"Chilco" in Adventure Kayak (2002-07-14) » View as Text

"Chilco" in Sea Kayaker (2002-04-15) » View as PDF

"“I am truly happy to say that I am now a proud owner of a Seaward Chilco. While relatively new to sea kayaking I have taken the time to “do the homework” before making my purchase. One of the results of these months of homework is being able to feel, first-hand, ingredients of your operating philosophy in action. Continue realizing your goal!” Mitchell Baclawski, Reno, NV " ~ Mitchell Baclawski, Reno, NV

"I was first introduced to Seaward Kayaks through many multi-week expeditions on the Gold Coast of Sonora, Mexico in the Gulf of California through my school, Prescott College. The school's fleet consisted mainly of HV Tyee's, a few old Navigators, Passsat G3's, and a Chilco. Students rotated through the boats so everyone had a chance to try them all, but whenever I could I chose the Chilco. The cockpit fit me perfectly and I was able to learn strokes and rescues much faster in the Chilco than in the other boats. It was a little more challenging to pack compared to the other higher volume boats, but I quickly worked out a system to fit tons of gear (including 40+ liters of water). After spending well over two months of travel in the various Seaward kayaks I decided that when I purchased a boat it would be a Chilco. Ever since my purchase I've been continually impressed with the quality and craftmanship that go in to Seaward Products. I mainly use it paddle on lakes and occasionally day trips in the Bay Area, but I have aspirations to take my Chilco on long range expeditions in the future. Bottom Line...Excellent Kayak!!!!" ~ CMeyer

"http://www.paddling.net/Reviews/showReviews.html?prod=1676" ~ Paddling.net

" Good morning Jacquie, Thanks for checking in. Yes, I spoke with Steve yesterday on the phone. He is taking care of it. I just wanted to say how incredibly impressed I am with your customer service and willingness to stand behind your product. You should all be very proud because that kind of excellence went extinct eons ago. I would buy your kayaks even if they were only second best wink emoticon I have already bragged about your ethics to a couple of my kayaking buddies and submitted a review to paddling.net praising you guys…that’s how impressed I am…and here’s the kicker: I’m the national Service manager of the company I work for, so I know what I’m talking about. Thanks again," ~ Wade Allenmand

