Grampa Spey
03-12-2012, 10:06 AM
I have been able to get the Freedom Hawk Bassyaks/Pathfinder on our local lake twice to see how it works.
The good news is it works and is very stable.
The great news: I can get the main body of the Pathfinder in the back of the small bed of my Honda Ridgeline with the detached stabilizers, one on each side, my oars, secured by the stabilizers and between the yak's main body. I use basically 2 ropes and the Cabela's net bed extender to secure the rear of the Pathfinder to the truck bed, with the tailgate down.
I can load the Pathfinder in our driveway in our car port and unload it after the trip to store it. I'm getting this down to about 10 minutes each way.
That eliminates the need/hassle of a trailer, bed extender or roof racks. I can back down a ramp, stop about 8' from the water and unload the yak and its motor, battery and other gear ready to load into the Pathfinder, after I park my truck.
At the ramp, I spend about 12-15 minutes getting it ready to get in the water. I load and secure the battery pack, mount the oars in their new holders, mount and secure the motor, and load my gear.
I solved the problem of lifting the motor up from the seat with a bigger pulley attached to the motor and a different pull cord. Now, I can pull it up at the launch site and secure it until I get into deep enough water to lower it and run it. Also, I learned that while sitting in the Pathfinder, I can help lift the motor by pushing both foot pedals, which are used for steering, forward at the same time while pulling the lift cord. With the new bigger pulley and cord, this becomes a very simple operation. That makes the landing easier on the prop, motor, Pathfinder and me.
This, also, make launching and landing the Pathfinder easier and less of a concern each time. The video below shows a very easy way to launch the Freedom Hawks with their grab bar. I use this system with my Freedom Hawk 12 and now my Pathfinder.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnDftsLMW3k
This brings a little water into the yaks from my waders/boots, and the water makes the Elite Seats really worth the money as they rest a few inches above the bottom of the yak if any water that gets in. Besides being very comfortable even with PFDS, the adjustable Elite Seat is very comfortable over the hours I have been enjoying my Elite seat in both the Freedom Hawk 12 and now my new Pathfinder. I take the bow line and loop it over the Grab Bar 3 times, with a grab loop hanging over, so I have something to help this 73 year old guy up from his comfortable seat.
I leave the Pathfinder's stabilizers/pontoons out in the extended and straight back formation for traveling. When I put into the full extended position, the Pathfinder is probably as stable as our Jon Boat.
The Pathfinder appears to be very sea worthy versus the Freedom Hawk 12 which needs a protected environment. On my first Pathfinder trip I was testing the motor, steering, reversing and use of paddles and other stuff in a protected cove, and the wind came in early and went from about 4 mph to over 12 mph. I was about a mile from the launch site and had to go into some 1'+ waves and wind to get back.
With my stabilizers in the position noted above, my motor and Pathfinder was stable and dry with no problem of handling the waves and wind. Two yakkers had stayed around to make sure I got back okay.
My second trip was even more uneventful and a lot of fun. The Bassyak/Pathfinder can be really quiet at low speeds, and the geese, ducks and waterfowl critters can get very nosy when you glide within a few feet of them.
I haven't fished from the Pathfinder as I wanted to get my sea legs with it. Also, there is no anchor mounting and any anchor line is supposed to loop over the front handle on the bow. I really don't want to snag an anchor attached that way to the bow of any yak. I could troll from the Pathfinder without an anchor, but I want to fly fish from it or at least cast a spinning or casting rod from it.
I need to figure out how to mount a line to secure the anchor line to that allows the anchor line to move forward and aft and can be lifted or lowered from the side. The bow end is no problem, but I need to work on having a secure something to attach the line to the rear of the yak.
At this time I would rate the Pathfinder a solid 4 out of a 5 for the above reasons. When, I figure out a simple anchoring system not using the bow handle, I will probably give it a 5.
