Passage

Great kayak for the money. Love the drop down skeg and the way the hatch covers seal. Rolls fairly easy, good initial and secondary stability. Only problem I had was a rear bulkhead leak, which was easily resealed.

After a year of paddling a Perception Swiftwater 10.5, I decided I needed a boat a little better suited to the larger, windier lakes that we tend to paddle in and I found a used Walden Passage for a reasonable price so I went to check it out. It had all the amenities I was looking for - 2 bulkheads and hatches, full perimeter lines with front and rear deck bungees, and a skeg, so hubby bought it for me.

I love the easy tracking with the skeg down. I paddled our larger, super shallow lake for 5 miles in 15-20 mph winds and 2 foot swells and experienced an almost completely dry ride and superb tracking, even when surfing the swells coming back. SO Impressed!! Such a huge difference from the frustrating zig-zagging of the shorter, round bottomed boats! And so much faster!!

The seating is fairly comfortable, even though my hips are actually a bit wider than the molded-in seat size. I can feel the edges of the mold, but it's just a minor annoyance for a 3-4 hr float. The rest of the cockpit is fairly snug for someone my size.

The adjusting straps for the foot braces are a good idea, supposedly allowing for on-the-fly, easy-to-reach adjustments, but as the straps have aged, they've gotten too stiff to work as designed, currently requiring lots of fiddling and fidgeting to get them set and even from side-to-side.

The rear bulkhead leaks right at the bottom seal, the hatch covers are difficult to remove and replace (although I love that they're on a safety string), and it's a LONG reach to either one of them when in the cockpit. The bumpers around the skeg also broke loose and needed to be remounted into the hull (easily done with Gorrilla Glue, though).

The weight of the boat is fairly prohibitive unless you're a big, strong guy! 15 feet and 59 lbs is is BIG boat to be trying to lug around or load on a car top rack. It's really a 2 person job to move this beast around on land, but once in the water.....ahhhhhh.

While my Swiftwater can be easily sluiced around in a brisk river to head back upstream, that's just not an option in this boat. It's minimal rocker and huge length makes trying to do a u-turn to paddle upstream more than my puny arms and sucky technique can handle.

Luckily, I'm keeping the Swiftwater as my river boat, but am thrilled to augment it with this beautifully capable lake boat. I can't wait to take it on Lake Michigan or on a longer tour.

I've owned the Walden Passage for about four/five years. It's a fine workhorse of a kayak, although hardly elegant. I love the fact that it has a skeg (I don't like rudders). This makes life easier in certain conditions, though I don't resort have to resort to it as a general rule. I dislike the cockpit design, which makes outfitting with knee bracing rather awkward (but not by any means impossible). The foot braces are perfectly acceptable, at least in my model, though the seat could certainly bear improvement (I've been meaning for two years to put a back-band in). The hull will oil-can when on top of a hot car--best to carry it keel up in such conditions. Still, the plastic corrects easily with the addition of some weight, and I've never had a hint of this problem on the water. The rear bulkhead leaks, which is an almost universal issue with plastic boats. That's what Marine Goop is for!

I've never taken the boat into blue water (i.e. full ocean, exposed), but I've had it a mile or two offshore in the bays of Maine without incident. I've used it for touring in the Adirondacks (up to five days), and for hopping islands off Norwalk, CT a couple of times. I'd not hesitate to do the cross-Sound paddle in this, though I'd use my flotation bags for and aft, for safety.

For the length, if paddled well, I can keep up (or surpass) a 17 foot Necky sea kayak, tolerably well paddled, or indeed most kayaks. I don't know how this can be (speed is proportional to hull length) but it is--maybe I have good technique, or perhaps it's some nuance of the design, or maybe both. Best of all, I can bring the boat through fastwater bumping the occasional concealed boulder, over scratchy rocks for seal launches, etc. There are probably little bits of red plastic from the boat all over the NE, but the hull integrity is still just fine. I just can't see treating a lovely composite or fiberglass sea kayak (much as I occasionally crave one of these) this way. The fact that the Passage was inexpensive lets me do this with a clear conscience.

Secondary stability is OK. I have tipped the boat once leaning it, but I don't think I was bracing carefully. I've never attempted to roll it--come to think of it, I've come out of it precisely twice.

I believe the boat is no longer being made under this name, as Walden went out of business.

My wife and I have paddled our Walden Passages for four years on larger rivers in Michigan, a few inland lakes, a few interdunal lakes (L. Kalamazoo, Portage L., etc.) and 12 mi in Lake Mi circumnavigating South Manitou Island off Sleeping Bear dunes. With the skeg, tracking is quite adequate for open waters (lakes, larger rivers) and with the skeg retracted, medium to medium-small streams can be accommodated. The pair can be easily carried atop our Subaru Outback wagon on a Thule rack with rubber cradles, though single-handed placement on the rack is not preferred by my medium-build 70 inch height (assistance from my wife serves all the better on and off the rack). For the price, we are well satisfied.

I am very pleased with the Passage. I have had it for three years. I find it easy to paddle with good carry, or glide, for each stroke. The initial and secondary stability are very good allowing me to fish in salt water for stripers and blues. The straight line tracking is pretty good, I find, like one of the others, that mine has a tendency to curve to the left if I don't make some sort of correction, even on the glide it will curve to the left. Sometimes I will correct for the left curve by leaning the hull slightly left.

The cockpit is roomy enough to accommodate my 6'2" 250lb frame. The seat is very comfortable and the backrest is very supportive.

