Gear Review: Live L4 Expedition Paddleboard
Late last summer, while standup paddling, I watched a fisherman glide up atop a seafoam green multihulled paddleboard. Though pushed along by a trolling motor, he was gracious enough to stop for a quick overview of his 14-foot Live Watersports L4 Expedition. The dude was armed: battery box, tackle box, a Yeti cooler for a seat, a side track/rail system to hold rods, a cupholder, and a paddle. He’d fashioned a throttle control handle from a length of PVC and simply slipped it over the end of the tiller handle to pilot from mid-board. An aluminum bolt-on mount held the motor and beige no-slip EVA decking kept his feet cool. It was badass.
I’d seen these setups before on social media. Jimmy Buffett even had a Live 12-foot “Mango” fishing model he co-designed with company founder John Cleckner. Buffett used to strap his to a flats boat to reach yet skinnier water. My son was in search of a small boat for himself, and wondered how one of these 70-pound multihulls—shorn with a gas kicker—might compare to a 600-pound skiff for our local waters. I pinged Cleckner and soon enough, was shoving off with a $3099 twin-hulled L4 Expedition “microskiff” from our backyard dock. Instantly, I discovered that these boards make tons of fishing sense. First, they’re incredibly stable. Second, the cat design means they draw mere inches of water depending on how close you are to their 700-pound load limit, and third, with their sleek sponsons, they’re incredibly quiet on the flats where a ripple on a hull could spook a jumpy red or bonefish.
Since then, my son and his friends and I have experimented with the board—a lot. The L4 is pretty heavy. One can lug it, but a two-wheeled trailer is better. It paddles very fast and is remarkably maneuverable for its size. It is quite high-sided though, so with a beam breeze, staying on course requires considerable effort in any wind over 8 knots (a good excuse for a tandem-paddling date). Our board also came with a pair of quality surfboard fins that hand snap into boxes at the back of each sponson. These definitely help maintain direction in mild following seas and crosswinds, but they also increase the draft by six inches and catch on marsh grass if you’re in seriously skinny water (but you can pop them out for that skinny water too). To hold position, you could mount a mini power-pole (yes, they actually sell these), but we just toss over a small anchor.
My eager son bought a six horsepower short-shaft Yamaha kicker off Craigslist. We thumb-screwed the incredibly lightweight, SUP Customs motor mount to the stern, and bolted on the gasser. We quickly learned that the mount, motor and human weighs the stern down when you’re trying to start the motor. You can counteract that with another human or a big battery or ice-filled cooler up front, but barring that, you’re on your knees right at the waterline to pull start—a wet and unstable process. And even with a counterweight, don’t expect choking, priming, starting and running a gas motor—while attached to a kill switch—to be simple. We also found that while L4s are sleek and gorgeous, a six-horsepower outboard is only fun to maybe 15 knots. They are just not meant to go the considerable speed a six (or higher)-horsepower kicker can push them—especially without the fins—you’ll chine walk.
No, the elegant solution is an electric drive and a good deep-cycle or lithium battery. We kept it simple, with a Minn-Kota trolling motor and an AGM that keeps the speed around 4 to 5 knots. The board’s so stable that we have yet to dump anything overboard. Mostly though, I prefer engine-less simplicity; paddling to a secret spot near home to cast from the board or sand never gets old. I get a solid workout, and I’m much more in tune with all the wildlife—especially the dolphins and tailing reds. And that, to me, is what these remarkable paddleboards are truly all about.
Live L4 Expedition Paddleboard Specifications:
LOA: 14’
Beam: 2’10”
Draft: 3”
Weight: 70 lb.
Price: $3,100
This article originally appeared in the December 2024 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.
View the original article to see embedded media.
Source: https://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/gear/gear-review-live-l4-expedition-paddleboard
