Profile

The Journey 12 SS is a decent entry level sit on top kayak. It's fairly stable and tracks alright in the water. It's fairly light weight and has a decent amount of storage. I purchased mine from a local retailer and had very little scrapes on the bottom, other than that it was in great condition. I took it out once and had fun, but ended up returning it to the retailer. Below is why.

I'm a pretty large individual weight wise, 5'10" at 300 lbs. This Kayak is rated to a maximum capacity of 395 lbs. The capacity rating is why I picked this budget friendly kayak.

However, having a rating of 395 lbs. and sitting a 300 lb. person in the seat causes this kayak to sit really low in the water at the back and high in the air in the front. While this wasn't a deal breaker for me, it did cause it to be a lot more at the mercy of the wind. I feel that having the seat moved towards the center might have helped this a bit but that would make it difficult to reach the rear storage and fishing pole holders.

Many people have complained about the seat being the lowest part of the cockpit and that your rear end gets wet. This is true, but to me this wasn't an issue for me. I expect to get wet while kayaking.

However as a big guy the seat was horrendous. Not the bottom part but the back support!. In the semi reclined position you put a lot of pressure on the back support and being as big as I am, I caused the back rest to go all the way reclined. Sure I could have tied knots in the webbing but the height of the back still caused issues supporting me.

Overall this kayak is a good one and most of my issues are more because of me not being a good fit for the kayak, this is why I give it a 4/5 rating. This might work better for someone around 250 lbs.

Some suggestion for the manufacturer would be a slightly elevated seat that is more centered with a more rigid back, easier access to the front storage space.