Tofino

My Tofino usually gets used for flats fishing (4" draft with 500 lbs aboard), wildlife photography, fun at the beach and lazy drifting. Providing you put around 80 lbs ballast in the front cockpit, the Tofino is a light single-hander. It's deck arrangement is such that I have a small anchor (used while fishing) and all lines are rigged to manage from the stern cockpit.

I might add that the boat will surf well in a following sea, and surfs well on moderate (1 - 2 foot) waves, although it "quarter-surfs" - not straight, not side-surfing, but off at an angle, rudder up or down. Again, stability is great but care must be taken while surfing to avoid a sudden roll - the boat has incredibly high limits, but once those are exceeded, reaction is quick. I lowered the center of gravity for this purpose by removing the wooden seats (which deteriorated quickly) and I sit on a foam pad directly on the bottom of the boat.

My only complaints about the boat are the plywood seat platforms, and the lack of bungee cord to keep the rudder foot control pedals within reach - owners would do well to add a short length of stretch cord between the controls and the center bulkhead. In my case, I drilled a small hole on the starboard and port side of the bulkhead, ran the bungee through and knotted it, which keeps the control pedals in reach.

I am 6'2" and 260 lbs. - the boat fits me like a glove, although it might be like trying to paddle the QE2 for smaller paddlers.

Well worth buying!