Kayak recommendations?

gradchica27

Recommendations for a kayak? I’m planning on mostly flat water (lake), perhaps the occasional river. I have plenty of paddling experience with a canoe, I used to row (sweep) in college, and I have some kayaking experience.

I’m looking for something that’ll get some speed and tracks well—basically I want to get a decent upper body workout and recapture that quiet on the water zen I had rowing hard.

Anything or any brand I should particularly look for (or avoid)? I’m willing to pay for something I will actually want to paddle, though I don’t need a top of the line one either (being realistic, this may be a once a week thing for the foreseeable future).

CarvedTones

Depending on how fast you want to go and how good your balance is you might also want to look at surfskis. They tend to be a little pricier but you can find a lower end or used one that won't break the bank. Epic is a great brand.

AnnPT77

Personally, I"m very fond of Current Designs. For sure, their web site (https://www.cdkayak.com/) has some excellent advice for understanding flatwater performance kayak designs, and choosing one that's right for you. Their catalog is useful, too, and free last time I looked. (Their sister company, Wenonah, has some nice flatwater canoes, too.)

If you're truly about flatwater and exercise, looking at the racing kayaks (K1, surfskis, that sort of thing) might be a good choice. For speed/performance, long and narrow is usually better, but steering those (and avoiding swimming) requires a little more technique. I usually suggest that people aiming at flatwater get a boat that feels a little scary at first, because you'll soon adapt to it . . . and one that feels nice and stable at first will soon feel kinda doggy.

Some kayak shops have periodic "demo days" where they bring a bunch of boats to a body of water, and you can test drive them. I know about a couple in my area (Michigan), but you'd have to research in your area. (It's more of a summer thing.)

As a former rower, if you're truly talking flatwater, a single racing shell might be worth considering (sculling, not sweep - but most sweepers, with a little instructional help, adapt quickly to sculling). For one, Craftsbury sculling camps (https://www.craftsbury.com/sculling/sculling-camps/sculling-home/) make a great vacation.

You can spend arbitrarily much on a single rowing shell, but the Peinerts are at the lower end of the good-quality single shells (it's what Craftbury uses - or did, last time I was there). (http://peinert.com/peinert26.html).

I'm a rower (mostly, and mostly sculling), long-time touring canoeist in an earlier life, and also have a sea kayak. Some women collect shoes; I collect boats. Five canoes, one kayak (CD Willow) and two rowing shells . . . so far.

Have fun!

CowboySar

I second Current Designs or Wilderness Systems. I personally have a Seaward Kayak, Guide 17 for ocean kayaking, They are an awesome kayak but depending on you situation can be a bit pricey. They do ship all over so they can be option and have smaller kayaks as well.

gradchica27

Thanks! I am trying to be both optimistic and realistic about this—optimistic all my time on the water will make me a fast learner, realistic that with my stage in life right now (4 small boys who aren’t in school, a husband who often works nights and weekends), I won’t be out there more than early Saturdays and maybe Sundays a few times a month so I don’t *really* need the best kayak ever.

The surf skis sound intriguing, @CarvedTones I may look into them later. You do SUP as well, correct? I tried that for my birthday, but I think I’ll need to use a non-rental board or take a lesson before jumping into buying one. I think the board I used was too wide? I felt like I was really reaching far out to get a decent stroke and I was killing myself and was barely moving. I’m planning on taking my kayak out for family canoeing/float trips too, so when my husband was smoking me in the kayak while barely paddling and I was paddling like a maniac, I was a little hesitant about going that route for a day trip.

I wish I could learn to skull, @AnnPT77 ! Maybe one day. I don’t think we have any rowing around me—a local parks dept guy called me a few years ago to see if I would be able to support/volunteer coach a start up HS rowing program, but that hasn’t come to fruition yet. I think our swampy, cypress-y little river isn’t helping. We have one 80 acre lake (the biggest in a reasonable drive for me), but that might only be an option super early, since the park rents out boats and I don’t want to mow down a family out in a canoe for the first time

CarvedTones

gradchica27 wrote: »

Thanks! I am trying to be both optimistic and realistic about this—optimistic all my time on the water will make me a fast learner, realistic that with my stage in life right now (4 small boys who aren’t in school, a husband who often works nights and weekends), I won’t be out there more than early Saturdays and maybe Sundays a few times a month so I don’t *really* need the best kayak ever.

The surf skis sound intriguing, @CarvedTones I may look into them later. You do SUP as well, correct? I tried that for my birthday, but I think I’ll need to use a non-rental board or take a lesson before jumping into buying one. I think the board I used was too wide? I felt like I was really reaching far out to get a decent stroke and I was killing myself and was barely moving. I’m planning on taking my kayak out for family canoeing/float trips too, so when my husband was smoking me in the kayak while barely paddling and I was paddling like a maniac, I was a little hesitant about going that route for a day trip.

I wish I could learn to skull, @AnnPT77 ! Maybe one day. I don’t think we have any rowing around me—a local parks dept guy called me a few years ago to see if I would be able to support/volunteer coach a start up HS rowing program, but that hasn’t come to fruition yet. I think our swampy, cypress-y little river isn’t helping. We have one 80 acre lake (the biggest in a reasonable drive for me), but that might only be an option super early, since the park rents out boats and I don’t want to mow down a family out in a canoe for the first time

Yes, I paddle SUP. Keeping up with a fast kayak is going to be really difficult on a SUP. At the elite level, the Waterman Carolina Cup 12 mile "Graveyard" run was won in the SUP class in 123 minutes. The fastest surski finished in 94 minutes. Even though you probably aren't trying to turn in world class race times, that rough ratio still holds - a recreational paddler in a good touring kayak is about 1/3 faster than a recreational paddler of about the same skill on a good touring SUP.