Good starter yak?

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Any kayak that gets you on the water is a good kayak !

We started 20 years ago with little 9 foot long Keowees, which we still have and use with skirts in mild white water rivers.

When we realized that we loved paddling, and wanted to go faster and farther we bought longer sea kayaks with watertight compartments.
Mine is a seventeen foot plastic Perception Eclipse and hers is a 16 foot plastic Perception Shadow.
Then we made the mistake of entering a race, and quickly realized that we needed lighter and sleeker composite boats to be competitive.
I now have an 18 foot 21 inch wide carbon/kevler QCC-700 and she went with a 16 foot, 21" wide carbon/Kevlar QCC-10x
We still race our plastic sea kayaks in rocky river races.

We winter in the Florida Keys and do multi day camping trips out of our kayaks in the Everglades National Park as well as our daily paddles to the off shore Keys.
This past winter, we logged over 600 miles paddling.

Now lets talk about canoes which we have six of ?

Once you get hooked, there is no turning back !

Jack L

 
You've probably already taken the plunge but...I highly recommend you get something at least 12 ft. in length.  Anything shorter is a pain to keep going straight which takes some of the fun out of it and makes more work than necessary. Perception and Wilderness Systems offer some reasonably priced recreation boats that aren't tugs.  Hopefully you're already on the water somewhere!  ;D
 
My wife has recently become a lot more interested (and is getting me to that point to) in owning a kayak or stand-up paddle board.  Different animals I know, but some recent internet browsing taught me how much I have to learn about the various sizes/styles/configurations out there!
 
Due to my age and having had a stroke, my balance isn't what it once was, so the stand-up paddle board is out for me. Besides, I was taught that there is no need to stand up when you can sit down. ::)
 
I am more of a canoe person than kayak, but I do second the recommendation to get a longer kayak, at least 12 foot. We paddle with a group that includes a variety of kayaks, and the little ones take a lot of work to keep up with the others. We generally have to slow down to let them catch up. They have to spend so much energy going straight, they have trouble going forward <grin>.

As for standup boards, they are fun for exercise, but not for fishing or just hanging out on the water.
 
I'm also looking for a kayak.  My son and daughter in law  have little short 8' and 9' plastic ones and we used them the other day so that I could test the 8' out.  I went into the river twice because the kayak was so "squirrely".  It was hard to keep straight and when I hit strong current with an eddy it spun putting me sideways and I went over......The river was not extremely strong so I was surprised.  In fact I could stand up in it, there were pockets of deep water but not over my head.

I'm now looking at ones that are longer 10-12', wider based and have somewhat of a keel.  It still needs to be something that I can shove up on the roof of the car, which may be a problem.

Marsha~
 
kdbgoat said:
Nope, I haven't bought one yet. Still deciding.

I think it all depends on the type water you will be on and the type trips. A sit on top 10 to 12 feet is good for summer in larger water where as a small yak is good for creeks and small lakes.
 
scottydl said:
My wife has recently become a lot more interested (and is getting me to that point to) in owning a kayak or stand-up paddle board.  Different animals I know, but some recent internet browsing taught me how much I have to learn about the various sizes/styles/configurations out there!

Scott, if you have any interest in trying out a Sea Eagle inflatable, let me know and I'll bring ours down on one of our trips to Bloomington/Normal to visit the girl at school.  Perhaps an inflatable is of less interest to you, as you have the Suburban roof that could hold a hard shell.
 
Can I brag ?

My wife and I just got back from  MA where we raced our  canoe in the annual seven mile  North river Race.
We raced in the mixed doubles and took a second overall and won the 60 and over age group.

I am 80 and she is a young 78.

This coming Saturday we will be racing two races in the Dan river here in NC.
We'll do the first one in our tandem canoe, and in the second one I'll race my 17 foot plastic kayak and  she will race her 16 foot plastic kayak. It has some white water with rapids, so we will forgo the composite boats.

In Sept. we will race in the Adirondack 90 miler in up state NY our Kevlar stock canoe in the "Super veterans class".
The following week we will race our Kevlar racing canoe in the Lumber river 20 miler here in NC and then in October we will race the annual one day 50 miler in the Suwannee River from Fargo GA to white Springs Florida.

What does it do for us ? - Along with the training, it has allowed us to make great friends, (all younger than us, naturally) up and down the whole east coast as well as keeping us in good shape

Jack L

 
JackL said:
Can I brag ?

Yes! And congratulations on your performance, and wish you the best on the upcoming events.

One thing though- without pics, it didn't happen. ;D
 
Jack, that is outstanding and WAY TO GO keeping active and having fun!  My wife and I are about half your age, and hope to continue physical activities for as long as possible.  We just JUST "dipping our toes into" the idea of paddle-watercraft ownership.  My wife is a fitness guru so she's definitely most interested in a paddleboard, but I'd like to have a kayak also.

jagnweiner said:
Scott, if you have any interest in trying out a Sea Eagle inflatable, let me know and I'll bring ours down on one of our trips to Bloomington/Normal to visit the girl at school.  Perhaps an inflatable is of less interest to you, as you have the Suburban roof that could hold a hard shell.

Thanks for the offer!  I'll let you know, as no decisions are being made yet.  I'm hoping to come across a nice used kayak on Craigslist, where I buy most of my stuff.  ;)
 
Olustee bus said:
I think it all depends on the type water you will be on and the type trips. A sit on top 10 to 12 feet is good for summer in larger water where as a small yak is good for creeks and small lakes.
  Still looking but a sit in at 10 to 12 feet will be our first one and a sit on top second? Smaller water creeks and small lakes.
 
kdbgoat said:
Yes! And congratulations on your performance, and wish you the best on the upcoming events.

One thing though- without pics, it didn't happen. ;D

    It is impossible to take pictures of yourself when you are racing a canoe or a kayak, un less you have a go-pro, which we don't have but the proof is usually posted on line.

Check out the race results  search for: NSRWA great River race and you will see the latest and other years results too.

We have thousands of paddling pictures . I used to post unique wild life ones on Paddling .net

Jack L
 
Local Craigslist search (central Illinois for me) turned up these models in the last couple days:

http://lasalle.craigslist.org/spo/5702645462.html
Sun Dolphin Bali 12-ft Sit-On Kayak - $300 (advertised as nearly new)

http://springfieldil.craigslist.org/boa/5716382789.html
2001 Old Town 13-ft Kayak - $200

I never really thought about "model year" for a kayak.  Has anything changed on them in past years, or would plastic potentially be faded/brittle on something 15 years old?  Any opinions from experienced paddlers on a model where legs are more exposed (the Sun Dolphin) versus enclosed (the Old Town)?
 
scottydl said:
Local Craigslist search (central Illinois for me) turned up these models in the last couple days:

http://lasalle.craigslist.org/spo/5702645462.html
Sun Dolphin Bali 12-ft Sit-On Kayak - $300 (advertised as nearly new)

http://springfieldil.craigslist.org/boa/5716382789.html
2001 Old Town 13-ft Kayak - $200

I never really thought about "model year" for a kayak.  Has anything changed on them in past years, or would plastic potentially be faded/brittle on something 15 years old?  Any opinions from experienced paddlers on a model where legs are more exposed (the Sun Dolphin) versus enclosed (the Old Town)?
  I'm in Texas north of Houston Thx BTW
 
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