Picked up a fun new hobby - kayaking!
 

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.

Spent some cash tonight on a roof rack and saddles for two kayaks. Next will be a tandem for my wife and myself and a single for our son. I'm hoping to buy used since boats can get pretty pricey as can paddles.

Does anyone here have any experience with kayaks? Any recommendations for beginner to intermediate boats for flatwater and slow moving rivers? Should I consider sit-on-top kayaks too? I thought that since we'll be paddling in NorCal mostly and water is cooler that sit-ins would be the way to go. Any thoughts on this?

I love my kayak! I have a decked out Cobra Navigator 12'6"sit on top. Mostly use it in the bays but also take it out in the ocean. I use it for long day trips alot. and did a few overniters with it. I like it much better than my old Perception sit in. If you can find a place that will let you demo one, that is the way to go. I tried about 12 different ones before i decided on my Cobra. Most kayak places have a good inventory of used ones for sale.

Just make sure you know how to do an eskimo roll and stay away from any "keepers"

I used to do a lot of sea kayaking in Baja. Longest paddle was 11 hours out to some island whose name I've forgotten, then camped out for a couple days. Also paddled to Channel Islands in SoCal. Used rental boats, then bought a pair of Feathercraft folding kayaks. Went with a guy named Ed Gillette, he's pretty famous in the kayaking world. Loved it, but gave it up when had kids.

Find a good guided 3-4 day trip in Baja, you'll really like it and talking to the other folks will help you figure out what boat to get.

I liked the Necky boats, "Telsa" was the model I think. Reasonably stable, fast, rugged.

Safety is key, out in the ocean. Wear wetsuit, at least a shorty, and life jacket. Hard to eskimo roll a heavily loaded ocean kayak, but at least know how to right, re-enter, and pump out the boat unassisted. Cockpit socks are good so boat doesn't fill up w/ water. Paddle with an experienced group unless/until you know your stuff really well, then at least with a strong, experienced partner. If I was doing again, I'd carry marine radios.

NoCal has lots of great places to paddle, Monterey Bay Kayaks is a good shop if you get down that way, also the Bay and delta.

I'm wary of whitewater. Had a friend who was sucked into an underwater cave and drowned (rafting, but same idea) leaving behind wife and young daughter.

Edit: I would get a sit-in, not sit-on, boat for the colder temps of NoCal and definitely if you want to do any camping. You have to learn re-entry, but you're more sheltered from cold/waves and able to stow camping gear.

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.

Thanks guys. I'm going to head down to Monterey this weekend for lessons and look at some used kayaks at a couple of stores. Will try to demo a few before buying.

The Baja trip sounds like great fun. Yet another family activity I'm sure we will enjoy.

Going to stay away from whitewater for a while. I'm going to make sure we learn how to do an eskimo roll and re-entry.

The only bad thing about kayaking in Marin and Sonoma waters are the sharks.

Lot of guys doing loaded ocean kayaking can't do an Eskimo roll. You don't capsize much in the ocean (I think 2 times in a couple years for me) and either you're landing through the surf (not much chance to roll back up, just get washed in and end up where you wanted to be anyway) or in open water (have time and room to right the boat and re-enter.) I mean, it's better to be able to do it, but its not a game-stopper.

I'd like to get back into kayaking but the kids have to be stronger swimmers and we'd probably use double boats w/ a kid and a parent in each.

Sharks - I wonder if someone could take a fiberglass boat and add some more Kevlar layers - would that defeat a shark bite?

That would be called an anchor. :D

Kayaks are great fun. I've got three right now and am considering building a fourth for the girlfriend. I suffered from lower back pain resulting from an accident when I was 19. Kayaking has made a definite improvement in that area. I've only paddeled around the coastel areas here in SoCal but would love to visit the southern tip of Australia some day. There are a lot of organized outings that you should get into.

Here's some weird and wonderful pedal boats - even a hydrofoil

http://www.humanpoweredboats.com/

http://www.ckf.org/
Here's a handy link

And this

http://bikerdave.murioi.com/

Look, I gotta get back to work.

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.

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.

Anyone interested in a group thing this comming Sunday? Marina Del Rey or San Pedro area?

I've got the boy, but no kayak. any rental places there?

check your pm's
or you can rent at the marina

Yes, you can rent tandem boats at most places. If you are interested in buying your own, check out these two sites for reviews:

http://www.kayaknews.ca/cgi-bin/yak/query4.cgi

http://www.paddling.net/

Found this great site for paddling in flatwater and rapids

http://www.cacreeks.com/

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

Took lessons and loved it. Lots of places to kayak up her in Washington. Great exercise and relaxation at the same time.

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.

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.

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

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

Go to the "Articles" section

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...

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...

You are wise, Obecon:)

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.

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

Re: Picked up a fun new hobby - kayaking!
 

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

Hey John, check this out!

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

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.

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.