Back in the summer of 2015 I got my first creek boat and it was a Pyranha Shiva Small. My first run in it was on the Upper Nantahala, after that I used it on the Upper Gauley, Tellico, and the South Sauty.
The boat was perfect, every boof I hit, the boat just flew of it. Since the Shiva has high bow rocker it punches through any hole. With the rounder hull the landing off waterfalls is soft and if you mess up the boat resurfaces really fast; I learned that when I took my boof stroke too early on the Tellico at Baby Falls, which is about a 15 foot drop.
The Shiva is made to push harder lines, which is one of the things I love the most about it. I love to find the hardest lines of creeks and try to make them even harder, sometimes the lines I take are not even lines you should take. The deck profile of the Shiva makes rolling a piece of cake; I wouldn’t usually be able to hand roll a creek boat or most boats bigger than a play boat, but since the deck also has a good distribution of volume, it snaps right up, so if you were to be paddling off a really big waterfall where you have to throw your paddle away, the boat will roll right up as long as you know your hand roll or if you flip on a big rapid and you lose your paddle, you can roll up, and it is like you were using your paddle. That’s how easy it is.
The outfitting is like sitting on a pillow, at least for me. With the new C4S seat it gives you three different chunks of foam to put under the seat, you can get so comfortable sitting on the seat; once you get the seat to where you want it, it is practically bomb-proof. Once you have your bomb-proof outfitting, you’re ready to take the boat on the water. I can’t say how much I love this boat, it is perfect for me and it just might be perfect for you too!
Hope to see you on the water,
Cat H.