I guess I should have expected it from a bunch of fanboys and a group admin who's sponsored by Native.
Native customer service blew me off at first too. Until my dealer and his sales rep got the videos up the food chain at Native…. then I got an out of the blue apology email.
Anyway, here's some links to the videos. I'm not in the mood to argue about it, but here's some of the key points to consider:
Over 2 gallons of water got in the kayak in 4 hours of heavy rain.
Over 1/2 gallon in 2 hours of moderate rain.
Let's ignore the kayaking part of this.
Imagine driving in the rain for 6-8 hours and enough rain water gets in to overload your roof rack.
Before you tell me to flip the kayak over, I don't have that option. I have a hullavator on a van. It doesn't fit inside down.
I've been doing this for years with multiple kayaks, I've never had one leak like this.
https://youtube.com/shorts/gB165CMeWjg?feature=share
https://youtube.com/shorts/wQkV\_lfwkmA?feature=share
I tried a few fixes with no success. A liner on the cable stopped the leak, but the extreme angles that the design of the hull makes the cable go through eats a hole in the liner instantly.
Currently, I installed a new liner, and ran the cable externally, which works, but now the cable blocks a chunk of the rear tank well.
Native NEEDS to redo the molds and set up a place for the track to drain. They overlooked this because every other kayak they make has the tackle box storage area that allows the track to drain.
Anyway, watch the videos, I'm done ranting about this. It seems most people don't care. I do.
Posted by SaltyKayakAdventures
4 Comments
This is an issue with some kayaks. Talked to a guy at the ramp just today and he mentioned his Slayer had this problem. IT needs a fix.
But you got bitched at on the FB group because you were being a dick to people. I agreed with you on the problem….but not with how you handled things there.
i aint reading allat
I’m not familiar with native but yeah that’s an oversight that should be addressed in the next generation of that hull.
Granted I am talking out of my ass here but to me that feels like a solid “we’re sorry and we’ll resolve it next update, here’s a (accessory or gift card or something) as a consolation and for bringing this to our attention.
But, I’m not familiar with that boat. Is this only an issue if you need to run that line? As in, the hole gets drilled by the owner for install vice being part of the mold? Is that for steering I guess?
I’ve seen kayaks with flat spots to drill and I’ve seen kayaks where the hole is part of the mold and they would have a plug inserted.
Anyway. Just satisfying my own curiosity, I’ve actually never seen a native in person before.
Is this a common enough issue that there’s a workable solution out there? There are kayak manufacturers with a silicon sleeve I believe for this very purpose.
My Jackson had like these black tubes you could fish steering cables through, installed when the kayak is in the mold.
i have a slayer 10 max i pressure washed it for like 30 minutes and the hull stayed bone dry 🤔