Native kayak manta ray 12 any good for a novice? I am interested in something to cruise the stono and creeks around it. I am average size 6 ft, 180 lbs. Want to fish as well in it. Any comments on this particular boat? One is for sale that I have located.
DD has one or two at Time Out for good prices. Native has the best seat in the kaak Biz. I’m going to be paddling a MR14 for the first time today. I can give you impressions compared to Tarpons , Redfish, and OK yaks later today.
There is nothing - absolutely nothing- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. Kenneth Grahame
I think you’ll find the MR12 to be just fine. If you have one found and the price is good for you, I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase it. Wilderness Systems’ Tarpon 120 is a fine boat as well and very similar in layout to the MR12.
I’m 6-2, 200 and am very comfortable in the MR 12.
Well, I padled several miles in my MR14 today and I’m impressed. I was by myself, so I don’t have a good feel for speed, but man o man, that yak paddles like a dream.
Seat is awesome, I was on teh water for about 6 1/2 hours without a case of yakass. The straps let me adjust the seatback from upright for paddling to a really comfy semi- recline when I was just kicked back driftingfor a while.
Cockpit is wider than a Tarpon, on par with a Redfish.
There is a drinkholder and a couple of recessed wells molded in. Nice, convenient, but a bit of a pain to clean when I got home.
Forward hatch is similar in size to a Tarpon, bigger than a redfish. very easy to stow gear, even 7 foot 1 piece rods
Rear tankwell is ample. Lots of room for my crate, soft sided cooler, bait bucket, and shoes that I forgot to leave in the car
This is a DRY RIFE!!! Footwells slope forward,so any water that comes in actually runs forward and drains.
I need to makea a couple more trips, but I think this yak could replace my Tarpon or Redfish easily.
If the 12 is even close to the 14, you can’t go wrong.
There is nothing - absolutely nothing- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. Kenneth Grahame
I have fished a Manta Ray 12 for almost two years now. I am 6’ 240lbs. It’s awesome. Very stable and comfortable. Probably not the fastest craft in the biz, but seeing as how I fish year round when water temps get down around 60, I prefer stability to speed every time.
I have the older model seat which is quite comfortable. The new ones look even more so!
I am pretty new as well and have Native 12 and it is great. I do have a question about when you turn one of these over or get swamped. How do you get the water out if completely flooded? I carry cut plastic milk jug but no pump. I figured I can scoop faster than I can pump but if it is completely swamped what do you do?
robkelly
Are you paddling a Manta Ray or an Ultimate? For the Ultimate you’d really need the fore and aft skirts to ever be able to bail it out in anything other than dead calm conditions. If it was dead calm you probably wouldn’t have fallen out or flipped in the first place.
Your BEST bet is to do a boat on boat assisted rescue like we teach the Boy Scouts in Canoeing. This is about as close to haw we teach it in the Merit Badge course as I’ve seen.
http://books.google.com/books?id=BvPtL_SsnMMC&pg=RA1-PA27&lpg=RA1-PA27&dq=boat+on+boat+assisted+rescue&source=bl&ots=Rm6oW3J9bx&sig=mx7OFsjX0o0JPVoEAJlWODp_2Do&hl=en&ei=dW-dSqv6Go7xnQeGxP2DBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8#v=onepage&q=boat%20on%20boat%20assisted%20rescue&f=false
There is nothing - absolutely nothing- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. Kenneth Grahame