> I just got a new kayak as a gift and don't know much about them at all.
> It's a 2-person Wilderness Systems Pamlico Excel. I know that it's a
> touring kayak. Will it work as a sea kayak? I'm thinking of (eventually)
> taking it on the coast of Lake Michigan. Any other comments about this
> model?

> thanks!

Two good friends of mine do a lot of fly fishing from their Pamlicos for stripers, blues, false albacore and bonito in the semi-protected waters around here in the vicinity of Eastern Long Island and Fisher's Island Sounds. Although their cockpits are a little too open for my taste, they swear by them and I've seen them go out fishing into some pretty choppy rips around Watch Hill.Of course they wear neoprene waders (which are buoyant) on the water to keep dry from all of that wave and paddle spray. Neither one of them uses their boat as a double however and the huge cockpits allow them to carry everything from fishfinders to anchors, camcorders and spare rods. I've found that those Pamlico's do offer an incredible amount of primary stability, one guy even uses his as as dive boat. I warn them not to become complacent however about that rock solid feel, because high primary stability is not as desirable a characteristic when the waves start growing.Of course they won't listen to me until one of them capsizes. If they do go over, it's a cinch to reenter a Pamlico but a real chore to bail all of that water back out.