Input wanted

Hey folks, over the weekend I put a 2011 PA on layaway as it was the last one that my local dealer had in stock and because I send a lot of business their way, they were willing to work with me a little on the price. Not much, but a little. Like the price of a Hobie cart. However, it is the green color. I like bright colors by nature, but I'm also a cheap-a$$. That's why I went with the 2011 as opposed to the 2012. However, I'm now beginning to think maybe I want a yellow one even if it does cost me a little more money. I wanted to get some other opinions from owners and see what you all think...

First, the boat I previously had was a mango Native Ultimate. I considered it to be a pretty visible kayak, but, still had boats run closer to me than I was comfortable with on more than one occasion. There's a lot of stupid running around out there and we all know you can't fix it. I always wonder what difference the bright color did or did not make as far as keeping me from getting run over. Can any of you all who have owned a dark boat and a bright boat comment on this?

Second, I'm concerned about light being bounced back up off a yellow deck while trying to sight fish. It wasn't a problem with the Native because I really never stood up to fish so no substantial part of the hull was bouncing sunlight back up at me. I wear sunglasses, but it seems to me it still might be a problem. Has it been a problem for those of you who have the yellow boats?

Another thing, I'll be towing the PA on a trailer behind a car. I think obviously brighter would be better as far as people not running over you/into you.

I'd like to hear all your comments.

Funny...I originally wanted the Olive colored PA and the store that I purchased mine, only had the Ivory Dune. (which I got)

If you will be fishing BIG or high traffic, motor boat waters...my strong opinion is the BRIGHTER the BETTER. I fish often and am not just a bank fisherman. The way I see it, the Pro Angler was made to explore, so I cover a lot of water and fish deep at times.

To stand out, I have a 5 ft reflective rod that has the American Flag attched to it. This gets mounted to a crate behind me. Also have reflective tape on my rails, crate, seat sides and back. This helps in more ways than one, as I also trailer my PA.

Whether on the road or on the water...there are those that do not pay attention 100% of the time. So, you will eventually run into some close calls. Makes only good sense in my opinion, to stand out as much as possible.

Also...a major problem is sun glare on the water...this to, is very dangerous when being passed by motor boats traveling 50-75 mph.

Congrats with your purchase and good luck out there.

All you need is a good orange flag. My first kayak was a dark green/camo color. I mounted an orange rod and flag to my crate. My PFD is yellow and I normally wear a blaze orange hat. I have had many boaters compliment the flag and PFD b/c of it's visability. BTW.......you are going to love the PA!

Jaz

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Kayak Corpsman, 2012 Hobie Pro Angler

You are going to have the pa for a long time. Get the colour that will make you happy. Think of it as less than a dollar a month for the time you have it to be happy with what you have. I find that if something seems important to me, like colour, even though it doesn't affect the operation of the device, you kick yourself later for not getting what you really want.

+1 g man

I have ordered the yellow (Paypaya), I like the look of the olive as well, but I think I will be happy with mine I've seen so many utube clips of the pro angler 1 awesome yak

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Pro Angler 2012 (Olive)

I can almost guarantee that I have seen every utube video with a pro angler .

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2011 HPA
2006 Wildy Ride 135
2019 Hobie Compass
2020 Hobie Outback

[quote]I can almost guarantee that I have seen every utube video with a pro angler ./quote]

It's funny you say that....I feel like I might have watched everyone of them, too.

Get the 1 that makes you smile ........... that said if you are concerned about the boat traffic then get the yellow or the 1 that gets you noticed. Had one of the our forumn (MKF) that got run over at a meet and greet last summer ........ and he had the flags and whistles etc .......

The greater the visibility, the less likely it is that anyone will run into or over you. But there's still no guarantee it can't or won't happen. Plenty of brightly colored boats get run over every year.

I have an olive 2010 PA. I like the dark color because it's easier on my eyes. But, I've installed the 3M highly reflective safety tape around the gunwale and on the back of the seat and I can promise you that my boat can be seen by day or night. That tape lights it up like a county fair.

So you can have the best of both worlds to some extent.

I know a few posters blow off the color of our yaks as non safety issues.

There is a reason why construction companies, school buses, crossing guards have gone to the yellows and bright yellow green colors.

Most people can see these colors.

My wife and I often walk on the pathways of our local river where there is basically no speed limit. We often seen some crazy stuff from jet skiers and other whackos running their boats, like jet skiers running into each other or whacking a bigger boat.

I will be going up down that area in my Pathfinder to get to kayak fishing areas. The yellow color will not protect me from the druggies, alcoholics and teenagers who don't give a damn

However, the highly visible yellow should help with the normal people running their watercraft up and down the river.

Red color blindness is not rare. My wife, who is still an office FP nurse sees this often hidden malady on a regular basis when she does vision checks. The scary thing is most of the non red seeing males have California driving licenses. A % of the red blind guys own watercraft.

For Christmas and my upcoming trips in a yellow boat, she bought several UA yellow tops for me. She has found a place to order yellow baseball hats and wider sun blocking hats.

I will figure out how to rig a yellow/hi res green flag on a non used fishing pole to put into one of the rod holders.

Life is a constant weighing of the odds. We can never be safe all the time nor do we want to be.

However, sometimes we make bad choices. Monday we ran into a friend a little younger than us, and we hadn't seen her one year younger sister at church. So asked how the sister was.

She is in a hospital with severe pneumonia. She didn't believe in the flu shot and refused the pneumonia shot. She got the flu and a severe secondary pneumonia which probably would have been blocked/prevented by getting the pneumonia shot as her pneumonia is caused by the pathogen the shot blocks.

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2009 Oasis
2012 Freedom Hawk Pathfinder

I can't read the name of your highly visible yellow color boat in your signature.