Twin Otter

Very nice kayak. Very durable and good looking. Tracks well. Good resale value. Light weight compared to it's carrying capacity. Foot rests nice feature. Seating is comfortable. Great kayak option for couples.

This is a basic kayak which should be adequate for most everyday tandem recreational use. It has a fully open cockpit with seats that can be adjusted fore & aft to compensate for paddler size or for solo versus tandem. It cruises nicely, about what you'd expect for a 14-foot tandem kayak w/ a fairly wide beam and basic hull shape.

One thing I should mention though – even on a completely calm lake with no wind or current, it still can have a bit of front-end drift (either right or left). It seemed somewhat random in how it acted, and it required a few strokes now and then to correct its course. It could be that the hull in the front does not come down to much of a "point" or narrow down to a fin-like shape that would create somewhat of a "keel effect" (which may be able to help the situation if it was more like that). Some additional weight in the front may help keep it more solidly situated in the water, and therefore stay its course better. Here are a couple examples. With me in the back at 200 pounds and my wife in the front at 140, we tracked fine. But when I tried it solo w/ the seat more in the middle, the bow end wanted to roam. Even with my wife at 140 in the back and our daughter at 110 in the front, it still wanted to roam some at the bow even when paddling. This model may not be available anymore, and maybe they have replaced it with another basic model with more consistent tracking.

I have Twin Otter (14'long; at the time when I was buying 16' was not available) for more than 5 years. I always go with my wife and we love this kayak.We paddling only on lakes and last season I started fishing from it. This kayak is stable, easy to maneuver and fast enough.

Never paddled a canoe since my first time in a kayak in 1993. You'll paddle this Twin Otter once and your canoeing days are history.

My wife and I paddled a pair of Keowees by Perception for a few years until our pooch out grew sitting on back (a matter of a few months). I bought a Twin Otter in August of 2000 thinking that it would be perfect. NAAAA...pooch wants to be a bow rider. Hauling her in and getting a bath and shower every time, grew old really quick. Get this, she doesn't like the water either. I built her bow railings of rope and pvc pipe. Great Idea! The pooch hasn't gone overboard for nearly 10 years now.

Like it's kin (the one person Otter)it is very stable maneuvers well and is good in up to class II rivers. Unlike it's kin, it tracks well and is so much faster. Heck, I had to buy my wife a 13' 4" Perception America to keep up with me and the pooch. I have dragged it over stones and rocks, from the truck to water everywhere because it is heavy for this oldtimer. You younger guys'n'gals should make play of it. I just sold it and the buyer was surprised with it's good condition. So, yes, it is durable and passes the test of time.

Recently purchased the twin otter, being a very new beginner, I found it a very good kayak. Found I could not adjust the seats and foot pegs to center the weight in the kayak properly. Being 6'2" at 225 lb and my granddaughter only 6 years old. I could not move her forward enough for her to use the foot pegs. With some modifications I will be making, it will work out perfectly, by replacing the side rails with longer ones.

I find the overall weight very comfortable in handling solo in transporting to and from the truck, or putting away at the end of the day. But I am in pretty good shape, someone else may need help.

I found the tracking was very well with beginners. My daughter went out with the granddaughter, both beginners also, they found it was fun to paddle around and enjoy nature.

I've purchased a twin otter after having a single one for two years, marvelous. It's true I'm athletic and don't mind the weight cause I'm a construction worker and I'm only 35... I bought it to try and entice my girlfriend in kayaking. I knew that she wouldn't like a solo cause she is a bit lazy and afraid of water (lol). So she sits in it and paddles on and off, I take it like a workout. It's a very versatile boat and better suited for the kind of water I paddle than the single otter. I use both in the St-Laurence River in the province of Quebec in Canada, one of the biggest rivers in the world. The trill of having a whale come up beside you is indescribable, if a bit scary the first time...

Yes you can get a boat with better tracking but the investment is not the same and both my otters cost me the price of a better twin kayak... excuse my English, I'm French speaking.

