Picked up a fun new hobby - kayaking!

[cantdrv55]

Originally posted by Evans, Marv
I have a plastic (Frenzy I think, bought 7 or 8 years ago) sit on top that I like to paddle around on. I like them because they are light & tough & simple. The other reason I like mine is that I love to ride the surf on it. What fun to ride it in, paddle out & do it again! Also it fits just right inside my pick up truck bed.

I saw pics of folks swimming alongside sit-on-tops (SOT) while snorkeling too. If I lived in SoCal or Hawaii, I'd definitely own SOT.

[KevinP73]

Originally posted by cantdrv55


I'm going to stay out of salt water. I just read two stories of shark attacks. Non-fatal but stil...

If your doing it correctly your actually ON the water and NOT IN the water. I'venever heard of a shark attacking a kayak. But there is the video of the whale breeching and landing on the kayaker although the validity of that video is not confirmed.

[cantdrv55]

Sharks galore up here in NorCal. Here are a couple of old articles:

http://www.bask.org/frame.html

Go to the "Articles" section

[JavaBrewer]

I heard a windsurfer disappeared while surfing to the islands (which one I don't know). They found his board with a big ass bite out of it. Be careful out there guys...

[Seahawk]

Originally posted by nostatic
oh great, another hobby to pick up. The boy has kayaked at beach camp, I never had. But I'm an ocean junky, so maybe I'll have to try it with him. I assume one can rent a 2 person? I'm a strong swimmer and he's pretty good too.

Ocean kayaking is great...but you may want to try surf kayaking in a white water boat, when you get the time.

The designs for each specialty vary dramatically...an ocean or touring kayak has as much in common with a white water kayak as a Hummer does with your track car.

An ocean boat is designed to be stable and track well in open water. River boats are designed to be quick and require more attention.

There are also "tweener" designs that sorta do both well, both open and closed shell.

I grew up kayaking (my first boat was a Phoenix Slipper...fiber glass FGS!) and later worked as a rafting guide on many rivers in the west. Advances in kayak designs have been amazing. I currently own an old Perception XT that I still paddle on East Coast rivers and an open shell boat for the Potomac.

I am trying to justify an investment in one of the new boats...

[Seahawk]

Originally posted by procon
Sleep tandem, paddle solo.
Best advice I ever received regarding the sport.

You are wise, Obecon

[Drago]

Originally posted by procon
Sleep tandem, paddle solo.

After paddling an open double with the much-less-experienced wife while on Maui a couple of years ago I'd say this bit of info is spot on.

[KevinP73]

Ever notice how the person in the back seat isn't paddeling quite as hard as the front?

[artplumber]

Originally posted by cantdrv55
A customer took me kayaking a couple of weeks ago and now I'm hooked. I never thought I'd get into it since I'm not a very good swimmer at all. But all it took was a few hours in a fast, stable tandem sit-in kayak that tracks straight as an arrow to get me shopping for my own.

SShhhh please. It's one of the few things one can still do to get away from a whole bunch of people.

[cantdrv55]

Originally posted by jyl
Edit 2: I think it would be great to see a kayak design that allows use of legs - maybe some sort of propellor - but still permits beaching. After several hours of paddling against the wind, you really wish you could get more help from the strongest muscles in your body. But I'm not aware of any such.

Hey John, check this out!

http://www.hobiecat.com/kayaking/miragedrive.html

[jyl]

Looks cool, I remember hearing about these a few years ago but didn't know they'd gotten into production.

Wish was available in a closed kayak, all the Hobies are sit-ons. I heard at one time they were going to offer a retrofit kit.

One issue would be durability, both of the mechanism and also if they cause a closed hull to leak. Another would be the ability to draw the fins up to the hull for beaching, and how well they'd hold up. Finally, these seem to eliminate the foot-operated rudder pedals and instead use a hand rudder. Not sure how you operate such a rudder when paddling.

[jyl]

You know, it would be interesting to take a fairly wide-hulled closed-top sea kayak, and install a MirageDrive unit.

Modify the existing rudder pedals to sit wider, i.e. outboard of the MirageDrive. Would need to raise the kayak deck to clear knees and feet, I guess some fiberglassing could do that. Add some Kevlar to make you happy (shark protection). That could be a great boat.