My wife and I purchased a Current Designs Crosswind Tandem Sea Kayak last August through the Mountain Shop in Fort Collins, CO. They recommended Current Designs because of the plastic used on this boat (better design and more rigid than some other brands) and for customer service. They were able to place the order for our specific color and told us that it would take 3 or 4 weeks for delivery. To our surprise it only took 2 weeks and the boat arrived in perfect shape. We own two other plastic boats (Perception Chinooks) and added this boat to allow our 5 year old son to join us paddling. After some small lake paddles we took the boat out for it's first major test on a 4 day trip to Lake Powell, Utah. The hatches are easy to operate, and sucked up a ton of camping gear and were big enough to store large and bulky gear without deformity. The boat was also easy to balance out with weight in the fore and aft compartment since the front storage area is nearly as roomy as the rear. We had no problems with water leaking into the compartments or through the hatches even with filling the cockpits with a significant amount of water from jumping out into the lake. Fully loaded the Crosswind handled excellently regardless of water or wind conditions. The Crosswind also surfed quite nicely in the wakes produced by powerboats and the nose didn't want to dive down into the water. The rudder also worked flawlessly and stayed in placed when retracted in a groove on the rear of the boat. Like most any tandem plastic sea kayak, the problem with this boat is weight. It tops out at nearly 100 pounds, and with that weight distributed over 18.5 feet, it is cumbersome and awkward to move by yourself. On the flipside, the boat had very minimal deformity when strapped tightly down on the roof rack, and most importantly is a very sound design and sturdy when handled roughly. And, one of the greatest aspects of this boat is the retail price of around $1600. For the price of a lighter weight fiberglass tandem I could buy two of the Crosswinds and I don't think that my paddling enjoyment would be any greater. Overall: Highly recommended Tandem plastic Sea Kayak.
