Marvel 12

To be my first kayaking experience. Amazing.... I'm sure there are some out there. That are better but I have no complaints at all. I use it for fishing. I've gone as far out as the jetties with it. But looking at the reviews. I'm not sure if I was supposed to be out there.

The 12' Marvel is a lovely boat, but check your seats folks. The first one I looked at in the store had one of the seat brackets mounted an inch or so out of line with the bracket on the other side of the boat. The result was a very skewed seat. On the one I bought, after about an hour out on the water, my butt was sitting in water. One of the bracket screws--which is winds up being below the water line--wasn't tight at all. Water leaking in a brand new kayak...not good. Marvel QA needs to step up.

Being an avid sailor, I could not resist the urge to get a WindPaddle adventure sail to try on my Marvel 12. This clipped on to my existing deck rigging in seconds. I took the little boat out in 15 knot wind and proceeded to sail downwind for about 4 miles actually surfing the whitecaps while going from 6-8 mph according to my trusty Garmin. WHAT A Blast! I found that I could clip the control line to the shock cord attached to my seat base, which let me have both hands free to steer with the paddle. The Marvel is a natural for this and handled beautifully. I had to paddle back through the chop in a head wind and crashing through waves, and the boat again exceeded my expectations, I was able to average 4 mph.

This is a great hull design, stable, turns easy and tracks well. And the boat has the best seat in the business, you can spend hours in it pain free, then pull it out to use as a beach chair. The storage compartment stays dry, is quite spacious and is easy to access. It is light enough to throw over your shoulder and the knee pads are in the right place to serve as shoulder pads. The little sail adds another dimension of fun and versatility. I am really surprised there are not a lot more of them out on the water.

I have had my Marvel 12 for 2 years! I love it! It is easy to get in and out. My favorite part is that I could take my 35 lb dog with lifejacket on trips. She was able to sit up, and lie down in the bow. I bought the mesh pad for the bottom of the kayak for her as it allows the little bit of water I drip in to go to the bottom and not have my dog wet all day. It is also stable enough that when she gets excited and jumps up on the side, I could counterbalance till I got her settled again. I have the teal and have taken it into the boundary water for short trips. It turns great, and has a shallow draw. I bought a cheap kayak for a spare for friends and the Marvel is SOOO much better. The Marvel glides through the water. Also, recently I went out on a lake with high winds and high waves, The kayak handled beautifully, the wind didn't push me around and I "rode" the waves. It was a LOT of work getting back while I hugged the shore to decrease the waves working against me. Great fun!

After doing as much research as possible on the Marvel 12 I finally went with my gut (and my rear after sitting in that seat) and bought a 2010 demo model from a local paddle shop last week. I never write these kinds of reviews but found it frustrating to find so little info on this Kayak, so I am trying to be part of the solution!

Obviously out of the gate the seat is VERY comfortable; I took it out on its maiden voyage Sunday. We put in on the Ohio River and paddled about 500 yards to a feeder creek and paddled upstream from there about 1 mile before it dried up. A short trip but at least I was able to get a better feel in some different conditions, the river was running fast and tracking was very straight even with some large waves stirred up by a coal barge.

I originally set the seat up in the far back position, I am 6'3" 240# and was looking for the extra leg room. I put my 5 year old boy in the dry hatch in the back and he claimed to be plenty comfortable as we cruised around. Because of the extra weight in the back of the boat (he’s about 45 pounds) the bow was riding pretty high so we pulled over and I moved the seat to its standard position (after stopping for a little snack and sitting in the chair on the bank, I am going to LOVE this feature when I go on extended trips this fall!). At the standard position with the foot pegs set all the way back I do have a slight bend at my knee (which I know is the way it’s supposed to be). Only downside with that is because of the extra large "easy foot" pegs I could see where it will be difficult to stretch out my legs past the pegs on longer paddles. Once I was in the standard position the bow came down nicely and tracking (which already was at least average) became even better.

So first impressions a very comfortable and surprisingly nimble ride, I’ve ordered the spray skirt and will post an updated review in a few months after I get out for some extended trips.

Well. I've used this boat a couple of dozen times or more and am very familiar in it now, so I thought I would write an update review. I still love my boat! I would buy this boat again knowing what I do at this point.

I still find the seat to be the most comfortable that I, with limited experience in different boats, have ever used. I have had a couple of occasions where the seats lower crossbar has interfered with my comfort, but this has only been on long paddles (more than 15 miles) where I was trying to find a REALLY different position for a period of time. Usually I find the seat to be extremely comfortable.

The cockpit is quite wide, and I find that no matter how I setup my paddles drip rings I end up with a lot of water inside the kayak. I have tried a lot of friends kayaks and find that the Marvel 12 does an excellent job of keeping "bow splash" out of your face or the cockpit. Much better than several other popular boats I have tried.

I love the footpeg positioning system as I have let my wife borrow the boat several times and found it extremely easy to make adjustments. I complained before about the difficulty of closing the rear hatch, and must admit I have since found the secret. You have to treat the hatch as you would a Tupperwear container, if you line the cover up over the hatch and "burp" the cover as you push it on, it goes on easier than any other hatch I am familiar with, particularly neoprene. I have never had any water enter my rear hatch, which I think is a great testament to the design.

So, overall, I love the boat. I wish the cockpit were a bit smaller, the boat a bit narrower, the color a bit brighter, but that's about it. I know I'm pretty much a newby, but that's my take on my boat. I'd love to read a review from someone else that owns one.