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Not that I know of but I would be surprised if someone hasn't at least attempted it.

@@Ad-ventures-out I’m asking cause me and my dad are going to try it either this summer or next for charity wanted to know if we were gonna be the first to ever do it

kind of did yeah!

yeah when the weather improves I will do some proper trail runs on the gravel paths but at the moment I am sticking to the asphalt paths.

yeah i think so, maybe some gym visits or long walks on off days until I get to a comfortable 5k

Cheers David

Cheers David

Yeah thats what Im working on the basis of, then you have a day to look forward to. I think once I start parkrun again that day will be Saturday but the wife and i Have decided to do friday nights for now.

Thanks, will do!

Yeah I have always been a spring to summer runner but it means I have to start again every March and barely make it to 5km by summer. Its a habit we both need to break by the sounds!

@@Ad-ventures-out Defo !! 👍💪

Cheers, I appreciate the support!

Thanks mate.

Giving up completely is something I have considered but I haven't felt the need as I drink in fair moderation. We will see at the end of February though!

Sorry to hear that dude, is there something in particular thats stopping you are is it like me, just getting out the front door is the hard part?

Just been to lazy I suppose@@Ad-ventures-out

Thanks mate, sound advice!

Thanks mate, yeah just trying to give myself a bump start so when the spring comes I can already fit into my t-shirts and run a 5k hopefully!

Yeah and its not going anywhere soon with more rain due.

Thanks Carlos, yeah I saw you review, I pretty much agreed with everything you said.

Yeah the weather has been rubbish,. I have not been out since this holiday which was over a month ago now. Hopefully its going to pick up for a bit and we can get some trips in. You should come! Although sorry to hear about her knee, hope it gets better soon.

@@Ad-ventures-out yeah I have to say the awful weather has at least made the fact my knee has land ridden me not toooooo awful lol! And hoping it’s warm still when I’m back from holiday so I can get out! And def need to go out with you sometime but may be next year now lol

I'll be using just a low budget intex k2

You will be fine, there has been quite a bit of rain since I filmed this and the river is back to a normal level. Enjoy, its a nice place to paddle.

@@Ad-ventures-out thanks pal

For dramatic effect. When they have young they can be pretty aggressive though.

Yeah I think they are pretty much the same, the only significant difference in the boat is the placement of the drain hole which is in front of the seat in the Ottowa versus behind in the Optimal. The rest is in the accessories which are not great from either boat, the seat is maybe a bit better on the Optimal (but only from 2022 onwards) but the paddle is only ok (I have replaced mine with a carbon blade paddle) and the bag is rubbish quality. However, what set them apart for me was customer service, I never found a single complaint about Sandbanks Style but there are a few knocking about for the suppliers of the Aquatec but if nothing goes wrong with the boat then its dont matter.

@@Ad-ventures-out I am using an Aqua Maria padded seat with the Ottawa, the back is mid-height but wraps around the back giving excellent support. The paddled base combined with my gel pad worked a treat on my first 10-mile outing. Yes, a ditched the paddle straight away, the accessories are rarely of decent quality, but they are good enough to get people out on the water without the initial additional expense. Happy Paddling Dave 👍

Thanks! In this video I was just using the paddle which came with the kayak, which is just a cheap two piece plastic paddle which is ok but not great. However, two weeks ago I upgraded and look out for a future video where I go for my first outing with it. It will be the video after next, one more video coming with the old paddle.

Sorry, I show it in most but must have forgot. I do mention the make and model in the video. It will be featured more in the next one

I have done it, a few times. I think its a pretty good choice for this as an inflatable "sit on top" effectively. Its quite tricky to not get tipped out but its definitely doable with practice. I have never tried it on another kayak to see how it compares but I imagine its a little easier with a hardshell sit on top.

I would have both if I could but I am very much a fair weather kayaker and for that I prefer a "sit on top" which the sandbanks optimal is.

@@Ad-ventures-out I now own the Blue Sandbanks 👍🏻 treated it to an Aqua Marina seat. Great videos and thanks for the informative content.

I am in the UK, I am not aware of any dealers in the US I am afraid.

