Kayak designed for Puget Sound paddlers

Puget Sound paddlers don't let a little cold weather keep them from their sport. After all, the deep straits of Puget Sound stay bitingly cold year-round. So local paddlers will ply the waters of the Sound right through the cold days of autumn and into winter. To keep afloat, those paddlers need a Sound-worthy boat.

Sometimes it takes a local company to address the needs of the local community. Ferndale-based Necky Kayaks offers such a craft in its Looksha V touring kayak. I asked West Seattle paddler Tim Walsh (owner of Paddlers Supply Co.) to help me check out this new boat. Walsh appreciated the Looksha's stability. "It edged without significant effort, facilitating smooth turns and corrections to course," he said. "In boat wakes it feels responsive to leaning and compensation for rougher waters." This stability, Walsh noted, means the Looksha V offers a secure platform for secondary activities such as birding or photography.

The Looksha V's cockpit is roomy and comfortable, though the adjustable seat proved a bit tricky to get fitted properly and the backrest extended too high for some paddlers. Once adjusted, the seat was wonderfully comfortable even on long paddles across the Sound. Integrated thigh braces with a wide adjustability range further enhances comfort in the cockpit.

On the down side, the Looksha V required a bit of effort to move across the water. "Compared to boats of similar size, the Looksha V requires significantly more effort to maintain a cruising speed," Walsh said. "Limited glide between strokes meant I was working all of the time. The boat just didn't want to go fast."

At 17 feet 4 inches long and 23.75-inches wide, the Looksha V easily accommodates larger paddlers and delivers a comfortable, performance-oriented fit for paddlers of all sizes.

If you like cruising comfortably and sedately while enjoying the surrounding scenery and wildlife, you'll appreciate the Looksha V. The boat sells for $1,699. For more information: www.necky.com.

— Dan A. Nelson, special to The Seattle Times

Freelancer Dan A. Nelson, of Puyallup, is a regular contributor to Backpacker magazine, and an author of outdoor guides with The Mountaineers Books. For the purpose of review, gear manufacturers lend products, which are returned after a typical use of four to six weeks. There is no payment from manufacturers and they have no control over the content of reviews. Contact Dan with gear-related questions at gearguy@adventuresnw.net.