Links to Freedom Hawk Kayaks and Bassyaks:
http://freedomhawkkayaks.com
http://bassyaks.com/
The good news is it works and is very stable.
The great news: I can get the main body of the Pathfinder in the back of the small bed of my Honda Ridgeline with the detached stabilizers, one on each side, my oars, secured by the stabilizers and between the yak's main body. I use basically 2 ropes and the Cabela's net bed extender to secure the rear of the Pathfinder to the truck bed, with the tailgate down.
I can load the Pathfinder in our driveway in our car port and unload it after the trip to store it. I'm getting this down to about 10 minutes each way.
That eliminates the need/hassle of a trailer, bed extender or roof racks. I can back down a ramp, stop about 8' from the water and unload the yak and its motor, battery and other gear ready to load into the Pathfinder, after I park my truck.
At the ramp, I spend about 12-15 minutes getting it ready to get in the water. I load and secure the battery pack, mount the oars in their new holders, mount and secure the motor, and load my gear.
I solved the problem of lifting the motor up from the seat with a bigger pulley attached to the motor and a different pull cord. Now, I can pull it up at the launch site and secure it until I get into deep enough water to lower it and run it. Also, I learned that while sitting in the Pathfinder, I can help lift the motor by pushing both foot pedals, which are used for steering, forward at the same time while pulling the lift cord. With the new bigger pulley and cord, this becomes a very simple operation. That makes the landing easier on the prop, motor, Pathfinder and me.
This, also, make launching and landing the Pathfinder easier and less of a concern each time. The video below shows a very easy way to launch the Freedom Hawks with their grab bar. I use this system with my Freedom Hawk 12 and now my Pathfinder.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnDftsLMW3k
This brings a little water into the yaks from my waders/boots, and the water makes the Elite Seats really worth the money as they rest a few inches above the bottom of the yak if any water that gets in. Besides being very comfortable even with PFDS, the adjustable Elite Seat is very comfortable over the hours I have been enjoying my Elite seat in both the Freedom Hawk 12 and now my new Pathfinder. I take the bow line and loop it over the Grab Bar 3 times, with a grab loop hanging over, so I have something to help this 73 year old guy up from his comfortable seat.
I leave the Pathfinder's stabilizers/pontoons out in the extended and straight back formation for traveling. When I put into the full extended position, the Pathfinder is probably as stable as our Jon Boat.
The Pathfinder appears to be very sea worthy versus the Freedom Hawk 12 which needs a protected environment. On my first Pathfinder trip I was testing the motor, steering, reversing and use of paddles and other stuff in a protected cove, and the wind came in early and went from about 4 mph to over 12 mph. I was about a mile from the launch site and had to go into some 1'+ waves and wind to get back.
With my stabilizers in the position noted above, my motor and Pathfinder was stable and dry with no problem of handling the waves and wind. Two yakkers had stayed around to make sure I got back okay.
My second trip was even more uneventful and a lot of fun. The Bassyak/Pathfinder can be really quiet at low speeds, and the geese, ducks and waterfowl critters can get very nosy when you glide within a few feet of them.
I haven't fished from the Pathfinder as I wanted to get my sea legs with it. Also, there is no anchor mounting and any anchor line is supposed to loop over the front handle on the bow. I really don't want to snag an anchor attached that way to the bow of any yak. I could troll from the Pathfinder without an anchor, but I want to fly fish from it or at least cast a spinning or casting rod from it.
I need to figure out how to mount a line to secure the anchor line to that allows the anchor line to move forward and aft and can be lifted or lowered from the side. The bow end is no problem, but I need to work on having a secure something to attach the line to the rear of the yak.
At this time I would rate the Pathfinder a solid 4 out of a 5 for the above reasons. When, I figure out a simple anchoring system not using the bow handle, I will probably give it a 5.
Links to Freedom Hawk Kayaks and Bassyaks:
http://freedomhawkkayaks.com
http://bassyaks.com/