I own the Optimal and it's extremely stable, too stable actually. I would have liked the width trimmed down a bit to be honest. Speed wise it's pretty good, I don't know how it compares to the best tube sided kayaks but I would imagine that it beats them. I'm 182 cm (5'11) and I can use the end of the cockpit as a foot brace with some seat adjustment. As for water getting in it will happen, it's just the nature of open cockpit kayaks. This is actually a problem if you plan on using it outside of the summer as you will get wet. It's why I now use a aluminium frame seat instead of the seat that comes with the kayak. It's way more comfortable, better strokes and I don't get wet. The seat that comes with the kayak is the worst thing about the kayak I'd say. It has almost no padding, moves around which causes the backrest to fall and it's hard to adjust right.

I would personally not go for the Explorer, nothing to do with Sandbanks Style but I think 3 chamber full drops stitch boats just don't appeal to me. They are much less stable than the 2 chamber models like the Optimal. I think they only really benefit from more storage space if you want to do camping or multi day trips. If I wanted a boat for that I think a hybrid is much more versatile than a 3 chamber drop stitch. You do get wet I am afraid in the optimal, as you say its basically a sit-on-top inflatable kayak. A sponge is enough to bail most of it out I have found, it has only been once on a pretty choppy sea I thought I wish I had a pump to bail. The seat isn't great as the floor is very hard at the recommended 10-12 psi. An additional foam or similar material pad under or on top of the seat base is definitely worthwhile if you are going to spend more than a couple hours at a time paddling. I tend to use my dry bag as a footrest wedged against and partly under the bow. It works fine for me at 5'10".

You can buy an inflatable footrest that fits the Optimal. I have one.

Thank you, you are right. Because of that, I might not buy that particular one again. It was the price that attracted me. Normally dropstitch boats are far dearer. I have discovered thou that inflating it no more than 10 psi helps. Not used it a lot recently as had covid which completely floored me…would you buy it again?

@@enricakita1 I think this is in response to the other comment that was directed at you but that's alright. Yeah inflating it to say 6-8 psi would probably help a little bit. I have been doing 10-11 psi, might try 8 psi next time actually. I might not buy it again however I don't really regret the purchase. I have since found two or three vessels that would have probably suited me better but I have made a couple of modifications to the Sandbanks to make it a lot more comfortable for longer trips and it's faster as well as suitable for fishing. Got a low sitting aluminium frame seat and a new glasfiber paddle (the paddle that comes with the kayak is terrible). I have also attached a rod holder at the back so that I can troll fish. I'm going to attach a paddle holder on the side and another skeg mount possibly two for two smaller side skegs (total three) for added tracking and speed. The additional skegs should also help a bit with the front wind problem as the kayak will be tougher to turn. The downside of it is of course that it will be less manoeuvrable. But just because the mounts are there doesn't mean that you have to use them of course so can still go with the one skeg depending on the place I'm paddling at.

Unfortunately not as I am a wimp. But I am back into it now and caught the bug after my first trip of 2023 a couple of weeks ago.

Great, I am thinking of taking my caravan there in August.

Not really I can use the front lip of the cockpit most of the time.

@@Ad-ventures-out ah! I don’t find that comfy so I wedge an inflatable cushion under the rim and that helps a lot. Would you buy that boat again ?

@@enricakita1 No because I already have one 🤣. Sorry, seriously so far I would but it depends on how long it lasts. I can see my buying an Itiwit x500 at some point for less-than-fair weather paddling as this one is definitely at its best on a warm day in calm water. I have only minor complaints (review coming when I have time) and generally been very happy with it. What about you?

@@Ad-ventures-out well this is my 4th inflatable (I do also have a skin on frame kayak and needless to say it is a zillion times better, but I can’t take it in motorhome so need something portable) and the Sandbanks is way better than some tho my very cheap aquamarina Betta is a good runner up performance wise tho not drop stitch. My first one was a challenger…what a piece of crap, lol, yet I thought at the time it was the bees knees! I had considered the itiwit but was put off by so many ppl saying it is unstable. Must admit the price is what did it for me in this one. I think it does cope in less than flat conditions pretty well and does feel very stable. The problem with all inflatables is the lightness, so they can be very good and great fun in waves but hellish hard to paddle against the wind. I must admit I was hoping this one would cut through the waves better than the others but it’s a ….slapper just the same.😂😂😂but overall I think I would probably buy it again

@@enricakita1 Yeah it doesn't cut through as much as I hoped it would but I guess no inflatable really is going to. This is my second inflatable kayak, the first was a Sevylor Wabash (which was basically a blue Madison but exclusive to Decathlon at the time) which was good but was a bit slow and ungainly but lasted me a few years. I would love a hardshell and probably could store one in my garage but I am buying a caravan for next year and kayaks on roof racks and towing a caravan doesnt seem like a good idea to me.

