Thanks for the replies!
We are stoked about getting out on the water. CodyBM (my son) wanted to stop somewhere on the way home and do some paddling, but I told him we needed to wait till we had all our stuff ready. We plan on going on our maiden voyage real soon, but just for a little cruising at first, I want to get the feel for the boat before we start loading it up with a bunch of gear that I really don't want to get wet if we have an "incident". LOL
I want to say thanks to the guys over at Mountain Sports for helping out making some decisions on what was needed to get started. Josh was VERY helpful, answering our newbie questions and never tried to get us to buy something we didn't really need. We never felt pressured to buy anything from them. He said to take it out a couple of times to get an idea of what we may need first. GOOD ADVICE!!
That being said I also want to thank Mariner sails for their help also. They took the time to show us around their store and answer all our questions too.
I guess it just came down to the Cuda being ready to go with the set-up that the yak has straight out of the store. Nut much rigging for us to do at this point to get out there and catch some fish.
We are looking forward to meeting you guys out on the water.
And we love the colors too Cudadude!!!
Josh at MountainSports helped me out with mine also. Very cool guy.
I'll reiterate a third time, take your time rigging. I haven't drilled any holes in mine yet as I want to go out 4-5 times and get familiar with where my body parts and equipment are so that I know what will be in the way and what won't. Last thing I want is to be plugging holes that I drilled in the wrong places. Right now I've been going out with nothing but a rigged up milk crate and it's been plenty to enjoy myself.
I'll be adding a rodholder this week. Fishfinder in a couple weeks. Anchor trolley in a couple months. Slowly but steady.
One piece of advice: buy a dry bag. I got a 10-liter one from Academy and keep a spare change of clothes in it and put it in my front hatch. I got soaked on Saturday and it was freezing and I'm VERY glad I came prepared for it. I plan on just keeping a set of clothes I don't care about in there at all times, so I don't ever forget them. One thing I didn't have in there was a towel, which I'll be adding now.