Pelican Premium Icon SACAGAWEA and CLARK

We wanted a couple of kayaks, found that we liked the ease of getting on and off the Sit On kayaks after trying a Sit In kayak. The 10 foot Pelicans are fun to take out for a few miles and the open hull makes it easy for us to check for stowaway critters before we hop on board.



Length: 10′
Beam: 30.5″
Depth: 16″
Cockpit: Open
Weight: 52.5 lbs.
Max Capacity: 325 lbs.
Hull Material: Ram-X
Front Hatch: Quick Lock Hatch
Flush Mount Rod Holders: 2
Seat: Adjustable Padded Backrest With Seat Cushion
Foot Rest: Adjustable Footpegs



02 May 19:

Skipper pushing the Fun Button on her rechristened kayak SACAGAWEA.


Paddled about 2 miles, light breeze. Saw stingray, redfish and mullet. A few osprey.

27 Nov 19:

Took out CLARK and SACAGAWEA to chase dolphin. They swam faster than we could paddle.


06 Apr 20:

Paddled 30 minutes, watched osprey.

12 Apr 20:

The kayaks were jealous because SCOUT went out for a paddle, so we took them out for a half an hour. We were sore from paddling SCOUT the day before, so the kayakfest was more of a stretching exercise.


The kayaks are Pelican Premier Icons, 10 footers, they have held up well being stored against a tree in the back yard. Sit on top with adjustable foot rests, easy to get in and out of. Light weight, our lightest boats.

09 Jun 20:

We have had our kayaks 7 years and they get exposed to a lot of sunlight, it was time to replace a few of the carry handles and the seats as they were UV damaged. The seatt back zippers failed and the covers were faded. The handle webbing tore away on one end, leaving a weak handle attached on only one end. We were pleased to find that the manufacturer Pelican has a nice Parts tab on their website so we ordered new comfort carry handles, seat bottoms and seat backs. The parts arrived and they came with the installation hardware, a choice of 3/16th inch closed end rivets or screws.

Skipper suggested leaving the old hardware in place and drilling new holes, but I of course wanted to drill out the old rivets and get rid of the old seat back panel. The first rivet was drilled cleanly but the second got chowdered up and left a hole that was too big for the rivet. I figured out later I could have left the old plastic seat back tab in place, maybe trimmed down to just the small base, with the oscillating multitool, and installed the rivets right through it. I ended up drilling two new holes just above the old holes and sealing the old holes with 3M 4000 Marine Sealant.


The other seat I was more careful and drilled the rivets cleanly. For the seat strap attachments on one boat I drilled the old rivets and on the other I cut the old webbing at the attachment point and installed the new strap right next to it. Then for the handles I cut off the old webbing and attached them right next to the old attachment points. 4 new carry handles spread out over 2 kayaks.

The new seat bottom gel is not as thick as the old seat, but it was not worn and we use our own extra cushions anyway. The RamX material that the kayak is made of has held up amazingly well.


We like the Premium Icon because the foot rests are adjustable, and we have other kayakers in the family who are tall. We also like the high visibility yellow hull. New carry handle on the bow, makes dragging the kayak down to the beach easy.


Skipper's boat SACAGAWEA has pink duct tape tabs on the bow and stern, her pedals usually don't get moved. On the other boat CLARK we have marked pedal positions with Sharpie so they can be reset quickly.


13 Jun 20:

We took out SACAGAWEA and CLARK to test out the new seats and carry handles. They didn't sink so I guess I drilled the new holes in the right spot. Skipper still likes her Greenland style paddle, light weight and she scoots around with ease.


We enjoy the fact that the kayaks only weigh 42 pounds, they are easy to move around. The new seat back has a little more lumbar molded into it, we found them more comfortable on our backs than the original seats.


18 Jun 20:

...okay, she didn't run aground, she was just beaching her kayak. Keeping an eye out for marauding squirrels, they were on the hunt for peanuts.


19 Jun 20:

30 minute paddle. Found out that paddling backwards is a great triceps exercise. Oranges for breakfast on the boat.

21 Jun 20:

Father's Day paddle. Taunted by small dolphin. Saw one at first, then three. They circled us, we think they were making a bubble net but got bored. 40 minutes, light wind from the NNW, 75F with water temp 78F.

06 Jul 20:

30 minute paddle in our Pelican Premium Icon kayaks SACAGAWEA and CLARK. Skipper backs off the beach using her Greenland style paddle. She likes its light weight and the handle is just the right length for her that a lot of long, thin paddle ends up in the water for the power stroke.


The new seats and handles have been holding up great.


28 Aug 21:

We scouted out a new local spot on the James River, turns out it will be a great place to beach launch the smaller boats and it also has a boat ramp and docks. Our 5x10 Carry On utility trailer is the perfect size for the 2 kayaks Clark and SACAGAWEA, I launched Skipper then came back to get my kayak with our new Railblaza C-Tug, a versatile cart that is going to work great for the kayaks and canoe. (Small Boats Magazine C-Tug article).


Posing for article photos.



Skipper floating around the area where her ancestors wandered over 400 years ago.




The kayaks are now river certified. One more accomplishment today was testing out the layout of our boat yard, we hoped to have room to pull into the yard and make a U-turn with the tow vehicle and trailer(s), so far so good. One of the appealing aspect of small boats is the ability to keep them at your home, on the side of the house, or in a parking spot, garage, Sunfish Shack etc...They are easy to maintain and work on, and easy to transport. We spent many years with 2 small sailboats, and when we found a property close to the water and with a little more room, we expanded from a flight of 2 boats to our current Armada of 15.


Small boating is our hobby, with the subset hobby being restoration of the physical craft. At our new Station we will be shifting focus a bit to the beneficial aspects of restoration of the soul, through the use of these boats. We have new territory to explore, and many ways to get there. And we'd like to hear about your adventures.

 05 Sep 21:

We had 2 broken carry straps on our Pelican Icon kayaks so I ordered replacement parts from Pelican months ago, they arrived, we moved and I actually found them in our large pile of boat bits.

i had replaced the other 2 straps before, and found it was best to leave the old strap rivets, cut off the old strap and drill new holes for the new straps.



Here are the threaded screw inserts.



We used the screw to screw in the insert, then removed the screw to attach the strap.



Skipper's kayak gets identification tape.


 29 Jun 23:

It was time to road test the new Malone MicroSport so we headed out to our spot on the lower James River with our Sunfish WAVE and Icon kayak SACAGAWEA. The trailer rode smooth and quiets, the boats stayed strapped securely to the pads and racks and we were raiding the beach in no time flat. The beach is mostly coarse sand with a good amount of pebbles and also remnants of crumbled brickwork from an old waterfront oystering business. Hard to medium packed sand and a shola bottom make this beach a good spot to dolly launch


We got Skipper rigged and launched, WAVE dcsided to fly her true colors today. 


Skipper headed out to Marker 5 and said hello to an osprey. 


Meanwhile I took a few photos and launched the kayak to be the photo ship.





Next we tested out the double paddle that we made last year.  The paddle is light in weight and the blades are a good size for our leisure paddling, but we can dig in if needed. 



Once again the Dynamic Dolly proves it is worth every penny spent, I was able to unload and load both the kayak and the Sunfish and roll them down the beach to our base camp. The kayak is light enough that we threw our beach chairs and snacks inside of it for the ride back to the car.



The Sunfish slid easily onto the dolly and loaded just as smooth back onto the MegaWing racks. We had plenty of tie down points and more than enough straps, we plan to use some shorter Malone straps as we fine tune our tie down routine. 


SUPER SANDY ST had the tow vehicle honors today.


to be continued...

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