Mojo

Pros:
Stability, tracking, carry handles. The stability and tracking on this kayak are amazing. I can stand up on the kayak paddling with a SUP paddle and even handle boat wakes passing in the intracoastal waterway.

Cons:
Sluggish, heavy. The kayak doesn't seem to want to move. It is slow to get moving, and then doesn't glide well if you want to take a break to grab a drink of water. If you want this kayak to move, you have to keep paddling the whole time. It is also on the heavy side for car topping. The carry handles help with loading the kayak, but there are kayaks out there that are much lighter and easier to load.

Bottome line: this kayak is a stable fishing platform. If that is what you are looking for, then this might be the boat for you. My friend has one and loves it, but it's not for me.

My "baptism" for the Mojo was (after a basic test paddle at the launch site) to load up my 8 year old daughter in the tank well with a 5 gallon bucket and have us paddle from the Oregon side of the Columbia River over to Government Island (near I-205) and pick blackberries. The boat performed very admirably! My daughter's 55 lbs was not an issue to the boat's stability or handling. The boat has decent primary stability, and excellent secondary stability. I can stand up in the cockpit area without too much of a problem, and my daughter was able to stand up in the tank well without throwing the boar over. You can also sit sideways with your feet in the water and it's stable. It's a decent fishing platform, if you are so inclined. Sitting, you can tip it over IF you lean WAY WAY over, but you will not go over accidentally with this boat.

Loaded with me and my daughter, I was able to maintain a 3 knot speed over to the island, so it's not fast, but that's still pretty good for a 12 ft boat. It tracks well, and turns well with sweep strokes as well as lean turns. With the boat empty (except for me in the cockpit), I was able to short sprint it up to 4 knots, but at that point it starts to plane and won't go any faster. It's "fast cruising" speed is about 3.5 knots. The Columbia does have a current that runs about .5 knot to 1 knot in this area, and there are spots where the water gets funny, but the Mojo handled it with no problem. It's a VERY predictable handling little boat.

The Mojo is a bit noisy while paddling. Because it's short and fat, it does push some water at the bow and you can hear it splashing, but not as much as other SOT or recreational kayaks I've paddled, and about the same as others. But, it's very compliant and predictable and has no funny quirks about it, so it's perfect for what I will use it for. The grab loops are functional and strong, and the front hatch stayed dry. The only thing I wasn't too happy about was that water would occasionally wash up through the scuppers in the seat. Not a problem on an 80º day, but I will be getting some stoppers for the seat scuppers to take care of that for when the water gets colder.

So, if you're in the market for a stable, predictable handling boat that is fast for it's length, can carry a decent amount of weight and is one person car top-able, the Mojo is a boat to consider. I think the best recommendation I can give it is that I'm used to very fast, narrow, high performance sea kayaks, and when paddling the Mojo, I didn't feel like I was paddling a barge. It's a fun little boat that is good for beginners and won't drive an experienced paddler crazy.

The Mojo handles well although it tracks so true it doesn't like to turn. I mean it TRACKS! Straight as an arrow! It totally wants to go go go . The only time I was wondering why it was strange paddling was because the Mojo was going so much faster than I thought I was hardly able to keep up. It is scary spending a lot of money on your first kayak. Especially with so little experience. But I have few bad things to say about this little boat. I am certainly glad I bought it. I also bought the Emotion carbon fiber handled paddle and it is nice too.

Pros - quiet, cruises well against the current, lots of leg room, stable at 1½ft waves, high side walls and seat that keeps most waves out, adjustable foot pedals, lots of storage room.
Cons - no draining from the seat and the far rear section of the rear cargo area (they both hold about one glass of water each).

The cockpit is wide enough, I can sit Indian style (which I like to do) and give my legs a break. When we got back to the dock I pulled up along side and wondered if I could stand up in the yak to step out onto the dock. So, I grabbed hold of the dock post and stood up! I never felt like this kayak was going to tip even standing. This cinched it for me. I gave up my search for a used kayak and bought this one on the spot.