Yeah it looks a pretty nice one too, my parents have been but about 25 years ago. Its www.pantyronnencampsite.co.uk/

Hi David, no problem. I am glad you managed to sell your hardshell, it sounds like an inflatable is the way to go. I would quite like a hardshell, maybe a sea kayak, but I wouldn't be without my inflatable. I am planning some public transport assisted trips which would be obviously impossible with a hardshell. Funnily enough my wife and I have been looking at buying a touring caravan for next spring. We have been campers for so long, not so much in recent years for various reasons, but this trip to Weymouth rekindled the interest. However, we think our days of sleeping on a tent floor are probably over so we are thinking about doing some caravan trips so I can use my kayak, so maybe we can organise a meet up in Devon. Let me know if you need a sounding board for which inflatables you are looking at, my email address is on the about page of my channel if you would prefer to send me an email.

@@Ad-ventures-out Thanks Ad will keep in touch using your email .

Thanks. Yeah I looked at the Aquatec, a very similar design and a good price to be fair, I will take a look at your review! I think a lot of my issues with the seat were user error and mainly to do with the old PFD I was using. I have since switched to a yak high back and its much more comfortable on my 40 something year old back. I think the tippiness (thats a word!) is about right. I was comparing it to my old Sevylor Wabash which was low pressure and much more sit in. The sandbanks does have a little movement, just enough to make it interesting but its secondary stability is superb, I think it would be a challenge to capsize it. I have a video coming up of using it in pretty choppy seas in Llandudno and I felt pretty safe even when side on to the waves. I also want to trying using it as a SUP as I think it is more than capable.

@@Ad-ventures-out I bought a high back pfd too and it's way better because the back padding is higher than the seat back. We have a tandem version of this style of kayak and initially we did have some issues with the front seat collapsing back a bit but we found a way to counteract this and if you get the straps right then it's not such an issue. It would help if they put the front D-rings on the sides of the cockpit rather than the floor of the cockpit imo since it would keep the seat back more upright rather than the straps pulling the seat back downwards. Look forward to your Llandudno video. The Aquatec does not seem to wobble at all (unlike a 3 panel drop stitch yak I bought which does wobble constantly but does have secondary stability).

David, sorry for the slow reply. Thanks for watching. I will definitely take you up on that. Ill keep an eye on the weather and let you know. Maybe in a couple of weekends time.

@@Ad-ventures-out yes let me know the only weekend I can't do at the moment is the 10th and 11th September I'm going down south to see my son after that I'm free

Ok fair enough, I can't do this weekend as I already have plans but if the weather looks ok, maybe weekend of 3rd and 4th September?

YES Ad that's OK with me

Yeah its definitely too short, i catch it on the sides of the boat more than I would like.

Thanks Wayne, the earbuds just don't stay in on a warm day when my ears are sweaty :D

Have you thought about bone conduction not the best audio quality but you can hear everything around you as well. Particularly usefull on a bike for traffic etc. Not sure if my aftershocks are fully waterproof so maybe not for the kayaking

I have and that's maybe where I will end up when the ones I am using get lost or break. My wife has some essentially prototype Aftershocks from almost a decade ago but I didn't like them for music as the audio quality was poor as you say. Also I have a hearing issue so have to have them loud which means they were actually tickling my head, it was weird. But I wonder if they are better now and I also mostly listen to podcasts on my runs these days so audio quality is less of a concern.

I agree with all of this though I don't find the seat too bad, a high back PFD was a game changer for me but I could still do with a bit more padding under the bones of my butt. I am probably going to add a thin cushion at some point. The point about the skeg is so true. I tried it without just a couple of days ago for the first time, as I want to use it in faster flowing, shallower water but as soon as you stop paddling for any more than a couple of seconds, the stern has overtaken the bow and you are looking back at where you came from (may do a video on this but I wasn't filming at the time). As you say though, universal mount so I think I will buy a shorter skeg for these kind of paddles. I have had a couple of other minor niggles with it which I will save for a review video in the next couple of weeks, nothing major though.