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I have owned a Manteo for about a year and a half and have tested its limits in many ways. It is a Teal demo model bought following a "you can Paddle days" event. I have used it at least once a week during the time that I have owned it.

Prior to buying the boat, I tried a number of kayaks out (and read the reviews found here) as extensively as possible. My greatest concern was that I wanted to get ONE boat that could handle the wide variety of activities that I wanted to do other than extreme whitewater (from class I-II+ rivers to shorter sea kayaking stints). The Manteo has performed excellently on all occassions.

Most notably, I took the Manteo out on Lake Superior into 3 foot waves for a paddle around the Apostle Island Sea Caves and it had no problem! In fact, I was passing some folks in sea kayaks (who seemed shocked that such a smaller boat would even be out on that water). Furthermore, many of the sea kayakers had given up on the trip that day due to the weather, but my Manteo sliced right through those waves without a problem. Celebrating its versatility, I paddled down the National Scenic Namekagon River the next day.

On the rougher rivers it is a bit of a challenge, but I have never had a problem with the milder drops and chutes that I find around SE Ohio and Nearby West Virginia.

Thank you Wilderness Systems!