Jackson Coosa In The St. Francis

[Smalliebigs]

My buddy took his SOT kayak out on the St.Francis yesterday from Roselle down......pretty impressive for a SOT, heres one of the clips.It was at 1 inch at Roselle not eaxctly raging but still very impressive for a fishing yak.

http://youtu.be/5kQtEX-MkUk

and let the hating begin

[Wayne SW/MO]

It looks like fun, but I'm not sure about the impressive. A SOT will take more water than a SIK and any of them should be able to handle class II.

[eric1978]

No hating here...the Coosa is a sweet boat. Not ideal for overnights but a killer day tripper for sure. I'd buy one if they went on clearance, half price.

[Smalliebigs]

I figured as much from you Wayne.....there may only be class II and borderline class III in this clip but, they had just gone thru Cat Paw and another drop above it of over 4 feet. There is class III all thru out this strech even at this low water level. What imppresses me is that someone could be such a bitch at your age, it really must suck.

I wasn't debating the abilities of a SOT vs SIK and which one will take on more water.

[Stoneroller]

bring your tarpon, we can run it next week. after the rain sunday the water level should be optimal for, what did you call it? class 2?

the guy in the green kayak is a 20 year class V whitewater veteran, he's paddled all over the world, he's the al agnew of MWA. When we got to the take out his exact words, "I never thought you'd make it through most of that, really impressive boat." that's enough of a stamp of approval for me, as if olympian eric jackson's name on the front of the boat wasn't enough.

I will be perfectly honest, I swam twice. Both times were on my fault and weren't anything more than what someone would encounter on any ozark stream. I got lazy the first time, stopped paddling which is not what you want to do when going through a drop or current feature. Second time I picked a really dumb line past some submerged rocks and ran up on the rock, dipping the rear tank well into some current. Videos on are my youtube channel.

[Stoneroller]

eric, you'd be really suprised, the coosa is like a cavern inside. no, it does not have the capacity of a canoe, but it has far greater storarge space in the hull than any other 11foot SOT i've seen. Drawback is the bow volume catches the wind, badly. But as you can see in the video, really floats the bow well over drops. it's the butt end of the boat you have to be careful off in current. The rear keel, which helps it track really well, also catches currents, which is why I get hung up on fat man's squeeze in part 5. (still uploading)

[eric1978]

eric, you'd be really suprised, the coosa is like a cavern inside. no, it does not have the capacity of a canoe, but it has far greater storarge space in the hull than any other 11foot SOT i've seen. Drawback is the bow volume catches the wind, badly. But as you can see in the video, really floats the bow well over drops. it's the butt end of the boat you have to be careful off in current. The rear keel, which helps it track really well, also catches currents, which is why I get hung up on fat man's squeeze in part 5. (still uploading)

I used to do a lot of backpacking, so I have the right gear to make an overnight possible and comfortable in a yak. But I really like having my bigass cooler and 30 pack of brewskies and tasty fatboy food and my bigass Sealines stuffed full with pillows and blankets and other pusillanimous creature comforts with me...and still have room for my rods to safely ride tucked below the gunwales.

Besides, I got no more space to hang a third boat in my garage. Maybe I'll sell my solo one day. I've been drooling over the Coosas since they came out...but dayum, they are expensive. Just can't justify it.

[Wayne SW/MO]

So I'm not suppose to think it would make it? I just think that in my experince, and I have some, a decent SOT should handle it. I didn't mention the Tarpon, but I suspect it would make it also. Maybe you should take yours Smalliebigs and let us know. As far as class goes, I'm not familiar with the St Francis so I can only go by what American White Water says.

[ColdWaterFshr]

Ehh. so you said, let the hating begin . . . cool clip, but I'm with Wreckless Eric and Wayne in their general assessments. Cool boat, don't really want one that bad.

And the comment , "he's the al agnew of MWA", Stoneroller, you're killing me. I can one up that:

I'm the Wilt Chamberlain of the PTA, the moms all dig me, because they know . . . yeah, they know

When I was 15 1/2, I was the Chuck Norris of my Drivers Education class

Going back a year before that, I was the Jimmy Hendrix of Estes model rocketry

I'm the Sam Malone of your favorite local bar

I'm the Chuck Yeager of comfortable footwear.

I'm the Lee Marvin of barbecuing.

I'm the Harry Truman of bicycle repair.

I'm the Colonel Sanders of tree pruning.

And what the ---? Is everyone and their brother running a guide or escort service these days? Not knocking it. I guess on some level, I'm jealous.

[eric1978]

LMAO You're the John Malkovich of forum posters, PD.

And it's Eric the Impudent...get it straight. I'm the Wade Boggs of disrespecters and call it like it isers.