One of my only complaints is the apparent lack of buoyancy in the bow. Compared to a other kayaks that I have paddled this seems to take more water over the bow. It is helpful to have something in the forward bungee cords to help divert water away from the cockpit.

The hull seems incredibly rugged and flex free. Easy enough to carry over the beach to launch or put on a roof rack.

This is the ride I've been waiting for! After buying my first touring kayak (WS sealution II) I realised that rudders were not for me. I wanted a Skeg boat which really narrowed the field. I also wanted inexpensive which meant polyethylene and used. I found my passage on Ebay and it fit the bill. The boat tracks extremely well, even with the skeg up. With the skeg down it tracks like its on rails. The bow seems very buoyant...it goes OVER the waves as opposed to going THROUGH them. A much drier ride than what I'm used to. There is plenty of room for me (6 ft, 163 lbs, 33 inch inseam) It is wide enough to offer excellent initial and secondary stability but skinny enough to be nimble etc. The overall quality seems fine especially considering what these sell for.

The cons: The plastic seems to have billions of air bubbles in it. The surface of the boat is pock marked with a billion small holes. Very rough and probably causes measurable drag. The bottom part of the seat is hard plastic and molded to the shape of a butt. If your butt happens to fit that mold exactly, then you should be fine. But, if you happen to be a little wider then you get jabbed in the hips with the hard plastic part of the seat. I think if I raise myself up about 1/4 inch, by placing a gel pad on the seat, then I should be fine.

Overall, the most perfectly suited kayak for me yet. If they made it in kevlar I'd start saving my pennies today.

I borrowed my roommates Passage the other day for a paddle. The boat is really nice for a reasonably priced plastic kayak. I'm a 6'2" 180 lb. guy and I fit in it nicely. The seat defiantly needs an upgrade, but the rest of the boat is terrific. Great stability and tracking with the skeg down, but it did have a slight track to the left if the skeg was up. I recommend this boat for a beginner wanting to do some short touring and still be able to do some recreational kayaking.

Not bad for a boat at that price but not enough leg room for one 6'3" and difficult to straighten the toes. The waterproof lids are WAY too heavy.

I've been paddling my Passage for a few weeks now and recently spent a weekend paddling wood/glass boats at CLC. After paddling several other boats, the Passage seems very impressive for its size. Tracking is a bit weak with the skeg up, but with the skeg down, it tracks as well as any of the longer boats I've paddled. I find that I use the skeg much of the time. The Passage is also quite maneuverable and responds well to leaned turns, particularly carved turns on the outside chine. Weathercocking is minimal; just enough be an aid in maintaining a heading when paddling in a moderate cross wind. I've had the boat in a stiff wind and waves up to 2' and it handles them with aplomb. Despite the wind and waves, I never felt unstable. Actually, I thought it was a blast, though my paddling partners weren't so enthusiastic.

The cockpit has plenty of leg room and it fits me well (6', 170#, long legs, size 11 feet). There's enough room under the foredeck to mount a pump, float bag and possibly additional gear, without interfering with entry or exit. The seat bottom is very comfortable and the standard seat back isn't bad either. The seat is not very wide; I don't need to pad it on the sides as all. The coaming holds a spray skirt securely. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I've had no problem with the coaming and I like the looks (it's more like a 'glass boat). The hatches seal tightly and must be "burped" on warm days. The rear hatch is close to the cockpit and is readily accessible when sitting in the boat. Coating the hatch lips and covers with 303 makes them very easy to install and remove.

There was one flaw in my boat. The front bulkhead was installed crooked, but still provided any airtight seal. I removed it and reinstalled it in the correct position using silicone sealer. I've made a few of modifications and enhancements:
- I installed breather tubes in the bulkheads, to eliminate air pressure buildup. I simply poked a sharpened wire through the foam, then inserted a section of thin tubing into the hole (the type of tubing that comes with aerosol sprays like WD-40). This provides enough air flow but won't allow any significant water in.
- I replaced the seat back with a Rapid Pulse backband, which is more comfortable.
- I added a rub strip to the keel line using 1/2" wide automotive door molding.
- I adjusted the skeg for increased travel. You can easily adjust it to the point where the cable begins to show when it's in the fully down position. As long as the upper edge of the skeg doesn't show, it won't snag on anything when paddling in reverse.
- I sealed around the skeg pivot bolt with silicone sealer, to prevent any seepage.
- I move the seat back 1" to try to improve the tracking and to compensate for my long legs. This is very easy to do.
- Overall, I'm very please with the Passage. Aside from the handling characteristics, I think it's also one of the nicest looking plastic boats on the market. There isn't another plastic boat that I would rather own (my next boat will be home build wood & 'glass).
- BTW, the Walden neoprene/nylon spray skirt is great! It fits perfectly, is easy to put on and seals well.

I demoed a 1 year old Passage, and found a mix of features & problems. I liked the weight/length combo - at about 50lb and 15', easy enough to haul around by yourself from water to car & back. Good room in the cockpit - standard #2 sprayskirt fits it, but good leg room, and easy to adjust footpegs (uses strap accessible while sitting). However, I found the boat to be very manuverable - i.e. - didn't track as well as I'd like, even with the skeg down. I was in a very slow moving river, and could tell when I entered the current each time - boat would swing into it. Turns on a dime, though. Also, the cockpit rim is framed with a added on "lip" affixed from the inside edge with rivets, and was already loose - kind of cheap look and feel to that part of the boat. A good boat at 15', but I prefered the Cape Horn - better tracking. A 7!