occasionally race my kayaks and participate in adventure races that involve paddling. I’m comfortable in most situations and would consider myself an advanced intermediate paddler.

For the price and features, I’ve found the Fathom to be a good value. When I decided to upgrade I was paddling a soft chine Perception Eclipse. I was looking for a boat with hard chines, a skeg, mid to high volume, 16-17 ft in length, something lighter than my 66-68 lb tug and something that could perform like a composite boat, but still take some abuse. The Eclipse is a good, fast, long distance hauler for a ton of gear, but I’ve found my needs don’t require hauling that much gear and the weight of the boat was wearing on me, especially during races. After researching thermoform boats and looking at the Perception, Hurricane and Eddyline boats, I narrowed the search to Eddyline after reading about the company and seeing the Fathom. The boat seemed to have everything I wanted in an upgrade, it had the hull features and skeg I was looking for, it weights between 50-52 lbs, is 16’6” in length, a 22” beam, has a day hatch and nice features like the retractable grab handles and a flat compass perch molded into the hull. You’ll pay more than a roto-molded boat, but not as much as a composite boat. The carbonlite material will put you closer in price to composite boats, but I believe you get similar performance capability without having to worry about your gel coat every time you land on the beach or near a rocky shoreline.

The review in Sea Kayaker Magazine featured smaller paddlers and a paddler that resembles my dimensions 6’2”, 210 lbs and the specs from Eddyline say that it's designed for both larger and smaller paddlers. I’d encourage anyone to demo it, but in my opinion the boat will feel large on anyone under 5’9”, and that is basically because of the high volume front deck. The rest of the boat fits the specs of a mid-volume boat except the area right in front of the cockpit. The low windage rear deck is clean and low to the water. My wife paddled it as well and she's 5'9" and considerably lighter than I and she looked like she was sitting in a pot-hole up to her chest. The high arch deck is designed well for a paddler with a vertical paddle stroke, smaller kayakers and paddlers with a horizontal stoke may have trouble with the deck height. The width for me is perfect at 22" and is a touch narrower than my Eclipse and is basically an inch narrower than similar length boats in its class. My current boat (perception eclipse) has a 14" depth to the front deck. The specs on the Fathom say 13.5" deck height. In my opinion there is a weird optical illusion between the Fathom and my Eclipse. The Fathom front deck appears higher and I think it's because of slightly shorter length than the Eclipse. On the Eclipse the front deck is stretched out a bit. I think Eddyline did a good job angling the deck so it shouldn't interfere with your stroke. The inside knee bracing is well padded and you feel locked in. The food pegs, back band and seat padding are comfortable and easily adjustable. My current boat pegs are attached to a rudder and can be squishy when I bear down or brace hard.

For the past 5 months I've researched hundreds of boats, compared specs and pricing and have eventually come to the conclusion for my weight and height, the height of the front and back decks are only off by an inch or less across every make and model of boat out there. I'm a bigger/taller guy so my weight and cargo puts me into higher volume boats. The fit of the cockpit is almost identical to that of my Eclipse, so that comparison put both boats neck and neck but everything I mentioned in this review puts the Fathom heads and tails above my current boat. I get my current fit and feel, but I pick up a ton of the features I'm looking for. At first it was weird for me because the cockpit feels like my old boat, but in the long run I gain everything else I want in a boat. The final tipping point for me comes down to two things: hull material and price point. For the price, I think you get a lot of boat from Eddyline. You get the performance characteristics of composite but the durability of plastic with their carbonlite material. Engineers reading this will probably disagree and pull out their slide rules and try to show that carbonlite flexes more than composite, but if you want to measure the results in microns, go ahead. For me the performance characteristics are almost non-distinguishable. The curve between roto-molded and the carbonlite is much greater than carbonlite to composite. The price for me comes in below composite and I don't have to worry too much about destroying the gel coat on rocks or beaches. The specs say this is a very maneuverable boat, but at my first demo, we weren't in conditions to really try this feature with 50 degree water on the Detroit River. At my second demo, I was really able to play with the maneuverability and was pleased with the results.

As I narrowed my search, I wanted to compare the Nighthawk and Fathom before I made my final decision and ultimately went with the Fathom. With the new release of the Fathom the word of the day at the second demo was from people wanting to compare the Fathom to the Nighthawk. Ultimately, the Fathom had the few extra bells and whistles people were looking for. Even though I'm on the lower end of the weight scale for the boat, I loved the control the hard chine’s offered. The Fathom tracked straight and fast, and I felt I could knock off a 90 degree turn if needed by edging the boat. My current boat has soft chines like the Nighthawk and after spending a second lengthy demo in both the Nighthawk and the Fathom, I enjoyed the performance handling of the Fathom. I was on a moving river with some ripples and I could put the Fathom on edge and without a stroke, knife across the current to another eddy. With the Nighthawk, I really had to work the paddle, like my current boat to keep it on edge and work my way across the river. I ended up making my way up river fairly easy to a low head dam/waterfall in the Fathom, I tried to do the same in the Nighthawk and I really had to work to get close to the same spot. For my size, the Nighthawk was snug but not uncomfortable. Several other demo participants similar to my size found the same thing and liked the extra volume of the Fathom. I still think I'll look into getting a Nighthawk for my second “buddy,” exercise and racing boat, but the Fathom will serve me well as my daily hauler / excursion boat. In comparison, the Nighthawk is a fast boat, but I felt the Fathom accelerated faster, easier and held its speed well. It might be the extra 6 inches in length and the hull configuration, but I would be curious to see how they would compare at race distances or a long-day haul. Any corrective strokes I made with the Fathom were instantly recognized by the boat (chines), where the Nighthawk needed some extra hip action and an occasional corrective stroke to keep me in line. These extra strokes and hip corrections can add up to a lot of extra effort over a long day. I'm more interested in saving my energy and putting it to good use going forward when racing or on excursions.

I’m curious to hear what others are saying and for now, I’m looking forward to growing with my new purchase. I wish we didn’t have to rate the boats when we post reviews, because almost everyone posts a 9 or 10. Each boat needs to fit the paddler in needs, fit and capability, for now I’ll give the Fathom an 8 with the hopes that in time it will be a 10 for me.

I used an Eddyline Fathom on Silver Lake and Coldwater Lake WA in October ‘06. I’m not a slight woman, 5’3” over 50 years of age and I have a history of back injury and surgery. This is a 16 foot thermoplastic kayak with a skeg. It has a two phase hard chine design. The boat was light, easy to paddle – fit well around my hips and the side of the boat did not get in the way of my paddling as my larger Necky Arluk IV often does. The cockpit has a good sized modified keyhole design and was easy to get in and out plus the thigh bracing fit really well. The foot braces were nice, firm, and comfortable if a bit difficult to adjust at first by hand – must be my short arm reach! The seat fit well but it would be nice to have a few more up and down adjustments in the backrest and more lower back support. The skeg was necessary most of the time to keep it tracking well – both into the wind and down wind. It felt like it had good initial and secondary stability – not tippy, I could turn on edge easily, dig for my lunch and watch wildlife with binoculars comfortably. It had three storage compartments – two large, one small – with rubber hatch covers. The small hatch cover was difficult to get entirely closed. It was a fun boat and I was able to keep up with the rest of the paddlers over two days.