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Subject: Re: Eddyline Merlin XT Author: tom [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 20:33:51 05/08/04 Sat In reply to: Nighthawk175 's message, "Re: Eddyline Merlin XT" on 23:21:24 04/25/04 Sun Bought a Merlin XT a few weeks ago. My first Kayak. My first experience was a little scary but I stayed dry thanks to a patient friend. It is not a wide body rec Kayak I was very unsure of myself and really wondered if this was the right choice for me. Now have 8 to 10 hours of poaddle time and feel much better about my choice. I love the way rhe boat goes through the water. Effortless paddling, quick response also easy to load on and off the car. I am a begginer and this boat works for me especially now with a little practice. I don't think I'm going to be looking to upgrade right away. Edging? not yet. I'll work on it when the water temp gets above 60 degrees. One problem... the skirt is a tough fit. Distance between the seat back and the the aft bulkhead of the cockpit makes it a stretch. Looking for suggestions for a good fitting skirt. I e mailed eddyline for suggestians and they were not particularly helpful. Anyway it is a very very high quality boat,> I own a Nighthawk 17.5 and I'm a bit biased towards >the Eddyline Carbonlite, I really love the stuff. Fit >and finish on their boats IMO is excellent. It has >held up to two winters being stored totally exposed >and hardly shows for it at all. I'm not the most >careful boat owner and the Carbonlite has held up >beyond my expectations. > >The Merlin XT is a very lively boat, a ton of fun to >paddle and I was very close to buying one. I figured >for the type of paddling that I had been doing the >longer length and skeg on the 17.5 was better suited. >Had I the extra cash, I'd add an XT in a hot >second....though I haven't been in the new Phoenix >hull yet. The XT is more 'playful' than the 17.5 is >and would be more fun to try rolling or rough water >play than the quite stable 17.5 hull. > >The XT is designed with a deeper 'V' hull than my boat >and is made to edge turn. As such it feels much >looser than mine in primary stability mode. If you >are a nervous paddler that wants very solid primary >stability, be sure you spend a good amount of time in >the XT. If you want a quick turning nimble hull the >XT is fantastic and the best I've tried so far for my >size (270lbs 37" inseam). Though the Phoenix sounds >interesting too. > >The only down side to the XT now is as of last season >they went back to a somewhat keyhole cockpit. I don't >fit in this design nearly as well as the wide open >17.5 cockpit style. It's lots more secure and a boon >to knee dragging and handling in general, however, I'm >out of shape and any impediment to re-entry is a >negative. > >>Cabin fever is at its height here in Minnesota so have >>started to shop for a new boat. In doing a lot of >>research and looking I have come to rest on the >>Eddyline Merlin XT model, anyone out there currently >>have one and if so what are your thoughts. Have a >>Dagger Charleston and would like a boat in the 15' >>area. The dealer, MidWest Mountain in Mpls will let me >>try the boat as soon as the lakes here are open. Any >>other suggestions of boats in this class? [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[> [> [> Subject: Re: Eddyline Merlin XT Author: Nighthawk175 [Edit] Date Posted: 13:12:04 06/02/04 Wed >Bought a Merlin XT a few weeks ago. My first Kayak. >My first experience was a little scary but I stayed >dry thanks to a patient friend. It is not a wide body >rec Kayak It's a very playful boat, handles amazingly well. Once you are over the initial curve you will love that boat. You can get them to do things a lot of other boats can't as far as maneuverability goes. >Looking for suggestions >for a good fitting skirt. I e mailed eddyline for >suggestians and they were not particularly helpful. >Anyway it is a very very high quality boat I found it a bit odd they don't keep a list of skirt to boat fit in the office myself. Eddyline has been very responsive to any questions I've had or suggestions I've made, but oddly they don't seem to have the full picture together. I found Snapdragon has a good idea of skirt fit for most boats, they are where I found the hard-to-fit skirt for my Nighthawk 17.5. Depending on which Merlin XT you have, they changed the coaming around a few times, it might even be the same XL Snapdragon that my boat takes. I'll recommend you go with the neoprene skirt, they are a lot harder to get used to getting on the boat, but they don't come off easily at all and if you have the big cockpit XT that is a big plus. Nylon skirts don't stay on the Eddyline coaming well at all and of course that limits the fun you can have with the boat. You'll soon want the ability to sink the edge of your skirt in the water, the Merlin just begs that from the paddler. A nylon skirt won't work well doing that one bit. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]