Wow Jeff, I'm so sorry to hear about your experience.
I was so enthusiastic about mine, and I still am. I did however approach it gradually. I agree that the tracking is not so great, but that's when compared to another boat. I accepted that and adapted my paddling to get over it. I think had you guys had a chance to get it figured out first, it would have helped.
The hatch, however I agree is a complete waste. I have never used it without the cover on after seeing it once. And having tried it on my first dive out, I did step on my seat and fall right through into our 48 degree CA North coast water. Invigorating. So I keep it clipped shut, and I'd love to find an adhesive that would stick both to the nylon cover and the polyethelene gunwhale to close those two sides permanently. A buddy set his weight belt on it on the way back from freediving one day, and you know the rest... But that said, I think the boat is ok for two divers skindiving, or one with full scuba, but not two with scuba.
Just last week I finally put the Minn-kota Riptide 40 trolling motor on it. It was an extremely windy day, and that's exactly what the motor is for. I hoodwinked myself wonderfully, justifying the purchase as a safety measure in case winds act up as they can out here. I unloaded it near the mouth of the Russian River at at boat ramp a few hundred yards from the ocean thinking I'd break myself in on the river but not the ocean yet. But not being familar at all yet with the motor, man it was blowing, so I packed it back up and headed upstream 20 minutes where winds calmed some. I got it going, tried the first 4 speeds on the very slowly moving river, went in and out of the wind. They went from very pleasant 1/3 paddle speed crawl to moving about 2.5x paddling speed. Then I clicked it to the 5th speed and it slammed home into action so much faster in some kind of overdrive that it scared the hell out of me, it seemed to go so fast! I'd say about 3 times the speed I could paddle if I was really pushing it. I mean, ripples through the whole boat length as it moved over the water, with a bow wave and good wake, and *very* strong. I'm just thrilled with it, and love the idea that the downsides are well outweighed for my situation by the positives.
Best of luck on your quest for the right kind of boat. Perhaps, try his sometime in an easier scenario and consider if on scuba making it a one seater, and spare cargo boat for the buddy. They make the Coral Sea now, a one seater. It has no hatch, is almost exactly that much shorter at 9', would take a motor, and is more comfortable than mine. Also, coast guard regs require a life jacket, so I just bring one and put it under my seat to raise me up. That makes paddling way more pleasant. I bought my buddy Eli a Coral Sea, so I am familiar by real comparison from our trips out together. Diveyaks are not the cure for everything, but here on Northcoast, it's very cool to be able skip the boat ramp bidness, go shoot out and get to great dive spots so easily, and then just roll it up and throw it in the trunk or back of a truck and go home.
Peter
