Adventure XL 160

The boat is wide and sits higher in the water when not loaded. The initial stability is very solid and the secondary stability is barge like, very stable. It is also a bit slow due to the width of the boat. The boat sits higher so it is a bit susceptible to weathercocking in higher wind, but it shines when loaded down. The boat has always tracked straight for me and I only use the rudder in windy conditions.

The reason for one star is the hatches are a bit flimsy. They close with a lever. They have only leaked in heavy seas when the deck was awash. Aside from that, the keyhold is big to accommodate big paddlers and the seat is high backed and pretty comfortable, I added a gel pad due to the duration of my trips. I'd recommend this boat highly!

I paddle almost exclusively long days on the coast of Maine and the rudder has come in handy. I have talked to some of the snobs who snicker at OT kayaks, but I have tried other brands and am happy to stick with OT. I even like the hard plastic seat in my Nantucket. The soft seat in the Adventure is liable to ruin me.

I explained to her that I felt waiting a week for ASAP was not reasonable and that I was now short on time to prepare for a 100+ mile river sojourn. I need to be prepared for the sojourn on Friday I felt as though I had done enough to get the parts I needed, to do the work my self, to be ready in plenty of time, keeping in mind the parts I needed were coming “As Soon As Possible”. This time I was told I would have the parts in a couple days. My first choice would have been to return the kayak to the dealer where I purchased it, but that would cost $50 in fuel and another $10 in tolls and from what was explained to me, I would be on-my-own to negotiate having a dealer closer to my home area perform the repairs.

The reason for the problem with my kayak is;
1) The pop-rivets were not properly ‘set’. Scrap plastic from drilling thru the boat was not removed before the flange was fastened in place. That plastic was pinched between the cockpit rim and the fixture when the rivets were ‘set’ in place.
2) The plastic ‘rim’ was not fully seated into position on the cockpit rim of the boat. I have not removed the cockpit rim yet, but from what I can see under the edge of the rim, at least one of the rivet holes has torn out of the edge of the boat.
3) The plastic rim fixture and the cockpit rim may not fit together well because they are not properly sized.
4) The pop-rivets did not perform properly. Of the three rivets that came apart, only one of them held the head of the pull pin in place. The inner part of the rivets did not expand enough to engage the outside sleeve.
Please feel free to use this information to improve your production process.
FYI I am a retired Industrial Maintenance Supervisor with 35 years experience in a production environment.
Please feel free to respond.

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Below is the original email I wrote on 5/30/07.

I must say, after owning a 138 Loon for about 8 years, I was looking forward to upgrading kayaks, keeping in mind my Loon has been an excellent boat for me and has suited my needs very well over the years. My Loon has survived class three rapids and day after day of class two and class one rapids, loaded with a bunch of camping equipment and it never let me down anywhere along the 400+ miles of river that I enjoy each year.
If not for a tree falling on my kayak, when it was loaded on top of my truck and caused a crack across the inside of the front deck, I would not investigated a replacement.
I considered my most prudent course of action in seeking a replacement and did my homework on the internet to find out as much information as I could before I hit-the-road and added the cost of gas to the purchase price.
After doing all the investigative work and paddling a few for feel and fit, I decided to purchase the Adventure XL 160.
At about the 10th mile I noticed a rivet lying in the bottom of the boat, so I checked the remaining rivets and found another rivet had come apart and more were very loose.
Needless to say my pride of ownership was slipping badly, but it wasn’t a show stopper.
About mile 15 I felt a light pop at my feet and discovered I no longer had control of the rudder.
The cable had pulled out of the crimped sleeve and was not repairable on the water.
Was this kayak made in America?

I was connected with Brian when I called for help at the phone number listed in your literature. He assured me he would send the parts we agreed I needed ASAP.
It would appear the balance of ‘craftsmanship/business’ has shifted to far from center.

At a rental place in the National Park area, beside of Long Pond, I found an old Old Town Heron. I could fit in this one, though not nearly as well as in my XL160. The discontinued Heron's lines were not as visually or functionally pleasing as those of my XL, but the Heron tracked like a battleship on a mission (it paddled like one, too -- I expended about twice the energy as I use paddling the XL). My XL does not have a rudder system; the Heron did. The Heron's rudder was more trouble than it was worth; I had thought about adding a rudder to my XL, but the trip on Long Lake made me decide against it. The Heron weighed a ton, or at least it seemed heavier than my XL.

So, after careful consideration based on my recent experiences, I want to change my rating from an 8 to a 10, since what I most want in a kayak are stability, roomy cockpit, relatively good tracking and ease of paddling, and a functional and aesthetically pleasing design.