Predator Take Two

    I am still working on my River trip footage so hang in there. In the meantime I received my replacement kayak today from Old Town!

    I contacted them September 8th. With some information and picture exchanges they sent it off for approval. Once approved  I cut out the serial number and shipped that via UPS. The new kayak arrived today (September 24th) Over all not too bad. The used Old Dominion Trucking to ship and the driver was helpful and friendly. He gave me time to unwrap the boat for a quick look over for damage. Some minor scratches at the rear bottom, but otherwise nothing seen yet.

    Now I need to put everything on it from the old one. I have to hold off on the rudder cable... they did not send the replacement tubing that runs inside the hole for the cable to slide through. I contacted customer service and they said they would send it right out!

I can't say enough about Old Town customer service. It has been a pretty painless experience. Other than having to cut that big hole in my yak!

I have a couple trips coming up and I hope to have the river trip post ready before I leave for those!

Retiring the Predator

    I went on a river trip up in Western Maryland (USA) last weekend and I wanted to post up some video of that trip but my old PC won't handle the footage from my GoPro very well. So I decided to wait until my new computer arrives before putting something together. I should have something around the first of October.

    Here are a couple pics to hold you over...

    The day after I returned home I got the bot in the driveway to clean it and my trailer off. I got a lot of mud on the trailer from the trip to the put in. And the boat had normal fishing grime on it from a weekend of river fishing.

    As I was preparing the boat for cleaning, I spotted a crack in the deck. After closer inspection I spotted another on the other side in the same spot.

    The early model predator 13 had some issues with this. I did not know if mine would develop it or not. I figured if it did it would take a while since I am not a heavy user of the boat. I may have 8 - 12 trips on it, give or take. But there it was, so time to contact Old Town.

    The Predator carries a lifetime hull warranty for factory defects and Old Town has outstanding customer service and they stand behind their product. I knew I would have no issues with the claim.

    They do require detailed photos as well as your serial number to verify the claim. Once approved they require you to cut out a 10 x 10 section to include the serial number. Once you have that you mail it to them and they send you a replacement.

CAUTION: Please confirm with Old Town that your covered before cutting your boat!

 Here is a video of the process....

    I sent off the package via UPS this morning so they should have it in a few days! I have two trips mid October, so I hope to have it resolved by then. As it is I will have to rush to get the new boat rigged up.

    Check back for the river trip post, it was a blast!