"bub" wrote in
:

Thanks, I looked at Paddling.net and they have a lot of useful reveiws.
However, usually only the folks who really like the boats write
reveiws.

That's often because the people writing the review are those that have
bought the boat that they're reviewing. I've also seen some very misleading
reviews. Someone posted a review of a Nordkapp as "the perfect size and
price for a beginner on a budget".

Good info anyway. I read the posts here everyday and have read
a lot of good things about P&H but not much specific to the Orca.

I've never seen an Orca and P&H is often pretty slow about updating their
web site. Like someone else mentioned they rate it as having the highest
amount of stability of any of their boats.

My
wife and I paddle Wisconsin and UP lakes mostly and are looking forward
to the day when we have enough skill/confidence/strength/etc.. to go
out on the big ones, i.e., Superior and Michigan. Hope we get that far
before we get too old to do it.

Do you really want a boat with a lot of initial stability if you're hoping
to develop the skills necessary on big water? A boat with a lot of initial
stability, by definition, resist a tendency to edge the boat, a skill that
you'll need when paddling rough water. Since it will be harder to edge/tip
it will be more difficult to learn how to brace as well.