"Prescott College owns a beautiful fleet of Seaward kayaks. In about 2001, we received funding to start replacing the aging fleet of fiberglass and plastic boats. The warehouse manager at the time (Tom Donovan) and newly-arrived faculty David Craig wondered about what to replace them with. Dave’s many year’s of experience meant that while he was confident of what not to purchase, he was also aware that there were a plethora of quality kayak fabricators out there. So Dave took his Sea Kayaking and Marine Natural History class to the West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium where the class methodically tried out the boats from various manufacturers. Each boat was assessed for appropriateness to the program. After a couple of days the results were discussed and documented. Then, after much more discussion with Tom, the decision was made to go with Seaward. The boats fit a wide variety of body shapes thanks to a flexible, but not busy, cockpit setup. Manufacturing quality was top-of-the-line. And the folks at the company seemed eager to develop a lasting relationship with us. That original fleet was made up of Navigators (an awesome, though burdensome, touring kayak that was later replaced by the Tyee) and Southwinds. Since that fleet was purchased we have replaced most of it twice. Our current fleet is made up of 7 Tyees, 2 Passat 3s, a Chilco HV and a Quantum. We continue to be extremely happy with the quality of service and product that we receive from Seaward Kayaks. Since I recently took delivery of a new Chilco last week, I’ll take this opportunity to compare the old with the new. In 2006, when that year’s new Chilco came in, I decided to go over it “with a fine tooth comb” since a) I was still new to Seaward products and, b) its my job as I am responsible for purchase and maintenance of a fleet of these boats. After an hour or so of going over all the fittings, playing with the rudder and control lines and giving a careful “hands on” inspection of the glass work and gel coat, I was perplexed: surely there had to be some flaw, somewhere. I asked another experienced instructor to assist me and we spent another half hour trying to find anything we weren’t satisfied with. Despite our best efforts, we were left without a single manufacturing defect to complain about. I couldn’t believe it, frankly. I simply had never encountered a new boat where I couldn’t find something that had been missed by the manufacturer – a small imperfection in the glass layup, cables crimped imperfectly, a screw left loose. It was obvious, to Seaward’s credit, that they had covered all the phases of construction with the highest caliber workmanship. The materials were the best available, the fittings and cables were overbuilt and oversized (I still have not had to replace any part of the rudder mechanism after three years of hard institutional use.) Now to this year’s (2009) boat. When the fleet of new boats arrived, I was pleased to see that Seaward continues to package their boats for shipping in what I consider a proper manner. Lots of high quality foam sheet and a bomber outside “scuff layer” of thick corrugated box paper. To make it any beefier they’d have to put it in a wooden box. Once the boats were unpackaged and inspected for shipping damage, I again took the opportunity to set the Chilco aside for more careful inspection together with assistance from another experienced boater. Here’s what we found. Glasswork: Seaward’s reputation for high quality glass layup work was reinforced for me. No cutting corners, 100% weave impregnation, everything finished cleanly. Easily some of the best work I’ve seen from any manufacturer. Of the 6 boats we received, we found only one flaw (an edge of glass tape had lifted slightly on the forward bulkhead). Gelcoat: Flawless as in ’06. Fittings: Good, but I noticed that the absolute attention to detail that I found in ’06 was missing: A screw loose on one of the deck fittings, imperfect knots on perimeter lines (though still functionally fine), and most notably, Seaward has replaced the high-density plastic aft skid guard (previous screwed on which made for straight-forward replacement) with a glued-on piece of what looks like PVC. I cannot help but imagine that the glue will fail with repeated rough landings, but I’ve been wrong about plastics and adhesives before – perhaps I’ll be pleasantly surprised. Seaward has also replaced their excellent (though somewhat fussy) foot pegs with a standard Seadog footbrace system. I will admit to limited experience with this system – we’ve only had them in boats purchased a year ago. However, its worth mentioning that the old system was fabricated almost entirely of stainless steel and aluminum while Seadogs are mostly plastic. Plastics technology has continued to evolve, I know, but I am still wary of plastic fittings. That said, I trust that the folks at Seaward have really given Seadogs a good testing-out before committing to installing them in all their boats. The hatch covers are still beautifully made and finished. The design is remarkable in that it allows for continued seaworthiness even if the cover is damaged or lost. A great expedition design found on several manufacturers boats and executed to perfection in the Seaward line. A final note on fittings: Seaward has gone to using internal control cables on their rudder deploy/retract cables. The control is a slider just to the paddler’s side. While convenient and good-looking, I have often seen this system fail when used for skeg control in other manufacturer’s boats. I do not look forward to maintaining this difficult-to-access system after the boats come back from a couple of months on expedition. The old “lines-on-the-deck” system was a joy to inspect and never failed me. Seats: Seaward has moved from their proprietary “loose cushion” seat to a more conventional molded plastic seat. If you are not familiar with their old seat cushion system, it is worth reading the review in Sea Kayaker magazine from a few years ago. It doesn’t look like it will function well but it does, and after comparing it to the conventional systems seen in most high-end boats I found it superior, placing the paddler low in the boat yet on a super comfy molded cushion. Furthermore, at the end of a day of paddling with the usual getting in and out of the cockpit (with accompanying sand and gravel), the cushion is easily removed allowing complete access to the entire cockpit sole for thorough cleaning. When I balked at the new seat system, Seaward kindly offered to outfit this year’s fleet with the tried-and-trusted cushions. I’m a big fan and I’m sad to see that Seaward has elected to drop this system in favor of convention. Customer service: Apart from the fact that the company is not open on Fridays and that they are closed most of August (during which everyone seems to be off paddling – a good thing for a kayak manufacturer, I suppose, but I’m jealous…), I’ve enjoyed very good service from everyone at Seaward. The owners (who often answer the phone) and staff really appear to understand my needs as an institutional boater and warehouse manager. To summarize: The ’09 Chilco is a top of the line boat from a reputable manufacturer. It is not an inexpensive boat, but you do get what you pay for: a well-design, beautifully outfitted watercraft that you will be proud of for many years. While there are signs of a slight dip in quality compared to boats made a few years ago, Seaward kayaks continues to manufacture boats that are of the highest quality industry-wide. " ~ Martin of Prescot College