Recreational Kayaking?

i bought a sit in kayak in march. its super easy but i have pretty good upper body strength. its not hard on my wrists at all but after a day on the water you can definitely feel it in your biceps and back. you can set your own pace though so if you find it tough just dont paddle as hard. your paddling technique will improve with time which makes it easier, try to use your core to twist your body into each stroke, it will give you alot more power and will take some of the load off your arms

What about rolling yourself back up? I think I would be stuck upside down until someone came to right me

the one that i have is so wide that its nearly impossible to do an eskimo roll, ive never tipped but if i did i would just bail and re-enter once i tipped the kayak right side up. but if you have a sit on top you wont be able to do one for sure, since youre not inside the kayak just sitting on it you will lose contact with the kayak if you tip. that s why its best to practice re-entering the kayak in shallow water before you go to far off-shore

I have a touring kayak (sit-in style) but mostly do flat water paddling. If you are paddling properly, your wrists should not hurt at all. If you are weaker in the upper body, you'll probably feel it in your arms by the end of the day. I'm not sure about recreational kayaks, but touring ones have foot braces and to get the most power out of each stroke you push with your leg as you paddle, so it isn't all upper body. However, I am guessing recreational styles don't have that (?).

What about rolling yourself back up? I think I would be stuck upside down until someone came to right me

You aren't physically tied into the boat, if you tip it, you will fall free as well. And on a sit on top version, it's just not possible. Kayaking is a lot of fun and has a quick learning curve!

Oh, that's good to know, I thought the skirt kept you sucked in there - or at least that's what it looks like. How hard is it to get back in after you've been tossed with no shore around? I'm signing up for an introductory course and safety course later this month!!

sit-ons dont have skirts, thats only the sit-in variety and personally i never use them, they are a pain. getting back in depends on how well of a swimmer you are, your upper body strength and the stability of your kayak. its pretty easy for me since im a strong swimmer and have a really stable yak. you can also look into getting a paddle float which makes it much much easier to re-enter, they run for about $20

Not to change up the subject but does anyone know if this is something a 13 year old boy could do? Ive really been wanting to take him?

I should add, that I try to paddle hard to get a good workout - you can certainly take it easy and go at your own pace.

Oh, that's good to know, I thought the skirt kept you sucked in there - or at least that's what it looks like. How hard is it to get back in after you've been tossed with no shore around? I'm signing up for an introductory course and safety course later this month!!

We used to do a lot of kayaking on lakes and rivers.
1) We didn't even have skirts on our boats so if for some bizarre reason you do flip (not as likely as you might think but I guess a passing speed boat might cause a big enough wave), you can just swim to the surface.
2) Getting back in without footing can be a bit tricky but not impossible. My upper body strength isn't (or wasn't at the time) great and I was about your weight at the time and was able to do it. What we would do is come over the back of the boat and slowly pull yourself up until you could straddle the opening and then get back in. Having someone else hold the kayak steady can help too but I did it all on my own once.

Are you sure there will be rolling involved in the course? You may not have anything to worry about.

If I may suggest a brand, we LOVED Pungo's. So stable, my husband would even stand up in his and paddle around.

For those talking about rolling (aka an Eskimo roll) it is actually quite hard to execute. Most who wear a spray skirt for sit-in (aka touring) kayaks would not roll: if you capsize, just unhook the spray skirt, and VOILA! You are free. Rolling is really only necessary in whitewater though it is handy for a quick recovery if you capsize. I've been kayaking for years in ocean water, flat water, through rivers, and through heavy motorboat wake and have never capsized.

Side note: Take on waves perpendicular to them...if your kayak is parallel to the wave it will capsize you if the wave/wake is big enough.

Explain your condition to the instructors and I'm sure they will be able to give you tips to help if there are some. Also the instructors will probably be poised and ready to help if you do turn over.