When you think of a color for a “Fishing Kayak” you typically tend to associate the word Fishing with colors such as dark green or a camo (camouflage) pattern. Color has always been an important consideration in kayak design, and surprisingly there are hardly any white fishing kayaks out there, although most offshore fishing boats (namely motorboats), microskiff and flats fishing boats are white…
Intriguing, isn’t it?
The reason why so few fishing kayaks are offered in white is that most of these small craft are rotationally molded from Polyethylene, and producing a clean white color in this technology is harder than producing other colors.
As for the bigger boats, those are often made from fiberglass and painted white, a color commonly associated with leisure and offshore pleasure boating - You won’t find a camo yacht out there!
So far for the theoretical aspect of fishing kayaks’ colors, and practically, our readers may be interested to know that Wavewalk now offers boats from its 500 and 570 series in white. And since these small craft can be easily and effectively motorized, you can call them by a name other than ‘Kayak’, such as microskiff, catamaran, boat, etc.
Aside from legal considerations, there are good reasons why you shouldn’t overpower your fishing kayak, and they all boil down to one word: Safety. Simply, overpowering any boat, including a kayak, is hazardous, weather because the extra torque and speed make the boat harder to control to a point where the driver could lose control and capsize it, or because a powerful motor can overstress the part of the hull to which it’s attached (typically the stern), and make it develop cracks that could cause the boat to sink.
When common fishing kayaks are concerned, most online videos that show such a vessel driven while outfitted with a gas outboard motor reveal an overpowered setup - Those SOT kayaks are hard to drive mainly due to poor stability, unsuitable ergonomics and insufficient access to the motor’s controls. In some cases the kayak’s stern is dangerously low to a point where it’s partially submerged.
As for Wavewalk kayaks, they work perfectly with small outboard motors, but in some cases their owners outfit them with an outboard gas engine that’s too powerful (I.E. exceeds 3 hp), mainly because these boats work better with outboards that feature a long propeller shaft (20″), and such motors are hard to find in the range of small-size motors.
This video demonstrates an ‘overpowered by far’ configuration - A 6 horsepower Tohatsu outboard that fits boats up to 3,000 lbs mounted on a 60 lbs Wavewalk:
Needless to say that such outfit is hard to drive, and requires extreme caution. Inexperienced drivers should not drive overpowered boats, especially such small ones.
While it is strongly recommended not to overpower your Wavewalk kayak, if you’re determined to do so, here are some tips you may want to remember -
First, make sure the boat is properly outfitted with enough flotation. This may turn out to be critical in case of an accident. Remember that the more powerful the motor the heavier it is, and that in case of an accident, the amount of flotation you use should suffice to keep the boat afloat with the motor attached to it.
Second, make sure the motor mount you use is sturdy enough - Remember that the motor mounts offered by Wavewalk are rated for 2.5 hp to 3 hp, and they won’t withstand the torque generated by more powerful motors. Note that the TMM 20-15 mount featuring in the above video was reinforced with a double mounting plate. Reinforcing the knobs under the deck with wide plates is recommended as well.
While a spray shield isn’t required for driving your motorized Wavewalk on flat water at regular speed, it’s pretty useful when you drive in choppy water and at higher speeds. The same is true for a cockpit cover.
