Endeavor

Best beginners kayak you can find for the money. Tracking improves as paddling skills improve, roomy and stable- loved it!

Excellent first kayak, stable & comfortable. with the skeg in place and good paddling techniques, it tracks very well, had no problem with speed either, may not be a Perception but it doesn't have a Perception price tag either. Love this little kayak!

I am personally very happy with my Endeavor. It is my first kayak, and I would recommend it to any beginner. It is extremely comfortable for half day trips. In South Louisiana, in the summer, you can only take half day trips before noonish and after noonish because of the heat. I agree with the other paddler's it would help if it had the same rudder as the Pelican Wave, which one of my friend's has. The Endeavor has many pluses over the Wave like the deepness the width and overall stability not too mention the trunk space. I believe I made the right choice in picking my very first kayak. However, in the future (far future) I would love to own a nice Knoydart!

Last month I bought an Endeavor at the local sporting goods store. It is a great kayak for paddling around the bayous and back waters of Southern Mississippi. It is very stable, tracks well (except at very low speed), and is very easy to put in and out of the water. The high visiblity yellow color is an asset too--it keeps me from being run over by powerboaters. The cockpit is large, I am 5'11" and 200 lbs and I fit easily into the cockpit. My only complaint about this kayak is that whenever an idiot in a powerboat goes by with a 2'+ wake off of his bow, water rushes over the deck of the kayak when I point it into the oncoming wave. The design of the boat tends to punch through the wave rather than ride on top--excellent for stability, bad for people who would rather keep dry. Even so, the upslope of the deck keeps MOST of the water out. Overall, an excellent choice for a first kayak!

OK-don't buy this "kayak" if you have visions of whitewater and fantastic speed. Don't buy this "kayak" if you expect to get on the water and mindlessly windmill your arms and expect to track straight across the lake. This boat does require the paddler to pay attention to his technique. I quickly learned to extend the left side of the paddle longer than the right side, as I am right-handed and tend to pull harder on my right side. I have read about some of the tracking problems people are having, I do agree she is not the best glider in the world, however, I suspect a lot of that is caused by launching in shallow water and scraping the fin on the bottom and mis-shaping it, after my 1st trip I noticed the fin was bent profoundly to the left, it is made of a very soft plastic which was obviously not the best choice by the manufacturer. I also suspect a lot of the tracking problems described are from not installing the fin at all, or installing it incorrectly.The fin HAS to be pushed down in the front AND the back until you hear and feel a click. There was a fellow at the park last Saturday who had the blue Pelican sit-on-top and his fin was attached in the front and hanging loose in the back, and I observed he had tracking problems. When I was shopping for this particular boat, I encountered a retailer;Oshman's;who tried to tell me the seat cushion was an option and it did not come with a paddle, so I suspect a few pople got snookered by less-than-knowledgeable retailers when purchasing the product. The paddle that comes with the boat is functional, but a paddle upgrade is definitely first on my list. I have also noticed shifts in body weight drastically effect the tracking at a particular time, however this can be fixed with a simple adjustment of your paddling technique. The "easy access" rear storage is not very easy to access on the water as stated by the mfgr. The "waterproof" compartment is not very waterproof when you take into account the water that gets in the boat from paddling. I stood mine up to drain the water and it soaked the contents of the container, namely my cell phone, but I could have prevented this by emptying it's contents 1st-now that I know, I will.If you have realistic expectations of paddling on bayous and creeks like we have here in Southeast Texas, and want a good little boat at a very reasonable price, then I would highly reccomend this and other Pelican "kayaks". Just keep it real and do yourself a favor and condition yourself some before getting out there and getting yourself in trouble, I ride around 15 miles a week on my bicycle and lift moderate weights on a regular basis. I am 40 years old and am not sold on shiny colors and big price tags anymore, this is a very good boat for people who want to get off the couch, turn off the tv and leave the Cokes and radios at home and get out and discover wild places in your neighborhood. I live in Houston, a city of 4 million people, yet, I can get in my boat and paddle literally 5 minutes and be in places where there is no sign of human life whatsoever; save for the occasional styrofoam cup or beer can.Save your money, leave the high dollar, high performance true kayaks to the people who truly need something like that and get yourself this neat little boat and get off the couch and get outside....now go

I don't understand why some people can stand this boat! I am a serious boater and have 6 kayaks, this one is terrable, i can't stand the tracking and everytime i stop the boat turns. It you want a good boat, go and get a necky. The "sky" is a superior boat for about the same price. But i will always recomend a larger boat such as the "Zoar sport".

Having read the other reviews, I find myself in agreement. I too was a first time buyer and I love this kayak. I'd gone to a number of "paddlefests" and tried a number of kayaks but this was by far the best of the ones I tried. It's very stable--not tippy. I wanted a kayak with a comfortable, high back seat. Best of all, I paid $299 and the kayak comes with a paddle. That makes it a great entry level kayak. I'm neutral at this time about the removable seat and the built in/graduated foot pegs. Fully adjustable foot pegs are preferable but they are not worth 2 or 3 times the price of this kayak. I was concerned about the width--I thought it would interfere with paddling but it does not. I think that is because you sit higher in this kayak because they included floatation under the seat. Like other reviewers, tracking is an issue but I have not yet put in the "fin". I'm hoping that helps. I saw 1 reviewer made a custom fin that was "deeper". Sounds like a good idea if the fin included with the kayak is not up to the task. All in all, I love this kayak.

I purchased the Endeavor as an entry level kayak expecting to use it for a year or two and move on to a more expensive kayak. I quickly discovered the things I liked and disliked about this kayak. On the positive side, it is comfortable to sit in. The seat is soft and the cockpit is wide and open. It is very stable, not tippy at all. I also liked the water proof hatch and tie down straps. On the negative side, I found the lack of tracking disturbing. On calm water the boat tends to turn sharply off cource when you stop paddling. Sometimes you just want to glide and this boat won't let you. The only other thing that I would change if I could is the width of the boat. Paddling is partly hampered by the width. I have had the Endeavor for one summer and feel ready to move on.