I have a question. I am very interested in buying a perception pilot pescador pedal kayak but want to try it and make sure it feels good before purchasing. Does anyone know where I can try one? It seems to have everything I want and I like the design. I just need to make sure it feels good before I commit to the purchase

Headwaters in lodi I believe does rentals.  Also I'm in Napa, and your more then welcome to give it a run.  I'm off weekends.

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Good luck! Keep us posted on how it works for you.

FWIW, I didn't have proper crimping tools and just used vise grips. Worked fine. I also put two crimps on each end just in case.

Well I'm hitting the water Amigo! Thanks for the advice! Worked like a charm, and runs better then it did.

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Quote from: kuhl35 on March 04, 2018, 09:24:06 AM

I'm a little worried though that wire may cut into the plastic at the angle its coming out..    I'm on the fence about it. I wanted to call perception cause the kayak is pretty new.

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I'd give 'em a call. Depending on how new the boat is, they might just send you the line. That fray-break points to either a faulty line or sharp attachment point wearing through the line.

As for cable, if it's heavier gauge (thicker diameter), I'd not worry about it cutting into the boat, but you're right, that exit angle seems oddly steep for what it's doing. That said, the vinyl coating on the cable I used is pretty thick, and the cable feels smooth, not abrasive. You'd want to keep an eye on the cable to make sure the coating isn't wearing down.

FWIW, this is the stuff I used:
https://www.amazon.com/Strand-Stainless-Steel-Coated-crimps/dp/B00NIX1MBW
in the 1.4mm size (400#) It's been great as my work out SIK's rudder line for about a year now, and I do push fairly hard on the pedals when paddling aggressively.

If you go the cable route, pick up some shrink wrap tubing to dress the crimp ends; I also like it for adding a little padding on the loop if it's going around something sharpish like a threaded bolt.

The only minor difficulty I had is some of the crimps were difficult to thread onto the cable because of the black coating. Trying different crimps worked to find ones that would fit.

I got what you suggested and am gonna pout it in this weekend with the rain.  I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks!

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I'm a little worried though that wire may cut into the plastic at the angle its coming out..    I'm on the fence about it. I wanted to call perception cause the kayak is pretty new.

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I've used 400lb black-vinyl coated shark leader. I think it was 7x7 cable. Came from amazon, included crimps, worked well.
I'd go with higher than 80lb test. The 400 is still quite thin and not hard at all to work with. I'd actually bought vectran line to do this, but it didn't fit through the channel for rudder-line on my boat.

Perfect, I'll go with that. Thank you sir!

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Deciding to either buy a pilot or a compass...hmmm.

Conundrum.

Any thoughts on the two?

Your more than welcome to come demo my pilot. It's been great so far, and for the price for a peddle drive it's great.  Putting it together was a bit of a chore,  the drive needed some fiddling to allow out to easily go from zero drag to deployed and its a bit loud  sometimes when peddling. No real hull storage Which makes storage and modifications a bit hard. The rudder is stiff and could use work.. and as all have said the rod holders are useless. I'm putting some yak attacks in their place.  But that's just the cons, in my opinion the pros still out weigh.  It tracks well, quick, light,  great layout,  easy to paddle, the drive is solid cast aluminium and holding up great with the salt,  and affordable!  And I'm 6' 4" and still comfy enough to put 7 mi down on the Napa river with a rod in one hand and a beer in the other! Let me know if you ever want to give it a whirl.

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Welcome! 8ft surgeon caught in Napa just recently.

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Nice catch!

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