Who'd a thought - OK Zest Two

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dunfly
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Who'd a thought - OK Zest Two

Post by dunfly »

This is one review I never thought I would write. A tandem? Well, yes. Actually I like to go out kayaking with my wife and she doesn't particularly like paddling around in one of my Prowler 15's. Sooo, as a compromise I decided to add a tandem to the fleet. First, the problem. We are both tall, I'm 6' 3" and Brenda is 5' 11". We've rented tandems before, but all of them seem to be 13.5 feet long, fat and slow. I end up with my feet in her back with very little storage space. After looking long and hard, I decided on an Ocean Kayak Zest Two EXP.

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What drew me to the Zest Two was the length. 16' 4" with a fairly narrow beam for a tandem, 30.5" vs 34" for the shorter Tandems. It is heavy at 75 lbs but not much more than the shorter tandems. There is plenty of storage. I opted to add an 18" hatch in the middle. There is a tank well in the back, and smaller one in the front and plenty of spots to add smaller hatches, though I didn't add any more.

Once we got it on the water, the first thing I noticed was the room in the cockpits. Both the front and the back cockpits are larger than on my Prowler 15's. Plus, there is a hatch between the two, so there is plenty of room. The two paddlers are so far apart that it is almost impossible hit paddles even if you are completely out of sinc. The second thing I noticed is the amount of storage space. Even with just one hatch, there would be plenty of storage space for an overnighter. Once we got on the water, I was surprised by the stability and speed. Even with the narrower beam, the initial stability is better than any other tandem I have been in. It is even more stable than my Prowlers. But the real surprise was the speed. This sucker will fly. My wife and I had it moving every bit as fast as my Prowlers and I would guess that with two experienced paddlers it would be faster. The only downside to the stability and speed is the manuverability. It likes to go straight. It turns like a Mack truck. With good coordination between the paddlers it will turn ok, but it is hard as hell to turn it from the rear.

I didn't get it for fishing but if I was going to fish from a tandem, this would be the one. It is the only one I've seen that has the two people far enough apart to comfortably fish. It also has plenty of room for you tackle.
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Rik
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Re: Who'd a thought - OK Zest Two

Post by Rik »

Can it be rigged for solo use?
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dunfly
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Re: Who'd a thought - OK Zest Two

Post by dunfly »

Unlike the OK Malibu's and some other tandems, this one can't easily be converted to a single. It would be possible but you would end up siting over the center hatch. The only way I could see doing it is rigging an elevated seat. With the stability, it shouldn't be a problem, but I still think it would be a bear to turn.
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krash
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Re: Who'd a thought - OK Zest Two

Post by krash »

The Native Ultimate 14.5 Tandem would do a fine job.. it can be rigged as either solo or tandem, paddles and fishes well either way.
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dunfly
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Re: Who'd a thought - OK Zest Two

Post by dunfly »

I thought about a Native Ultimate, but I wanted a sit on top that was self bailing. I've seen Ultimates swamp and it didn't look like any fun. If that happened when my wife was out with me, that would be the end of family outings. I also looked at the Jackson Big Tuna, but at 100+ lbs and 35" beam, that is way to much to handle loading.

I have two OK Prowler 15's, so the conversion from a tandem to a single was not an issue.
“You don’t ever want a crisis to go to waste....” — Rahm Emanuel
"Freedom!" - Sir William Wallace
Who is John Galt?
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