At the time I was thinking about getting a canoe to go paddling with my kids, but went with the Twin Otter instead. Although I could car top this animal, there were times when thought getting on top of my Expedition by myself wasn’t going to happen (Heavy!), not that the typical canoe would have been much lighter. We had the optional jump seat that allowed all three of us to go paddling. When placed between to other seats, I found that the tracking wasn’t that great. I found tracking much improved when the jump seat was placed in front of the forward seat (which was pushed back). The person (kid) in the middle usually ended up getting a little wet from water dripping off our paddles and usually resulted in some cursing. I found that the black trim used around the cockpit opening would constantly work itself off. A tube of Aquaseal help to keep it reattached. It was a boat that back then, allowed all three of the go paddling. Now the kids are older and have their own kayaks. And, now I get to paddle my own boat too, it’s so much easier than paddling for three.

I bought my twin because I went camping a few years back with friends and we rented 2 twins and kayaked the Ossipee River and I was hooked. I wanted a twin because I wanted 1) to be able share the world of kayaking with my Daughter and Girlfrined (now my soul mate), 2) I enjoy the company when on the water, 3) and when I have to I can move the rear seat forward, add 25lbs of ballast to the nose and I can kayak any of the rivers or lakes solo.

The main problem of tracking that some folks complained about can be minimized with proper weigh distribution. With the adjustable seats positioned correctly and I carry a small 12lb anchor under the bow, this kayak handles well. Not like a 14ft solo…but in this configuration, it still is safe for solo paddling. I got hunter green and am looking to buy a collapsible trailer for porting. All in all… a great 2 up kayak that is very serviceable for one when the need arises.

We have 2 twin Otters. We have found them to be fun, easy to paddle on both lakes and streams of all size. I paddle them solo without difficulity by moving the front seat to the rear. By trial and error I found a spot where tracking is not a problem. The boat must ride level to track well. I find that speed is as good as any 14' boat that wide. We choose the 14' and the 13' 9" boats because they will fit inside of our van which makes them easy to load when we deside to go boating. Twins are a nice choise when a person wants to go and can not paddle a boat alone. Twins are fun for the whole family.

We have had the twin otter for several years & it has not depreciated at all.The previous comments about poor tracking are very true for solo operation, but my wife & I find tracking totall acceptable when riding twin with our 17 lb. dog. We have noticed that we can easily outrun our friends who paddle a loon 111, a castine,& an adventurer. This seems amazing but it appears that two paddlers can go much faster than one, regardless of the shape of the boat. My wife is not an athletic type person & I am 57 years old. Total weight is around 400 lbs for us and the dog. The other paddlers mentioned are all in their 20's and younger. I now own a loon 111 also, and it seems faster than the twin otter solo, but two people paddling the wide, heavy,twin otter can sustain a much higher speed with no sweat for long distances. The twin otter is so stable I can reach over the side and retreive the pooch when over enthusiasm causes her to fall out of the boat. Thi boat hates solo paddlers, but loves a load. For recreational day use, buy it, you'll love it.Buy your own solo boat.

I purchased the Twin Otter after buying several (single) Otters for my children and a Castaway. Even though the single Otters are great little kayaks, I found the Twin version to be very hard to manuever, especially when paddling solo with a 75 lb dog in front of you. Tracking in this configuration is very, very poor and almost uncontrollable. It is somewhat better with the dog behind, but that doesn't work for us. Additionally, when paddling duel, the rear person gets continuously wet. Also there is apparently no skirt for solo operations should the need arise. Unhappy, I returned the boat for a refund...

I have found my twin otter to be a great recreational boat. It is a stable boat to fish from, handles well for it's size, is easy to paddle and with the aid of a dolly isn't all that hard to transport. My 2 dogs love the space it has with the front seat removed. Adding the seat makes for an enjoyable afternoon of fun for two people. Storage is limited, but this isn’t a boat for overnight trips.

We had a Twin Otter until recently. Purchased it last year. Picked a twin because my wife wasn't sure she would like kayaking. She did, in a big way. The boat was super stable, was smooth on the water and was easy to paddle. Seats are extra comfortable. The minuses are, craft weighs 65 lbs and is a handfull to put up on a roof rack. Although Old Town leads you to believe it is usable as a one man kayak, the lack of footpegs with the front seat in the rearmost position, makes it not a good ride. Also, at 66, I'm not up to carrying or loading the boat alone.

I would urge anyone considering the twin, of any make, to first consider a small single such as the Otter or the Perception Swifty. My wife, after paddling a Loon 100 and a Loon 110 in Florida, decided she wanted to be "Mistress of her own fate", so we sold the twin and bought another Otter. Once you get over 40 lbs, "stuff" gets cumbersome.