I bought my Old Town Twin Heron tandem in January 2015, but held off on submitting a review until now, after I had the opportunity to put it to the test. This is my first kayak, but previously had a We no nah Minnesota II Kevlar.
I took the Twin Heron out a half dozen times on a few local lakes and it did well. Well enough for me to take it to the BWCAW for a week. I paddled the BWCAW solo, but traveled in a pair. My travel partner was in a Kevlar prism. The Twin Heron performed flawlessly!
I chose the Twin Heron, as my first kayak, because I wanted something that had cargo capacity for a weeklong wilderness trip, yet was stable for me to take my four year old daughter out locally, AND sturdy enough to use for float trips on Missouri rivers and streams. Those requirements, in my mind, ruled out anything Kevlar. With my previous Minnesota II, it was not designed for, and I was unable to use put it to the abuse that comes with floating rivers around here. Coming in at 49 lbs (with front seat) the Twin Heron seemed manageable enough to portage, is made of poly so it is durable for float trips, and has a 500lb capacity.
As far as performance, it glided smoothly through the water and tracked very well. I removed the front seat, for space, but I did find it necessary to stow one of my bags as far forward in the bow as possible for weight distribution. Without that forward stowage, it seemed the trim was off and it did feel a little like I was paddling a barge when I encountered any chop.
For stability, there were never any waves or chop that even slightly created a feeling of instability. Even when on the entry point lake, where there were motors, the wake from the motorboats had little effect. However, it goes without saying that I did quarter into the wake.
With regard to comfort, we traveled an estimated 36 miles during the week, and there were no issues. The padded seat was comfortable and the adjustable foot rests allowed me to change positions as needed.
The big question in my mind was going to be portaging. For frame of reference, I am 44 y.o. and in decent shape. Our trip included three meaningful portgages. 75 rods, 180 rods, and 200 rods. there were a number of short 25 to 35 rod portages. The prototypical kayak portage is over one shoulder. I was able to portage fine, but I have a few comments:
i) I used a short piece of swim noodle on the gunwale to pad my shoulder;
ii) the lower gunwale cut across my hip quite uncomfortably- at first I used my rain gear as a pad to protect my hip, but that was cumbersome. After some trial and error, I figured out that if I placed my rain pants over my belt that the lower gunwale would rest perfectly on my belt resulting in a good weight distribution between my hips and shoulder. However, this only worked on my right side and not left (not sure why). Of course, each person's physical build, and therefore comfort, will be different so it will require trial and error. Once I got it figured out, it was no problem.
I will not hesitate to take the Twin Heron to the BWCAW again. Two things I will try though, between now and then: First, I will try to use a portaging yoke for over the head portaging and see how that works; and second, I will find an actual belt hook/clip to support the lower gunwale.
Overall, it was a great craft for me because of the flexibility I want for the once or year wilderness trip, and the more frequent local use. Large capacity and stability mean more to me that the infrequent portaging use.
